Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Alright, I realize I've been a bit of a slacker with this blog lately, but I've actually been busy trying to make money blogging, and to do that with Ruining Mom's Recipes, I'd have to actually include some of Mom's recipes.

Well, that's not the real excuse, although I am well aware that I haven't actually been including enough of Mom's recipes. But that's much easier said than done, and to those of you to whom Mom is dear, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Please bear with me, and there will be more to come, I promise!

In the meantime, my real excuse for the extreme slacking is that I've been busy planning my birthday party trip to Leavenworth Oktoberfest, which actually reminded me a lot more of the real Oktoberfest in Munich than I ever would have imagined. The Oktoberfest Bier tasted like the real thing and the gebrannte Mandeln (sugar-roasted almonds) really took me back to all of the outdoor festivals I visited while in Germany.

But I got my biggest dose of Munich before Oktoberfest even started when Bryan, Nicole, Dan and I went to Andreas Keller in downtown Leavenworth and I found one of my favorite dishes on the menu that I haven't had for a decade: Leberkase, which is basically Bavarian meatloaf, but tastes more like a giant piece of delicious fried bologna. Sounds gross, but trust me, the stuff is marvelous.

I also was drooling over Bryan's dish, Sahne Schnitzel, which was similar to one of my favorites that my host mom used to make. Only difference was that Bryan's featured the always beloved Schnitzel, whereas my host mom usually served cut-up pork with the Spaetzle and the same delicious cream sauce. And now the hunt begins for the Sahne sauce recipe ...