April 30, 2011
Wait.....those aren't Germans...scroll down!
What better way to spend the last day of my 30-day local eating challenge but with my friends Susanne and Klaus Kries of Gröbenzell, Bavaria! Gröbenzell is a charming little village near Munich. I have such fond memories of visiting there in 1998!
Susanne and Klaus are such vibrant, fun people!
They have been friends of my grandparents since the 1960s. They are visiting the South for two weeks, and they chose to come visit me in Beaufort! We went to the 2011 Beaufort Air Show, the beach on Hunting Island, ate incredible fresh seafood, and I got to make a 99% local breakfast for them on Sunday morning!
I have also made a great discovery this week about the history and peoples of South Carolina!
Did you know that there are actual monks in Monck's Corner, South Carolina? They are part of an order of Trappist monks, to be exact. This monastery was established in 1949 on the site of the Mepkin Plantation on the banks of the Cooper River, near Charleston.
You may ask yourself, what is a Trappist monk? As many of us in the South are Protestant, what do we know about monks? They make beer in Europe, they lead a life of prayer and celibacy, and they tend to be pretty cool cats.
Trappist monks are most well known because in Europe, they make incredible beer. These guys kept Europe alive for centuries when the water was so contaminated with coliforms that only the brewing process could make the water safe for drinking. Louis Pasteur would later discover that this was actually due to the boiling process that beer goes through, but, ethanol is also a mild antiseptic!
These Trappist monks at Mepkin Abbey do not brew beer (the Bavarians were disappointed), but they do farm, produce organic eggs and oyster mushrooms! I bought this "crate" of mushrooms at the Mount Pleasant Whole Foods.
Oyster mushrooms are delicious and can be used in any recipe that calls for mushrooms. Just be sure not to cook them into mush!
My breakfast for Klaus and Susanne on Sunday morning was to be "light," as Klaus requested. The menu:
Scrambled fresh SBC eggs with parsley and chives
with caramelized Mepkin Abbey Oyster Mushrooms
on fresh mixed salad greens from my garden
Dempsey Farms fresh picked strawberries
South Georgia Pecan halves
Thompson Farms Hickory Smoked Bacon
Bush River Jerseys Skim milk
Charleston Tea Plantation Governor Gray
Bonnie's Garden Beaufort Honey
Many thanks to my Dad and to N5589R for making the Kries' trip possible. It was a very quick trip, but very enjoyable! I hope that I get to see all of them again very soon.
Doug is already planning a trip to Gröbenzell for Oktoberfest 2012!......after all.....we will be just across the border in Poland!
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