Hip Hip Hoor-ale!

OKTOBERFEST COMES ALIVE IN SAN DIEGO

In case you weren't able to book your own tickets to Munich this week to celebrate the all too indulgent Oktoberfest, we've got a few ideas up our sleeves at the Little Italy Mercato to help you throw your own lively festival. Oktoberfest began as a wedding celebration for Crown Prince Luitpold I and Princess Theressa of Bavaria, and has since transformed into a festival for music, dancing, singing, eating -- and lots and lots of beer drinking.

Gather your friends and family to enjoy a feast of royal proportions with these rich recipes: Try a vegetarian take on traditional Bierocks and pick up a jar of spicy sauerkraut from Happy Pantry and garlic quark from Springhill Cheese and put them together on fresh slices of sourdough bread from Bread and Cie. If meat would pair better with your choice ale, take home a pound of savory ground beef from Da Le Ranch to add to the dish. Create your own German style potato salad using red potatoes from Polito Farms, onions and parsley from Suzie's Farm, with bacon from SonRise Ranch to make a warm dressing. Make Jagerschnitzel to meets everyone's needs, using Kawano Farms mushrooms, Bari's garlic olive oil, pork sausage from Son Rise Ranch, and Spring Hill Cheese's new slightly sweet sour cream.

Oh and don't forget your authentic, german style beer. Stop by the newest tasting room in Little Italy, Bottlecraft Beer Shop, and find the flavor that suits your celebration. Cheers!