Sauerbraten with spätzle maybe

Well, those were going to be my two suggestions! For me Sauerbraten is cold weather meal though, so I’d go for Rouladen.

Spätzle and Rouladen. Never made either myself but used have it every holiday at a well known restaurant. If i made it today I would use prosciutto and a recent batch of kraut that has lots of fennel and celeriac...and a bit of kimchi. Might have to make it this weekend!

My first choice is rouladen. We love it! I prefer to use German style stone ground mustard in it. Goulash is also good. I’m not sure if it’s tradtionally German or Hungarian, but a couple of my favourite German restaurants serve it.

You don't mention how many will be attending. I vote for Rouladen also if it's not too many people, it's a little time consuming and fiddly for a big crowd though. Other than that Goulash is a good one, too. I also love Sauerbraten but I've also known many who dislike it. Of course there is Schnitzel but it would be a pain to make that at the last moment, I don't think it would work to make that ahead of time. Germans do like their basic meats dishes, like pork and beef roasts, cutlets or chops, also big on roast chicken. And wild game is a favorite, venison, rabbit, wild fowl of all kinds. Most Germans I know drink simplistically, i.e. beer, wine, schnaps. I have known them to drink Vermouth on the rocks, though.

Attendees will be between 6 and 10. I'd love to do rabbit, but I fear only two or maybe three of them (in addition to myself) would eat it. That's the only type of game I might find in time for this.

If you do decide to serve rouladen, if I can find them I prefer to use German style pickles in the filling.

I would do rouladen or sauerbraten. We did a German theme cookbook book club and I did sauerbraten as the main dish: Here is a link I did to the post on that night: http://www.lflinderhof.com/2015/10/cookbook-book-club-volume-x-german.html

Also, remember except for the red cabbage, all German food is beige or brown (LOL!!!)

A kraut kicking in here. Have I cooked this? You bet, there is always a ready meal in the freezer. Roladen with spatzle and some red cabbage is perfect. If you need a recipe, let me know and I will post it. The advantage of the roladen is that you can make them a few days ahead, remove any fat from the bacon in the gravy and just reheat on the day of the party. If you want, potato dumplings are good too. Panni makes a great mix that you either whisk together or if you can find it, they have ready forms balls that you simmer and removed the protective "skin" by pulling it apart.

If you don't want to make the red cabbage yourself, the Aunt Nellies brand is very good. You could also add a green salad using Boston lettuce with a simple vinaigrette. Serve with a German beer and red wine. Sparkling water for those that abstain.

Martha, I beg to differ. Sauerkraut with smoked pork loin, veal brats, goulash, pork roast, schnitzel in various varieties (Holstein, jaeger) and many others are not neutral in color.

Come to think of it Artemis, a pork loin roast with caraway and sauerkraut is very traditional. If you can find pernil, pork roast with the skin still on, even better.

Pork schnitzel....or weinerschnitzel of you can get veal cutlets....but pork works. Served with red cabbage and spatzel
A Bavarian ham served with Schnitz une knepp....which is stewed dried apples with dumplings.
Bierocks...also known as runza....a yeast bread filled with meat potatoes, cabbage and onions.

The Amana Colonies are just down the road from me.....I had a friend ( sadly she died) who grew up there and she shared all sorts of things....another was reddig salat....thinly sliced radishes dressed with sour cream a little vinegar and salt and pepper.
Good stuff, German foods!

I was going to suggest pork schnitzel also. We love it with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. I like to buy an entire pork loin, trim the edge for cubed pork for stew, and slice the best for boneless pork loin. Pound both sides with a meat mallet, bread and fry!

I don't call it pork schnitzel for my "I'm not sure I like foreign food" husband. I just call it fried pork chop, but it is German pork schnitzel, lol.

Chocroute. A version of boiled dinner. Saurekurat, pork (ham, baby back ribs) sausages, root veggies.

It's been a long time since I was in Germany, but this time of year, both north and south, everybody brought out the Wienerschnitzel (spring veal?) with baby (spring?) asparagus and young Riesling wines. Federweisser or Maiwein. I don't remember the flavors of the latter two, having stuck with the wine, except for tastes. If you have the right ingredients it might be a lot of fun to make Federweisser or Maiwein.

You could do kraut, and drain the juices off and replace it with sugar. nice salad. and speaking of salad, you could do a warm potato salad. And a pork or veal schnitzel withe gravy. For desert, German/Black Forest cake.

Maiwein is simply a nice German wine flavored with sweet woodruff blossoms ( which is a very nice ground cover with white blooms in the spring) and a few fresh strawberries....sometimes not even the strawberries.
But you are the wrong season for Federweisser. It's the German equivalent of beaujolais nouveau....but with white wine.
May wine might make a nice "curiosity" to taste....I'm not fond of it...t.astes a little like perfume to me.

Chocroute was my first thought too ........another favoutire of mine is jagerscniitzel with spatzel

https://www.daringgourmet.com/authentic-german-jagerschnitzel-hunter-schnitzel-with-mushroom-gravy/

Soft home made pretzels with beer cheese dip could make a great fun nibblie before dinner

Linda, I had a big Huh? moment, so looked it up. Apparently, there are two major uses of the term--we were talking about different things-- though you're right about the season. I don't know what it was that I was actually served in Germany in May, but it did match the description in the Wikipedia article pretty well other than it being May. They may have been making winter wines or something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federweisser

I have had Beaujolie Nouveau in May....and August etc... it's just not that fresh young stuff. Been known to get excited with a particularily good year and over buy....so find a bottle in the back of the wine fridge that was no longer "Nouveau".

Yeah, but they said that the Fedewasser that I was talking about, the so white it's green and has bubbles stuff, is only around for a month, and everyone was serving it. It's fermented with yeast (according to the article), and if it gets older it goes brown and boozy.

Unless someone is making it near you, it's not an option. So I learned a lot today that I didn't know when I was young and trying not to be overserved. They sell it (sold it?) in huge portions and it's very refreshing. Until you stand up, you don't feel the alcohol. :)

I know you said others would be making the sides and you’re only interested in the main and cocktails, but I agree a warm potato salad would be great and not done all the time.

How about Frikadellen? German meat patties made with onions and parsley and spices, served topped with sauteed onions. They can also be served cold. For cocktails, Berliner Weisse, or maybe Ruedesheimer Kaffee, hot coffee doctored with Asbach Uralt (brandy), vanilla sugar, dark chocolate and plenty of whipped cream.

Thanks, everyone. I really love the suggestions!

I am going to save the link to this thread - turns out that that weekend is the same weekend of my uncle's 90'th birthday, to which I've just been invited. I've had to postpone this to Sept or Oct (hopefully early Sept) in order to get down to Maryland for the affair. Some great suggestions above! I'll revive the thread closer to what will now be the actual date.

Oh, for having one of those Star Trek gizmos! Beam me back and forth, Scotty!

Septemeber or October is perfect for an Oktoberfest party!

Oh, Peppi, I agree, Octoberfest would be a fun "theme"!

I vote for the sauerbraten, incidentally, I like it a lot. Peppi brought me a can of the apfelkraut used to thicken the gravy, I'd just been using gingersnaps. it's good both ways, but I was cooking for her Dad and so we did it "right"!

She also brought potato dumplings, those were really good with the "gravy".

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4947547/a-visit-from-forum-friends-plus-ethnic-foods-kind-of

Annie