More from the Bratwurst King

Tony has been counting down to the return of Oktoberfest for months.  This year, it was moved to Lyon Park.  While still in Soulard, it is quite different than the old location which was in the heart of Soulard right next to the farmer's market.  The move was met with mixed opinions, and was quite controversial when it was announced.  While I understand that it was moved for space reasons, most agree that the old location was better.  It was smaller, so it forced you to be a part of the merriment.  Lyon Park is almost too spread out.

Since Oktoberfest is a beer festival, why not hold it across the street from the Budweiser plant.

The brats that were used in the eating competition.  According to Tony, the bread was killer.  He was practicing on regular hot dog buns, but they used a pretzel bread bun for the competition.  Here in the Midwest, they like to serve everything on pretzel bread.  I'm fine with it because it is delicious, but it is really thick and not something that you can chew quickly!

A professional athlete at work.

Tony with his sign girl.  She almost cost him the competition!  People in our group had to point out to her that she had forgotten to change his number count at one point. 

For his efforts, Tony won a VIP badge which gave him all you can eat food, beer, wine, and soft drinks.  Also, he had access to the VIP bathrooms.  Apparently this is pretty important after competing in a food eating contest.  And the title Bratwurst King.  Really, he did it for the title.  Everything else was just lagniappe.

Tony with a few of the other sign girls.  If you notice, his mouth is still full with the final bite.  It took him a good five minutes to finish off the last bite that he crammed in his mouth to secure the victory.  They tried to interview him after, but that didn't go well.  He will be featured in the newspaper.  Let me know if you'd like a copy.

Tony shows off his roll of Tums that he ate after the competition was complete.

I was genuinely shocked by how many people had their babies and young children there.  Oktoberfest is not a place for kids!  This couple was letting the kid walk and using his stroller to carry their beer.  It's hard to tell from this angle, but they had 4 beer steins full of beer in the stroller.

Tony ran into his sign girl later on as well.

Beautiful!

Soulard Oktoberfest 2010 was definitely a success!  Tony is already looking forward to next year.  Will he defend his title?

King Bratwurst

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Sorry about the side ways video!  I'm still learning how to shoot video on my phone and publish it.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I had it the wrong way when I was recording.

Anyway, this is a small portion of the 15 minutes where Tony competed for the title of King Bratwurst at the Soulard Oktoberfest.  The goal was to eat the most bratwursts in a 15 minute period.  Only one other guy was anywhere close to Tony's total!  The other guy had an interesting strategy.  He had a huge vat of bbq sauce that he brought
with him and soaked all of his in before eating them.

Throughout the competition, Tony had the largest cheering section.  Chants of "Tony! Tony! Tony!" erupted multiple times.  His prize was a VIP pass that gave him all you can eat and drink for the rest of the day.  Poor Tony.  It was a full 3 hours later before he was able to eat or drink again!

I'm still trying to figure out if my husband being crowned the sausage king is something to be proud of or humiliating.  I'll let you know.

Baking Brownies Part 2

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Baking Brownies

Tony wasn't even here to help!

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Celebrating my 30th Birthday

Well, I am now 30.  I don't exactly mind being 30, but I can't really figure out how I got here.  Where did the years go?

Despite a very busy week at work with our national conference here in St. Louis, I was able to take the day off and enjoy it.  That evening, Tony and I along with Jean and Jim tried out Eleven Eleven Mississippi.  Tony and I have been wanting to visit 1111 since we moved here.  We've made reservations before, but the plans always end up falling through for one reason or another.  Anyway, I have now found another amazing St. Louis restaurant.  It's a close call between it and Cravings for the top spot, but I think that Cravings gets the nod for its better dessert selection.



This is the view that greets you as you enter the courtyard area.  They do have a little outdoor patio and dining area.  Isn't it adorable?  I've informed Tony that he needs to get down to the basement and start working on one of these for me.  I want it for our outdoor patio.  It can't be that difficult to make!

It's a very nondescript building on the outside, but the inside is absolutely gorgeous.  I was surprised to learn that the restaurant only opened in December 2003.  From the way that people around here talk about it, I assumed that it was a long-time St. Louis staple.

The building itself is part of what was once the International Shoe Factory in the heart of Lafayette Square.  The restaurant portion is actually where the heels were made for women's shoes.  Yes, it's a restaurant after my own heart!  When the couple that owns it first purchased it, many people told them that they would never be able to renovate the space to be a first class restaurant.  It simply required too much work.  The renovations may have been extensive, but they definitely proved their detractors wrong.

The bar area when you first walk into the restaurant.

We dined upstairs in this loft area along one of the windows.  The food was superb.  I had the pan seared chicken breast with roasted new potatoes, julienne vegetables, and topped with a lemon-sage-white wine butter.  I can't say enough about how delicious it was!  Tony had the shellfish fettuccine which included mussels, scallops, shrimp, clams, tomatoes, and eggplant.  The main thing is that all of the dishes had flavor!  So many of the entrees that you find here are a bit bland. 

The kitchen area is open to the main dining area.  The chefs offer a wide-range of options and the menu changes with the seasons.  Thankfully, they did not sing me happy birthday, but I did get a free gooey butter cake.  No one could even think about dessert, so Tony and I took it home to enjoy later.

Tony sent me flowers!  You have to understand, Tony never sends me flowers.  He'll bring me flowers, but he rarely just orders them from the florist and has them delivered.  Despite all of the drama surrounding them, I loved my flowers!  Tony was less than pleased and plans to return to his regular method of picking out the flowers and arranging the bouquet himself.  For me, flowers equal a smile and that's about it!

Baked Goods Pottery

As part of my birthday weekend, Tony and I went to a paint your own pottery shop for the first time.  We had a blast!  We originally planned to paint two pieces each, but we greatly underestimated how long it would take!  I did finish a cereal bowl for me and Tony made a plate.  I also learned that I am not a very good painter!



Downtown St. Louis at Sunrise

This past week, NACAC 2010 was here in St. Louis.  I had to head downtown early one morning to meet the buses to take counselors back to our campus and snapped a few pictures while waiting.  We have had the most amazing weather lately!

America's Center- the convention center in downtown St. Louis.

This was my view while riding back on the bus.  The only seat left available was right in front with the driver!  It was a little unnerving especially when we got onto the interstate.