Do you live in a neighborhood where families get together and hang out?
Until a few years ago, I didn’t. But then my husband and I moved our burgeoning family into a new house and somehow stumbled into a young family mecca. It didn’t happen right away, when we first moved in there were only two or three families with young kids scattered around the neighborhood. Fast forward a few years, though, and suddenly there were about twenty.
We have so many kids at our elementary bus stop now that we fill up over half a bus with just our ‘hood.
Once all these people moved in, I learned a valuable lesson. Regular, organized get togethers is one of the most effective ways to become closer to your neighbors. Plus they can be really fun!
Another thing I learned? The more creative the reason to celebrate, the more enthusiastic people are to show up. Over the years, we’ve passed around the hosting duties and covered A LOT of ground. From standards like book club, Trunk-or-Treat and Holiday Potluck to standouts like river floats, outdoor movie nights, and Diwali celebrations.
We’ve gained so much from getting to know our neighbors in this way that I thought you might appreciate some ideas on how to get the party started in your neighborhood. So, I’m gonna start writing about some of our gatherings and sharing all the helpful details.
The next one we have coming up is an adults-only Oktoberfest party and I need to bring a dish for the potluck. In the spirit of “two birds with one stone” and all that, I figured I’d do a roundup of the best recipes I come across. Hopefully it’ll inspire you to throw your own neighborhood Oktoberfest!
The food here is heavy, think rich chocolate desserts, brats, potatoes, pretzels and cheese, lots and lots of cheese. Here are the 7 recipes I can’t stop dreaming about...
Appetizers
Main Dishes
Caramelized Beer Onions and Cheddar Bratwurst
Desserts
German Apple Cake (Apfelkuchen)
That’s it for today but, as I said, I’m hoping to share more in the future about our neighborhood get-together. Next up, an epic crab and crawfish boil!
More from MPMK
Giant Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows
Super Simple New Year’s Eve Mocktails for Kids
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