I like to browse the entire row before getting down to the serious business of picking the mums for this year.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Looking for Mums in All the Right Places
We are lucky to have some fabulous plant nurseries in our area and one of my favorite go-to places is Story's Nursery. It is just 15 minutes from our inn and they always have a wonderful selection.
I like to browse the entire row before getting down to the serious business of picking the mums for this year.
I like to browse the entire row before getting down to the serious business of picking the mums for this year.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Greenville Day Chili Challenge
Last weekend was the annual Greenville Day celebration. There was a pancake breakfast, farmer's market, antiques appraisal, 5K run, live music, fireworks, and a chili challenge.
The chili challenge was held at Vanderbilt Park, a short walk away from the inn, and we would have walked there except for the threatening rain clouds. I love me some chili, but didn't want to get chilly.
There were about 16 chili challengers set up in the barn at the park.
Each chili chef had their table arranged with a pan of chili and assorted toppings for their chili.
Here's one with a lovely presentation. It was delicious, too.
The chili was hot in more than one way, so it was nice that in the center of the building was a large table filled with desserts, muffins, cornbread, cider donuts, and more to help cool off your mouth between helpings of chili.
Mark lived in Texas for 9 years, so to him chili means Texas and he came dressed accordingly.
Booth presentation was also part of the judging, and hands down, I think Aileen was the one who most got into the spirit of the contest -- plus her chicken chili was my personal favorite! She topped it with a chipotle creama and cilantro.
The last chili we tasted that evening was made by the youngest contestant, shown here with her assistant (her mom).
All of the chili tasters were allow to vote for their favorites with a handful of beans. Each were give a baggy of beans and at each chili station was a plexiglass box for you to vote with your beans. You could give all the beans to one person or divvy them up between all of your favorites.
After the chili tasting, we went outside to investigate the band and to search out the ice cream being served.
The band, "From Dusk to Dawn", was set up in another barn at the park.
The drizzly weather kept the audience to the hardy few, but the fire pit helped keep them warm.
Then we found the ice cream. A fudgecicle for me and a strawberry ice for Mark.
The chili challenge was held at Vanderbilt Park, a short walk away from the inn, and we would have walked there except for the threatening rain clouds. I love me some chili, but didn't want to get chilly.
There were about 16 chili challengers set up in the barn at the park.
Each chili chef had their table arranged with a pan of chili and assorted toppings for their chili.
Here's one with a lovely presentation. It was delicious, too.
The chili was hot in more than one way, so it was nice that in the center of the building was a large table filled with desserts, muffins, cornbread, cider donuts, and more to help cool off your mouth between helpings of chili.
Mark lived in Texas for 9 years, so to him chili means Texas and he came dressed accordingly.
Booth presentation was also part of the judging, and hands down, I think Aileen was the one who most got into the spirit of the contest -- plus her chicken chili was my personal favorite! She topped it with a chipotle creama and cilantro.
The last chili we tasted that evening was made by the youngest contestant, shown here with her assistant (her mom).
All of the chili tasters were allow to vote for their favorites with a handful of beans. Each were give a baggy of beans and at each chili station was a plexiglass box for you to vote with your beans. You could give all the beans to one person or divvy them up between all of your favorites.
After the chili tasting, we went outside to investigate the band and to search out the ice cream being served.
The band, "From Dusk to Dawn", was set up in another barn at the park.
The drizzly weather kept the audience to the hardy few, but the fire pit helped keep them warm.
Then we found the ice cream. A fudgecicle for me and a strawberry ice for Mark.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Pumpkin Pancakes - It Must Be Fall!
We have a new breakfast special for the Fall - Pumpkin Pancakes. So far the response has been unanimous - "Best pancakes ever!"
It's not the special every day, but we do take suggestions if you want to mention it when you check in.
Our breakfast short order menu is all made fresh to order. We don't use mixes or pre-cooked dishes that are just warmed up.
It's not the special every day, but we do take suggestions if you want to mention it when you check in.
Our breakfast short order menu is all made fresh to order. We don't use mixes or pre-cooked dishes that are just warmed up.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Asparagus & Mushroom Strata
I tried a new breakfast special the other day and it was a clear winner, as many have already asked for the recipe! So here it is.
** We make fresh breads every night for the dinners we make at the inn. So I like to use up the unused bread, for example when I last made this Strata I used a bit of a baguette, 2 onion marmalade rolls, and a bunch of buttermilk bread. The variety makes it interesting!
