Archive for January, 2014

Leavenworth WA represented at 2014 Winter Games

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

When the 2014 Winter Games open on February 7, the northwest will be well represented. Athletes from around the northwest will compete on the short speed skate track, in snowboard and free-style events and on the cross-country ski course.

Cross country ski tracks in the snow

Cross country ski tracks in the snow

Leavenworth Washington native, Torin Koos, was named to the US Olympic Ski Team in January after winning the US Sprint championship. Koos is an Olympic veteran, having competed in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, where he finished 26th in the individual sprint classic.

Torin lists his hometown as Leavenworth WA. He was a member of Leavenworth Sports Club (still listed as his home club in some press sites) and began competing at the age of 12. He’s still active in the Washington State nordic ski scene. You can view a an instructional video filmed by Icicle TV, wherein Koos demonstrates his signature double polling technique known as a kangaroo hop with local youth athletes. Torin has also been involved with the Icicle Middle School running program as a volunteer coach.

Koos is active with the community outreach program In the Arena which has a vision “to leverage the uplifting power of sport to effect lasting and meaningful change in today’s youth, with the aim of giving all young Americans equal access to the highest caliber role models and the best chance at success in the long-term.”

You can read Torin Koos’ blog here.

Check out some video from Icicle TV featuring Torin.

You can find out more about Torin Koos at these links:

Team USA profile

NBC Athlete’s profile

Torin’s Facebook page

Video US Sprint Championship from Jan 6, 2014

Joining Torin Koos on the USA Ski Team are siblings Erik Bjornsen and Sadie Bjornsen from Winthrop in the Methow Valley.

You can meet the entire USA Olympic Cross-Country Team and follow their progress at the NBC Olympics website.

Congratulations, Torin!
Go Team USA!

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Christmas in the Rockies

Friday, January 10th, 2014

We love the mountains! With both of us having grown up in the mountainous northwest, the mountains are our favorite place to be. (Right up there with Walt Disney World and home!) This year we had added incentive to travel to the Colorado Rockies for Christmas: our third grandchild, Alan Hollister Meredith, arrived in mid-December. We flew to Denver International Airport early on Christmas Day where we were met by our son, Andrew. It was good to see him. Our last time with him having been in August for Scotte’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary.

Andrew and his wife, Patricia, make their home in the small Colorado town of Buena Vista in the Collegiate Mountains of central Colorado. It’s a three hour drive from Denver. In spite of his new-parent sleep deprivation, Andrew was cheerful and talkative. A great chauffeur.

It seemed no time at all and we were arriving at Spring Canyon Camp where Andrew lives and works. Spring Canyon is an Officer’s Christian Fellowship Camp. Located in the heart of the Collegiates at 9200′ elevation. The camp serves military families from all branches. In the winter and summer, families gather at Spring Canyon to reconnect and restore. The camp is beautiful, situated as it is at the foot of several “fourteeners”.

The highlight of the trip was, of course, seeing our kids and meeting baby Alan. We spent loads of time holding the cuddly little bundle, changing diapers (at least Renae did), burping him, comforting him and just getting to know his sweet little self.

As a family we played games (including one that Andrew is developing), watched Christmas movies, ate wonderful cheese fondue, got caught up on Sherlock, and shared dinners with the military families at camp. New Year’s Eve dinner was corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and black eyed peas. The incredible dessert buffet was prepared by Andrew’s sister-in-law, a CIA (Culinary Institute of America, NY) trained pastry chef and a baker in downtown Seattle, at Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. Catie served up cannoli, peppermint bark cheese cake and a gluten free cake with caramel Italian cream icing.

Our week with Andrew, Tricia and Alan was wonderful, but too short. Too soon we had to leave for Denver and our Southwest flight home. Before he took us to the airport, Andrew wanted to make sure we had a great lunch. Neither of us have eaten at Chick-fil-A®. Our son was on a mission to make sure we did before we left for the Chick-fil-A desert of Washington State (our nearest is 282 miles away in Meridian ID.) I have to say, “When, oh when, will Chick-fil-A® come to Eastern Washington?”


We’re home now, looking back on our photos and our memories of time shared with family over Christmas in the Rockies.

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Magic of sauerkraut, updated

Friday, January 10th, 2014

This is an update of a post that appeared first in October, 2011. Winter is a perfect time to eat sauerkraut, though we haven’t found a season where we don’t require a little bit of sauerkraut to make our Leavenworth visit complete. It seems a good time to take another look at one of our favorite Leavenworth treats: sauerkraut.

From the original post: One of the things we look forward to in Leavenworth is eating sauerkraut. We rarely eat it at home, with the exception of using it to top a hotdog at a local baseball game. But when we get to Leavenworth it only takes one whiff of sauerkraut in the air coming from one of the several restaurants serving German cuisine and we’re planning when we’ll get our first bite. And if you walk by München Haus when you’re hungry? ….Forget about it!

What is sauerkraut?
sau·er·kraut/ˈsou(ə)rˌkrout/
Noun: Chopped cabbage that has been pickled in brine.

“Sauerkraut is a great source of iron, vitamin K and vitamin C, which is another reason it was popular on seafaring vessels. It also helps the good bacteria in your body stay healthy and, in turn, keep you healthy. It is a great food for people taking antibiotics to eat because the medicine kills both good and bad bacteria.” Read more at eHow.

There are many other vegetables that are preserved by a similar process.
Korean kimchi
Japanese tsukemono
Chinese suan cai
Filipino atchara

“Sauerkraut is made by a process of pickling called lacto-fermentation that is analogous to how traditional (not heat-treated) pickled cucumbers and kimchi are made. Fully-cured sauerkraut keeps for several months in an airtight container stored at or below 15 °C (59 °F). Neither refrigeration nor pasteurization is required, although these treatments prolong storage life.” Wikipedia

Some of the 101 ways to eat sauerkraut from the Accidental Bavarian Eat page:

  • On a brat!
  • A little bit with each bit of whatever bit you’re eating
  • With scrambled eggs
  • A sweet sauerkraut with pork roast
  • With a dollop of fancy mustard
  • Mit Deutsch Kartoffelsalat (potato salad)
  • Mixed up with spatzle
  • On a corned beef sandwich
  • On dark Bavarian rye bread
  • Straight from the jar
  • On pizza
  • Twirl vs slurp?
  • On waffles
  • Maybe a sauerkraut milkshake?
  • Under mushroom sauce
  • With onions
  • Under melted Swiss cheese
  • Winekraut and Schweinshax’n

Still unconvinced? Rather than eating sauerkraut plain, try it as part of a sandwich or on a delicious German sausage. One of our favorites, a grilled Reuben sandwich. This classic pastrami sandwich layered with swiss cheese, thousand island dressing and sauerkraut on rye bread and served toasty hot, can be found at a number of eateries in Leavenworth. We’ve had very good versions at Ducks and Drakes and The Soup Cellar. At Andreas Keller you can get a Bratwurst Reuben at lunch. A bratwurst is substituted for the pastrami and the delicious house-made Weinkraut is in place of the typical sauerkraut. You can also find sauerkraut on breakfast plates, and on pizzas in Leavenworth.

How do you like your sauerkraut? Have you eaten this classic German side dish in unusual ways?

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