A taste of Germany

If you’d like to experience a little bit of Oktoberfest, but a trip to Germany is not in your budget this year, head west to Leavenworth and treat yourself to all kinds of Bavarian treats.

In this picturesque town less than 200 miles from Spokane, you can almost imagine that you really are in southern Germany as you listen to the accordion player in the town square, enjoy a grilled sausage in the beer garden and sample cheeses and chocolates in the local boutiques.

Surrounded by the snowy Cascade Mountains, Leavenworth’s scenic beauty adds to its European ambience.

The town was originally founded in the 1890s by European settlers in search of gold, fur and farm land. As the railroad across Stevens Pass was completed in 1893, the tiny town of Leavenworth was connected to the west coast and the timber industry boomed, along with the town’s population. In 1925, The Great Northern Railway Co. decided to relocate the tracks running through Leavenworth, and as a result Leavenworth’s timber industry and economy hit a deep depression.

In order to revive the failing economy and promote tourism, a group of the town’s leaders decided to give Leavenworth a makeover in 1960. Inspired by the striking similarity between the Bavarian Alps and the beauty of the surrounding Cascade Mountains, they chose an alpine theme and the concept of Leavenworth as a Bavarian village was born. The German population has grown from 4 percent in 1960 to 29 percent today. “The Germans who live here just love it and keep inviting their friends and family to move here,” explained Sherry Schweizer of the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce.

Oktoberfest – a royal party

On October 12, 1810, Prince Ludwig of Bavaria threw a party in Munich for his people to celebrate his wedding to Princess Therese. The original celebration included horse races and agricultural shows. By 1818, beer stands and carnivals appeared. The party became an annual event and today lasts 16 days and officially ends the first Sunday in October. According to the Munich Tourism Office, more than six million people are expected to attend the festivities in Munich alone, enjoying music, copious amounts of beer, sausages, grilled chicken, potato salad and pretzels.

Although Leavenworth’s Oktoberfest celebration doesn’t quite match that of Munich, festival organizers Bob and Nancy Kelly are expecting roughly 20,000 visitors this year. What started in 1998 with 400 attendees has grown to be one of the top celebrations in the country, according to the Kellys.

Leavenworth’s Oktoberfest takes place Friday, Saturday, Oct. , 10 and 11, and 17 and 18 and features beer gardens, grilled sausages, ribs, and chicken, pulled pork sandwiches, pretzels and German cake. Bands from Germany as well as local musicians will entertain throughout the festival. Each Saturday, villagers in colorful, traditional dirndls and lederhosen will lead a parade, followed by bands and a Bavarian style bier wagon. Vendors will sell German souvenirs, and the kids will be entertained at the Kinderplatz, with clowns and magicians.

German delights

To make the most of your trip to Leavenworth, start at the Gingerbread Factory. The inviting aroma of freshly baked gingerbread cookies beckons you up the steps of this cozy dollhouse-like cottage. Once inside, you will be tempted with traditionally decorated gingerbread people in all shapes and sizes, sugar cookies, and ginger white chocolate oatmeal cookies, just to name a few. Enjoy a morning coffee, or order lunch from the deli with panini sandwiches, soups and fruit smoothies.

The Gingerbread Factory produces thousands of gingerbread house kits and ships them around the country every year. They also have a full line of home décor products for sale for the gingerbread lover, including cookie cutters and scented candles. And of course, you can still purchase gingerbread cookies and other treats to take home. Visit them at 828 Commercial St. or www.gingerbreadfactory.com.

Follow the steep stairs into the cool basement at 819 Front St. to discover The Cheesemonger’s Shop. The shop offers more than 80 different cheeses from around the world, as well as grilling sausages, salamis, and European beers and wines. They feature traditional cow’s milk cheeses, as well as more unusual cheeses like Drunken Goat (goat cheese marinated in red wine) and haloumi, a feta-like sheep’s cheese that won’t melt on the grill.

The shop staff explains the origin and nature of each cheese to visitors as they offer samples, a tasty and educational experience. Owner Dave Hambelton encourages customers to taste the cheeses. “Some people can be intimidated by a cheese store,” he explains. “We try to offer cheeses that make an impression, like our Stilton with mango and ginger, or our beer cheese.” The German butterkase, a mild, creamy German farmer’s cheese, is also very popular.

You can buy some bread, dips and drinks to go with your cheese, and pick up one of the store’s picnic maps showing the best spots to enjoy your lunch al fresco.

