History

Did Colonel Sanders Develop His Famous Recipe Here in Green Lake?

March 3, 2016 6:06am
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via History Link

A bit of Green Lake folklore made its way onto our desk and while we’re not one to encourage the rumor mill, we were intrigued!   Apparently, and we stress “apparently,” rumor has it that the white hair, white suited, black bow tying Colonel Sanders perfected his famous “finger licking good” chicken recipe right here in Green lake!

A bit of sleuthing revealed accounts that the culinary wiz actually did spend some time here in Green Lake.

Here’s the scoop: Legend has it that the famous Col. Harland Sanders was once a short order cook at former Twin Teepees, the well-known establishment that was destroyed by a fire and demolished in 2001.

In Walking Seattle, by John Owen, the author flushes out the juicy details:

Walter Clear, the owner of Twin Teepees “met another energetic restaurateur who had fallen upon hard times… He offered his new friend (then known as Harold Sanders)… a temporary job as a cook at one of his downtown Seattle restaurants. ” Issues quickly arose when Sanders ignored his duties and was found up to his elbows brainstorming his ‘finger lickin’ good’ recipe. (We just had to include this!) Ones continues,  “To keep peace in the kitchen, Clark moved his friend to the Twin Teepees, where the man’s fascination with herbs and spices continued.”

After 10 months in Seattle, Harold moved back to Kentucky and began to call himself “Colonel Sanders.” Believe it or not! Did he develop his famous recipes just to the North of Green Lake’s shores? We may never know.

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