People around the world are celebrating Oktoberfest and so is Kitchen Mailbox. "My husband and I had our rehearsal dinner at Otto's Hofbrau Haus in Dormont," wrote Mary Amrhein of Carnegie. "We celebrated many anniversaries there before the restaurant closed. Since then, I have tried to replicate the melt-in-your-mouth sauerbraten that Otto's offered and have had no luck. My gravy is always thick, heavy and lacks the tang of Otto's. My beef is tough. I have tried about seven authentic German recipes. "

Kitchen Mailbox found the perfect recipe from the "Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1,400 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes" by Phyllis Pellman Good (Good Books, 2008, $29.95). This recipe is "melt-in-your-mouth" delicious.

While the sauerbraten was simmering in the slow-cooker, we tried another recipe. Apple juice, fresh apples, sausage, sauerkraut gives this stove-top dish loads of flavor.

Donna Bernazzoli of Verona requested recipes using apple butter. Here are suggestions we received from readers:

Rosemary Freeman, Point Breeze: "While working in the Dutch Country (Lehigh County), I was introduced to eating cottage cheese with apple butter. A nice half cup or so of cottage cheese with a generous dollop of apple butter, yummy. Almost dessert it is so good. My neighbor is Italian and she thinks so, too."

Jean Stephenson, Baldwin Borough: "Many years ago when I was growing up my mother would make thin pancakes the size of the skillet. After browning both sides she would spread them with a mixture of cottage cheese and apple butter. Then she would roll them like a jelly roll and cut them in half. We thought we had a great treat." Another idea: Apple butter makes a good filling for spice cakes.

PG TESTED

• 3 1/2- to 4-pound beef rump roast
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 lemon sliced but unpeeled
• 10 whole cloves
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 4 bay leaves
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 gingersnaps, crumbled

Place meat in a deep ceramic or glass bowl. Combine remaining ingredients except gingersnaps; pour over meat. Cover and refrigerate 24 to 36 hours turning meat several times during marinating.

Place beef in slow cooker. Pour 1 cup marinade over meat.

Cover. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Remove meat and place on a platter; cover with foil. Strain meat juices and return to pot. Turn to high. Stir in gingersnaps. Cover and cook on high 10 to 14 minutes. Slice meat. Pour sauce over meat.

Serves 8 to 10.

-- "Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1,400 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes" by Phyllis Pellman Good (Good Books, 2008, $29.95)

PG TESTED

• 1 pound Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage (any variety) cut into 4-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, cut into wedges
• 2 16-ounce cans sauerkraut
• 2 medium apples, cut into wedges
• 10 ounces diced or sliced refrigerated potatoes
• 1 cup apple juice
• Salt and pepper

Brown sausage in butter in a 1 1/2-quart Dutch oven. Arrange onion, sauerkraut, apples and potatoes around sausage. Top with apple juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Cover tightly and simmer over low heat, stirring once. Cook 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes test done.

Serves 4 to 6.

Note: We used about 10 ounces frozen cubed potatoes. We used refrigerated bags of sauerkraut instead of canned sauerkraut and we drained most of the juice.