Mike Riedel learned something new about making German potato dumplings from master cook Marilyn Bowe at Oktoberfest on Saturday.
“Using potatoes that are warm is easier than working with cold ones. You have to work cold ones longer,” said Riedel, who is the main cook in his family and enjoys making German dishes.
Bowe’s demonstration on how to make the those big, round off-white dumplings that go so well with sauerkraut and pork steak was one of several mini-workshops on arts and crafts linked to German heritage offered at Chippewa Falls’ sixth annual Oktoberfest. The demonstrations gave people hands-on ways to connect with German culture.
Saturday isn’t the first time Riedel benefitted from an Oktoberfest demonstration. He now knows how to make the German noodle-like dish, spaetzel.
“I saw it last year and got interested,” he said. He bought a special spaetzel-making tool soon after last year’s event, and has made the dish four or five times for his family. He had never made it before. He did know something about making potato dumplings, but still found Bowe’s demonstration useful.
“My grandma showed me when I was a little boy, but she never made spaetzel,” he said.
Nancy Stygar of Chippewa Falls took in Lucianne Boardman’s class in Scherenschnitte — the art of German paper cutting. she cut out an intricate lion in the first class, then went on to the more complicated projects, with the help of Boardman and her daughter, Tria Wedge.
“I like doing crafts; I do scrapbooks and stuff like that,” Stygar said about why she went to Boardman’s classes. “I thought it was something I could do with my daughter. I can definitely see doing this again.”
She was proud of that lion she cut out.
“My daughter pointed it out for me and wanted me to do that one, so I did,” she said.
Her daughter, Shylo, 8, enjoyed the paper cutting, too, while son Tristan, 6, went to Mike Lindsay’s radish cutting demonstration nearby.
“Five minutes from batter to cook and you’re ready to go,” proclaimed Kelly Wonder, who with husband Bill demonstrated spaetzel making. One of the people watching was Jeanette Brunn of Jefferson, Wis., who was sure to take the ideas home with her — but not necessary to her kitchen.
“This is my first time here to Chippewa Falls, and I think it’s very nice,” she said of Oktoberfest. “There are eight or 10 couples coming from Jefferson just for this festival to see what it’s all about.”
She and the other are involved in Jefferson’s Gemutlichkeit celebration, which was just last weekend.
“I’m looking for new ideas for our festival,” she said.
Kathy Oelschlager of Eau Claire slapped a pair of wooden spoons between her hand and thigh, keeping rhythm with Hansi Mueller, whose wife, Peggy, accompanied on the squeeze box in a wooden spoon demonstration. Oelscchlager thought she might try to get her husband to practice with her at home.
“I saw if at the Milwaukee German Fest, but I’d never done it before. It’s fun if you get your fingers in the right place,” she said.
It wasn’t a demonstration on the Saturday schedule, but the Western Wisconsin Wood Carvers Guild had a booth set up in the Familientreff building and did a lot of demonstrating throughout the weekend. Jan Wyss, a self-described novice member of the club was working at chip carving on a piece of flat wood Saturday afternoon.
“It’s really so much fun. You don’t have to be great at it,” she said.
Wyss said she took an interest in carving about three years ago and just last weekend took another class given by expert carver Debbie Edwards at the LaFayette Town Hall.
Wally Wohlbier of Chippewa Falls is a more experienced member of the club, carving since 1995, after some heart trouble started to limit some of his physical activities.
“This carving is a Godsend to me. It takes away all the frustrations,” he said. “I’m not the world’s best, but I’m learning.”
