Reste-Essen

Posting Saturday 30 December 2017 when the above would have been taking place if the tradition was still in use.

An old long forgotten tradition between Christmas and New Year and one that should, given all the media talk about food waste, be reintroduced.

Well it was a tradition among a group of us riders that on a day between Christmas and New Year, everyone would go through their shelves of stored food and fridge looking for leftovers and  items that were past Best by dates (year and decade no limit) and bring them along on usually a Saturday night to a "banquet" at friends Walter & Jeanette's very isolated "ranch" close to the Ammer Lake south west of Munich.

The Kittenalm, as it is known, has for decades been the scene of horsey get-togethers, Angie's stepfather had used it on a horse trecking tour in the 1970's. In more recent times it had been a pub attracting not always the most decent public and a few years ago the buildings owned by a cooperative of farmers was rented to Walter & Jeanette as a type of "dacha" weekend abode. There wasn't a bedroom and very limited sanitary facilities. Map shows location. Some years if very snowy it was difficult to get up to the yard without a 4x4. The Alm had also been the site our chaotic "Drink & Ride" horse riding club "Ammerseer Satteltramps" held their annual tournament.


In the collage also a horse - Sanbars Luke (Sunny) a Quarter Horse sire and the father of our Rosalie McKee (Rosie) who was born at the Kittenalm in 1995. Her mother Donna McKee also lived at the Alm. Sunny was within about 6 feet of the dinner table - the black door at the top right of the group photo, was the entrance to the stables.

Over the years all sorts of wonders appeared on the table including a few years earlier the record for the worst ever tin of food, even though it was still in date. Our friend and farrier Wolfi (Wolgang) top row middle right, had been given a tin of Swedish "Surströmming" by a customer but luckily also a warning. If you haven't ever had it, DON'T. Wiki says it has one of the most putrid food smells in the world. 

Wolfi had been kind enough to suggest we open the tin outside but that didn't prevent poor Hugo getting sprayed with oil and the rest of us standing very well back, literally retching just from the stench.

In good years the guy sitting top left and appearing to pray and also known as Schorsch, would bring some of his own caught Ammer Lake Renken a type of seldom fish known as Coregonus in the salmon family and only found in the USA Great Lakes and in Europes Alpine lakes.

Schorsch would either have a fresh cooked one or often a few that he smoked himself. Sadly he had recently split up with a long time girlfriend who worked in a chocolate business making fine hand made delights, the rejects of which had in the past been on the table.

Talking of smoking, one year and this may have been the year, someone had found an old cigarette vending machine in an attic still with contents. They were decades old but those who tried them out were very approving of how they had matured with age. Probably due to the copious amounts of beer drunk with the meal.

Others in the individual blocks - Andi, soon to become Mrs Wolfi with his lovely Australian Shepherd Dog Twinky. Next to Rosie and wearing glasses is Jeanette, the horse crazy breeder of Rosie and many more over the years. Jeanette and Walter lived in a "normal" flat in Munich with normal jobs (surveyor/dental technical lab) for most of the weekdays but would come out as often as possible. Many years later a proper new cottage was built on the site for them.

In the bottom group photo left to right and as far as I can remember the names: ? with the beer, Wolfi, Andi, Schorsch, Sepp (the funniest ever despite his graveyard digger appearance and nickname), Sascha in the front with his wife Katja next to him (our co-house inhabitants), me half hidden, Jeanette and Gabi (Sepps partner) standing.

PS Some may question what the strange red headgear is. Well you probably would do if I had posted this on time in 1998. Back then they were unknown at least in Germany. Back gthen I worked for a US company in Jacksonville, FL. The lovely lady who dealt with shipping all our supplies smuggled in a few of these with a November shipment. I borrowed them for the post Xmas days. They saw use right through until 2001 there and I think are once again somewhere in my possession.