Don’t ‘myth’ the pretzels on the center’s Octoberfest menu

From apple pie à la mode to an Octoberfest of food delight, you don’t want to miss upcoming Monday Munches at the Charlotte Senior Center.

Tales of the religious origins of the pretzel in France, Italy and Germany seem to involve a good deal of culinary myth. But it’s no myth that pretzels were an early item in the American diet, brought to the Colonies by German and Dutch settlers. And pretzels will be on the menu for an Octoberfest-themed lunch at the center.

A 1951 The New York Times article celebrating the 90th anniversary of the pretzel called it “small, intellectual, sophisticated.”

The first commercial pretzel bakery was built in Philadelphia in 1861. There, pretzels are so popular, with street vendors offering them with mustard, that the city acquired the nickname the “Big Pretzel.” Some 80 percent of the nation’s pretzel supply is made in Philadelphia, and people there are reputed to eat 12 times as many pretzels as people anywhere else.

Here’s a bit of pretzel renown: In 1996, pretzels from Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, Inc., were on the Columbia space shuttle.

In 2018, a team of student researchers in the U.S. sent broccoli seeds to the International Space Station to test whether microbes can help the vegetable grow better in the challenging conditions in space.

We don’t know about sauerkraut in space, but here’s the Sauerkraut Polka (in German).

Monday Sept. 26, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or until the food is gone

Monday Munch
Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad and apple pie à la mode.

Thursday, Sept. 29
Grab & Go Meal, Pickup: 10-11 a.m.
Roast pork with gravy, boiled potatoes with butternut squash, wheat bread with butter, apple cake with icing and milk. Registration required by the prior Monday: 802-425-6345. Thursday meals are provided by Age Well at no cost but they appreciate donations.

Monday, Oct. 3, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or until the food is gone

Monday Munch
Octoberfest: Bratwurst with bun, sauerkraut, and mustard, German potato salad, homemade soft pretzels, root beer and German-style dessert

Thursday, Oct. 6
Grab & Go Meal, pick up: 10-11 a.m.
Check the Charlotte Senior Center for the menu on the website. Registration required by the prior Monday.
Please remember that from baking pies to washing dishes to handing out all those Grab & Go meals, a lot of volunteer work goes into providing food at the Charlotte Senior Center. Please share your time and talents with others in a place filled with laughter and good cheer.