Having lived here for almost two years now (I know, where has that gone?), the one thing I love about the place is how Bavarians find something really special in almost every season…
The Winter is obviously all about gearing up to Christmas, and the mass of Christkindlemarkts that line the streets is of course legendary. This moves rapidly in to ski season, which lasts well into Spring, and then straddling this we have the Carnival celebrations. Then, as the weather slowly begins to warm up, and the bier-gartens begin to open, a little further field the Alps become a hiker’s paradise – where instead of lazing on a beach, the tops of mountains become the sun-worshipers pitch of choice…
And then on into Autumn, perhaps the busiest time of them all! Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Bierfests, Kartoffel Fests, Plum Fests, and taking place around about now Pumpkin Fests (or Kürbis Fests as they are better known here!) (amongst countless other fests too I hasten to add!)…
You might think that you would have to stretch things a bit to put on a whole festival celebrating all things gourd, but believe me, it can be done as this particular festival demonstrated. There were pumpkins to be found in all colours, varieties, shapes and sizes. The obligatory Largest Pumpkin Competition awaited the Judge’s decision (whilst being guarded a short distance away by their fiercely competitive owners – busy glowering at each other over a bier!).
The vast Market place with every possible pumpkin specimen under the sun, delicacies of the cake, pizza and chocolate variety (pumpkin of course!), and stilt walkers with what looked like butternuts on their heads. Add to this the usual flurry of bier stalls, bratwurst vendors, a beautiful setting, live music, plenty of general merriment (and of course a glorious wedding), and you have a recipe for a pretty good day out (especially if your favourite colour is orange!)…
And here’s another pumpkin recipe for your perusal (and what one of our pumpkin purchases got made into!):-
Pumpkin Ravioli
Pasta
225g 00 Pasta flour;
a pinch of sea salt;
2 free range eggs;
3 egg yolks;
tablespoon of oil
Filling
500g pumpkin (we used a Hokkaido Squash);
2 tablespoons olive oil;
50g grated parmesan;
half an onion finely chopped;
50g fine dried white breadcrumbs;
salt and pepper
Sift the flour into a mound, make a well, and put the eggs and other ingredients into this. Then feel virtuous as you burn calories kneading for ten minutes. Use a pasta machine and roll until you have long thin sheets of the desired thickness;
Heat oven to 180DegC and roast the peeled and de-seeded pumpkin in one tablespoon of the olive oil for one hour. Leave to cool, and then blitz in a food processor together with the dried breadcrumbs. Sweat the onion in the rest of the oil, and add to the pumpkin mix, together with the parmesan. The mixture should be quite dry, so add more breadcrumbs if necessary.
Cut the pasta into squares, brush with egg white and add a teaspoon of filling (making sure to expel all the air or they will burst when you cook them!). Dust the finished raviolis with flour, and cook in a pan of boiling water for two minutes. Serve with a sage butter or just a little olive oil and lots of parmesan!
I could do with some inspiration for our second purchase though? I have never cooked a spaghetti squash before – answers on a postcard please!!
fabulous! just fabulous!
two years – really? oh wow!
and I love that you threw in a pumpkin recipe for good measure!
I know, where does time go? Thanks Gemma xx
Oh wow. Those are my kind of people and my kind of festival. Beautiful photos as well! Would love to be there…wonder who would be up for this in our village….!
Thanks Katie! It’s something that I think would work well in the UK too! :)
oh my goodness, beautiful photographs!
Thank you Amanda! (:
That is a fantastic post….. all those pumpkins, so, so cool, and your pictures are immense – look at the size of those big daddies, and I love all the different varieties on that stand – so colouful. X
Thank you, it was really lovely to see! :) xx
What a fantastic event – I love all the creative and fun displays of pumpkins, their colours are amazing! Thank you for sharing the recipe on Pumkin Ravioli it looks delicious, I will have to try that. Thanks for linking up and sharing your wonderful festival with Country Kids.
No problem, thank you for sharing! :) x
Wow it’s like the whole world turned orange! That’s my kind of place. Never made my own pasta before but I fancy giving this a go :-)
Thanks Clare! If I can do it, anyone can! :)
Great photos! I love the sound of a pumpkin festival, and of pumpkin pizza! Maybe I’ll even buy one this year and make my very own pumpkin delicacies :-)
Thank you! (:
Such beautiful pictures! We do have a pumpkin festival at a pub in a village not too far from us, always a bit of a riotous drunken fun, but nowhere near as spectacular as your pics!
I do like the sound of the riotous drunken fun bit! :D Thanks S! :)
Wow I have never seen such a vast array of pumpkins. I love how they have been presented. Thank you for the recipe as I’m guilty of sticking to biscuits.