It is easy to enjoy great cheeses at home with the shop’s cheese club. For $25 a month including shipping, the shop will send you two different cheeses each month. Check out their Web site at www.cheesemongersshop.com with interesting links to cooking with cheese and cheese history.

Schocolat specializes in fine handmade chocolates. Owners Damian Browne and Susie Johnson make all of the chocolates daily on site in the European tradition of using the finest ingredients and making small batches. After 25 years in the pastry business, Johnson was looking for a career change. On a trip to Berkeley, Johnson and her husband Browne visited a boutique chocolate shop. “When we saw that concept in Berkeley, we knew that’s what we wanted to do,” she said. They combined their culinary talents to open Schocolat, a boutique chocolate shop.

Their current best-seller is a brandied pear chocolate made from local dried pears soaked in brandy and finished with caramel and milk chocolate. For last year’s Oktoberfest, Johnson created a doppelbock beer chocolate, which will be featured again this fall, along with a white chocolate pumpkin praline, made from fresh pumpkin and traditional pumpkin pie spices. Don’t miss the dark chocolate mint praline – not too sweet and refreshingly minty. Schocolat is at 843 Front St.

If you want to pick up some fresh bratwurst or knockwurst to take home, stop by Willi’s Sausage Haus. Owner Willi Musgrave has more than 40 years experience in the meat business, and his store’s sausages are handcrafted from his original recipes. His country sausage is the best-seller, but the landjager sausage is popular, too. “The landjager is a Swiss hunters’ sausage. It is dried and pressed flat so hunters can carry it over their belts,” he explained. These dried sausages are still popular with hunters and backpackers today.

In addition to carrying Leavenworth’s largest selection of fresh sausages, the Sausage Haus also carries cheeses, Austrian and German wines, and fun confectionary treats such as chocolate shaped ladybugs and licorice sticks. They have a good selection of hard to find Bavarian grocery items too, like curry ketchup and specialty mustards. You can find Willi’s Sausage Haus at 217 Ninth St.

Lunch Time

Follow the deliciously smoky aroma to München Haus Bavarian Grill at 709 Front St. where a steady stream of customers line up in front of the outside grill for one of their premium charbroiled sausages served with apple cider kraut and specialty mustards. They even have a vegetarian wurst for nonmeat eaters.

Or if you are in the mood for a burger, stop at Gustav’s at 617 Highway 2. You can try one of the 25 beers they have on tap and drink in the mountain views. My friend makes the trip from Seattle just for lunch at Gustav’s.

If you are looking for traditional Bavarian fare, Andreas Keller Restaurant is the place. You will feel like you are in Munich in this basement restaurant, with a menu featuring schnitzels, potato salad, smoked pork and rotisserie chicken. You will find them at 829 Front St.

Wine tasting

Pick up a wine tasting map at the Visitor’s Information office and explore more than a dozen tasting rooms and local wineries. The long, sunny days of summer are perfect for wine grapes, and the below freezing temperatures in the fall allow several local vintners to produce a rich, sweet ice wine.

Don’t miss Icicle Ridge Winery. The tasting room is set in Louie and Judy Waggoner’s 5,000 square foot hand carved log home, looking out over the vineyards and mountains. The winery is open in the winter, and according to winemaker Don Wood, “the winery is a winter wonderland. There is nothing like it – wine tasting by a roaring fire. It’s magical.” Icicle Ridge Winery is at 8977 North Road in Peshastin, four miles east of Leavenworth.

Wine tasting events take place year-round, and Leavenworth Enchanted Tours offers limousine service to the wineries if you’d prefer not to drive yourself. They also offer sleigh rides and dinner packages. Call them at (877)-TOURS-20.

Farm visits

Be sure to visit the fruit stands and orchards in the nearby towns of Cashmere and Peshastin. Many are open all year, carrying gourmet food gifts and wine. Smallwood’s Harvest in Peshastin, 10461 Stemm Road, offers fresh produce and gourmet foods in a farm fun atmosphere. They carry an interesting line of fruit butters, including apricot, pumpkin and sweet potato, all available for sampling. It’s a great place for the kids, too, with a small petting zoo and animal food available for purchase so the kids can feed the animals.

Or visit Cashmere Cider House. Tour the mill located off Mission Creek road in Cashmere or belly up to the new apple cider tasting bar.

