We had an amazing time on our trip. It was gorgeous in Leavenworth and perfect timing: It wasn't too cold, the sun was shining, the leaves were turning and falling, the crowds weren't there because it was a weekday trip before the Christmas season. The whole place reminded me of Switzerland, the landscape around it and the Bavarian village downtown (except with wider roads). We had an amazing meal at Visconti's, the ingredients were exquisite, the flavors were perfect, the service was impeccable, I cannot come up with enough superlatives for our visit. The only downside was the table of boorish people next to us, but they left shortly and all was well again. I had a Tuscan bean soup that was so good that I will be trying to replicate here at home.

The next evening there was a reception at the conference, so we went to Via Dolce, Visconti's gelateria for gelato afterward and we stopped at Cured on our last day to buy some of the cured meats we had in our antipasta to take home with us. We also stopped by the cheese monger's and picked up some lovely cheeses, an aged gouda, some cranberry-chipotle cheddar and a chaubier. We went to Schocolat and brought home some wonderful chocolates as well. I also spent some time in the local yarn store, Wooly Bully and came home with some fun treasures.

In the 11 years we have lived in Washington, this was our first trip to Leavenworth. We will definitely return and have scoped out some great places to take the children when we do. Mariam and I had a great time walking around little Bavaria in Washington and she was adored everywhere we went. I made some decent progress on Amira's sock while we were there, too.

Our trip home was quite lackadaisical. We stopped in Cashmere and visited the Cider Mill, which was also wonderful. We picked up some of their huckleberry cider and had an incredible farm raised lunch. I will forever love Paula for thinking that we were young newlyweds with our first child. She looked shocked when we said that Mariam was our seventh and that we had been married nearly 14 years. We also finally took the Aplets and Cotlets tour. It turns out that the founders and owners of the company are cousins to us, they are Armenians and they modified a recipe for loukom to make the candy.

We are back to normal this week, so here is our menu.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Leftover Coconut Cake, Steamers and Coffee
  Dinner: Italian Sausage Skillet with the Last of Our Summer Squash, Rice, More Cake


• Monday
  Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Gnocchi alla Romana with the Best Pasta Sauce Ever, Garlicky Greens


• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Leftover Baked Oatmeal, Milk, Coffee
  Dinner: Chicken and Potato Casserole*, Cabbage & Carrot Salad


• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Yogurt, Honey and Granola, Milky Tea
  Dinner: Cream of Poblano Soup, Spelt Biscuits, Fruit Plate


• Thursday
  Breakfast: Cheese and Spinach Omelets, Kamut Toast, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Cowboy Beans, Cornbread, Boiled Beets, Carrot Sticks


• Friday
  Breakfast: Cherry-Pomegranate Toaster Pastries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pasta with Eggplant & Tomato Sauce*, Sliced Fruit


• Saturday
  Breakfast: Bacon and Cheddar Muffins*, Apple Sauce, Cocoa
  Dinner: Spanakopita Kofta, Creamy Herbed White Beans, Roasted Squash Wedges, Pepper and Onion Cous Cous (we ended up with a different meal on Saturday)

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Family, Homemaking, Knitting, Menu Plans, Reviews, Tales from the Kitchen