Thank you J. I am hoping they made something with them all afterwards!…
Awesome – it’s a veritable pumpkin fest! x
Thanks Annie! :) x
Oh wow, all those pumpkins look amazing. Perfect event to photograph too, beautiful!
Thank you Debra! :)
Your photos are beautiful and remind me very much of autumnal breaks to Austria which was just over the border when I lived in Italy, the amount of time put into their displays and the imagination blew me away every time.
I’m also very impressed you made pasta, I have never made it, reverting to buying fresh I suppose I ought to try one day, ravioli di zucca were always popular around this time of year but not tried pumpkin.
Thanks so much Mari. Yes, they are amazing at such things in these parts. You must make pasta, the girls would love helping I am sure of it! :) xx
Beautiful photos, thanks so much for sharing. As you know, I have a hankering to come to Bavaria and I think we’d definitely choose this time of year to come (or Christmas!) It just looks so wonderful and welcoming. Brits really lack this sense of ceremony and community, sadly.
Thanks Jayne, let me know when you come over, I do a good guided tour which includes lots of bier halls! :D
Those gourds are gorgeous. And thanks for the pumpkin recipe – I have three in the garden waiting to be picked. x
Thanks Susanna! :) x
Wow! What a gorgeous riot of colour in that first photo! I’ve been hating the demise of summer but I feel very cheerful looking at this post. Thank you!
It’s nature’s way of cheering up before the dark and cold set in! Thank you! :) x
oh my word, can I come over on the next flight please, if this is how they celebrate with pumpkins i can only imagine Christmas, sits and dreams xxx
Of course! :) xx
Those photo’s are fabulous, how lovely it must be to walk around and see the magnificent displays
Thank you, it is definitely worth seeking them out! :)
Oh my gourd, what an amazing show of colour. Just beautiful!
Haha… thanks Trish! :) xx
Ooooh I think we need to go to a pumpkin farm again this year. My Father in Law once judged a largest pumpkin competition in Cornwall :)
As always Emma, you make me want to come and visit!
And so you must! :) x
Oh if only we would embrace the seasons here in UK like you are experiencing. The nearest we get to it at this time of year is our Harvest Festival which is this weekend! Wonderful photographs.xx
Thanks Mum. Hope your harvest festival bread turned out OK! :) xxx
Fantastic photos! We’re not able to make our annual trip to the pumpkin farm this year as my company car went back and on public transport, it’s a two hour logistical nightmare. I might give the pasta a whirl though – you can’t move in the shops for pumpkin at the mo.
I think there’s been a bumper pumpkin harvest just about everywhere! Thanks, I hope you enjoy it! :)
just gorgeous wonderful pictures you live in a disney world always something totally amazing going on
Hahaha…. thank you! :) x
Oh my Gourd, those pictures are just stunning. About the woman in the powder blue outfit – it made me smile. I wonder if she’s visiting from the 1980s?
Aw thank you. There are times that I am very much reminded of the 80’s living here, but this lady can be forgiven as she is actually wearing traditional dress, you just can’t see all the details! :D
GORGEOUS!! I love them. And now I HAVE to try these pumpkin ravioli… xx
Thank you. I hope you like it! I reckon you will! :) xx
Some really impressive pumpkins there!
Thanks Brina! Any gardener would be proud! :)
Oh my, what luscious photos. I do love all these quirky and colourful local festivals. And I have a load of pumpkins ready for harvesting myself so I will have to try out your ravioli recipe. Sounds yum!
I hope you enjoy it! Thanks Mary! Loved your camera post, so sweet! :) x
It’s with recipes like these I wish I owned a pasta machine!
You must get yourself to Spina sharpish and pick one up! :)
Gorgeous pics – I love all those squash. Gourds, though, always make me laugh – my lovely mum grew a load one year, with the aim of drying tehm and varnishing them as interesting ‘objets’ except they all went mouldy…
I should try your pumpkin ravioli – to my shame I bought some 00 flour in the summer with the intention of making pasta with the kids as a ‘project’ and I never got round to it…
Thanks Sally, we had that happen to us last year too, wonder how they dry them?… The kids helped make this pasta, and they LOVED it! :D
Great post, and gorgeous pics! Funny, I don’t know of any “kürbis festivals” around there, though gourds are certainly popular in our area. Sadly, our nearby-village source for lovely, inexpensive gourds died last year, and her family is too busy to keep up with all the growing and harvesting the way she did. We were able to buy a few pumpkins from her daughter, though.
Think I might have to give your pumpkin ravioli a try!
Thanks so much! Such a shame about your village source, I hope her family get on top of things soon and carry on her pumpkin legacy…