Can’t make it to Leavenworth? Have your own Oktoberfest celebration. Here are some traditional German-American recipes you can try at home:

München Haus Beer Bratwurst served with Apple Cider Kraut

Recipe is courtesy of Pamela Brulotte at the München Haus Grill in Leavenworth

4 uncooked bratwurst links (about 1 pound)

36-40 ounces of German beer (pilsner or marzen)

1 large onion (sliced)

4 hoagie rolls

Combine bratwurst, beer and sliced onion in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Simmer, covered, about 15 to 20 minutes until bratwurst are no longer pink, drain. Grill bratwurst until they are browned (about eight minutes), turning once halfway through grilling. Serve beer bratwurst on a lightly toasted hoagie roll with apple cider kraut, and a selection of mustards, curry ketchup, relishes and onions to choose from.

Yield: 4 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Apple Cider Kraut

Container of favorite sauerkraut

Apple cider

Brown sugar

Caraway seeds (optional)

Drain liquid from sauerkraut container and place sauerkraut in pot on stove or in slow cooker. Fill with apple cider until liquid covers sauerkraut. Simmer on low heat until warm and golden. Add small amount of brown sugar or caraway seeds for variation.

Yield: Varies

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Warm German Potato Salad

This recipe is from Chef Robert Graf of Alphorn Bistro, at the Inn at Danbury, in Danbury, New Hampshire

1 to 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes

1/4 pound bacon

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup beef stock

1/2 cup cider vinegar

Fresh chopped parsley

Hard boiled egg slices for garnish (optional)

Scrub potatoes, cook in salted water until tender. Skin potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch slices while still warm. You should have about 4 cups. Set aside.

Fry bacon in skillet until almost crisp. Add onion and celery, sauté until tender. Drain off all but one tablespoon bacon fat. Add sugar, salt, and pepper to skillet. Stir until lightly browned. Add vinegar and beef stock, cook until slightly thickened.

Pour hot dressing over potatoes, stir gently to blend. Add chopped parsley, garnish with hard boiled egg slices. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving, based on 6: 152 calories, 4 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 24 percent fat calories), 5 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrate, 41 milligrams cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 562 milligrams sodium.

Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe is courtesy of the Gingerbread Factory in Leavenworth.

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup shortening

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup molasses

2 eggs

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 cups flour

Cream together brown sugar, shortening, honey and molasses. Mix in two eggs. Mix in ginger, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda and flour. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate six hours or overnight. Roll 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes with knife or cookie cutters. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes – on parchment paper is best. Enjoy hot from the oven or cool before decorating with royal icing and sprinkles.

Yield: Varies

Approximate nutrition per serving, based on 24 (without icing or decorations): 247 calories, 9 grams fat (2 grams saturated, 33 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 39 grams carbohydrate, 17 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 67 milligrams sodium.

Royal Icing

2 egg whites (see note)

2 cups powdered sugar

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Mix until soupy and then whip until soft peaks form. Add food coloring. Apply to cookies with icing tubes, fingers or toothpicks.

Note: Due to the risk of salmonella in raw egg whites, those at high risk for food borne illnesses should use pasteurized refrigerated egg whites or powdered egg whites.

Nussecken – Nut Triangles

This recipe is courtesy of Andreas Keller restaurant in Leavenworth

For the base:

2 1/2 cups flour (300 grams)

1 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup sugar (130 grams)

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (see note)

2 eggs

1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon butter (130 grams)

For the topping:

1 jar apricot jam

3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons butter (200 grams)

4 tablespoon water

3/4 cup sugar (200 grams)

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

14 ounces ground hazelnuts

For the glaze:

Melted dark chocolate

To make the base, sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and vanilla sugar together. Combine with eggs and 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon butter to make a dough. Roll it out into a rectangle and lay it on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Brush the dough with apricot jam. To make the topping, heat 3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons butter, water, sugar and vanilla sugar slowly in a saucepan and stir in ground hazelnuts. Allow this mixture to cool slightly then spread it over the apricot covered dough. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Cool and cut into small squares and then cut the squares diagonally into triangles. Dip each corner into melted dark chocolate and allow to harden before serving.

Note: To make vanilla sugar put a vanilla bean in a jar of sugar with a lid. The sugar will absorb the vanilla flavor. Or in this recipe you may substitute one teaspoon vanilla extract for the vanilla sugar.

Yield: 24 triangles

Approximate nutrition per serving: 306 calories, 21 grams fat (7 grams saturated, 59 percent fat calories), 4 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrate, 42 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 110 milligrams sodium.