DIRECTIONS:
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the dried mushrooms. Remove from heat and let soak for about 15 minutes. Then drain and chop.
Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus, sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spears start to brown and soften, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and scallion whites and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes.
Butter a 9"x13" baking dish. Whisk the eggs with the half/half and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Spread half the bread in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half the eggs mixture and then cover with half the cheese, asparagus mixture, and sprinkle with half the scallion greens. Repeat with the remaining bread, custard, cheese, asparagus mixture, and scallions. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down so the bread is completely submerged in the egg mixture, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days before baking.
Put a rack in the center of the oven and heat the over to 350°F. Let the strata sit at room temperature while the oven heats. Bake until the custard sets and the top browns, about 30 minutes. Loosely cover with foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, cut into square pieces, and serve.
- 2 Tbs unsalted butter
- 1 lb asparagus, ends snapped off
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground white pepper
- 3 1/2 oz mixed dried mushrooms (I use a "forest blend")
- 6 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced; white and green parts separated
- 9 large eggs
- 2 3/4 cups half/half
- 1 large loaf (about 1 lb rustic white bread), cut into 1" cubes**
- 3 cups created extra sharp Cheddar cheese (about 8 oz)
** We make fresh breads every night for the dinners we make at the inn. So I like to use up the unused bread, for example when I last made this Strata I used a bit of a baguette, 2 onion marmalade rolls, and a bunch of buttermilk bread. The variety makes it interesting!
DIRECTIONS:
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the dried mushrooms. Remove from heat and let soak for about 15 minutes. Then drain and chop.
Melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus, sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spears start to brown and soften, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and scallion whites and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple of minutes.
Butter a 9"x13" baking dish. Whisk the eggs with the half/half and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Spread half the bread in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half the eggs mixture and then cover with half the cheese, asparagus mixture, and sprinkle with half the scallion greens. Repeat with the remaining bread, custard, cheese, asparagus mixture, and scallions. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down so the bread is completely submerged in the egg mixture, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days before baking.
Put a rack in the center of the oven and heat the over to 350°F. Let the strata sit at room temperature while the oven heats. Bake until the custard sets and the top browns, about 30 minutes. Loosely cover with foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, cut into square pieces, and serve.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Innkeepers Holiday - Mystic CT
Yes, even innkeepers get to take a little holiday now and then, and when we do we love to go stay at another Bed and Breakfast - of course!
This past week we took a little trip to Mystic, CT at the invitation of fellow innkeepers, Greg and Mary Lou Peck, who own The Adams House.
Greg and Mary Lou are such wonderful and gracious hosts. We felt right at home the minute we stepped through the front door. I just loved our room!
We then had time to head into town to stroll the main street before dinner. We crossed the drawbridge in the center of town to find parking and then strolled the town.
This is part of the workings of the bridge. It is drawn up every hour at about 15 minutes after the hour.
We had dinner at the Captain Daniel Packer Inne, one of the restaurants highly recommended by Mary Lou. I had the petite filet mignon and Mark had the lobster stuffed with crab. We both thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the whole dining experience.
The next day was our one full day in Mystic. After a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese baked on top of halfed croissant rolls, we headed into Stonington, a small town next to Mystic. The Town of Stonington is situated in the southeastern corner of Connecticut, bordering Westerly, Rhode Island to the east, Long Island Sound to the south, Groton, Ledyard, and North Stonington to the west and north. Stonington is the only Connecticut town facing the Atlantic Ocean.
This is a wrought iron fence around the front of one a house at the start of our walk through the town.
On a historical note, Stonington made a name for itself during the War of 1812, when in 1814 just two canons were used to successfully hold off four British ships.
Along our walk through Stonington, we visited the Old Lighthouse Museum.
This is the view from in the lighthouse tower.
. . and the stairs down from the tower!
Next on the agenda was the Mystic Seaport: The Museum of American and the Sea. It includes three major components for visitors: a re-created 19th-century coastal village with historic ships, a working preservation shipyard, and formal exhibit galleries.
This is the interior of the Charles Morgan, the last of the wooden whaling ships. The restoration project is set up so that visitors can tour certain sections of the work in progress, while the ship builders are actually working on other sections. This is the upper deck of the ship.
This is another ship available to tour was the Joseph Conrad, a square rigged ship that has been used as a training vessel.
A horse-drawn cart was available for tours around the entire facility (not on board the ships, of course!)
This was the captains room of the Benjamin F Packard, which had been a 244-foot square-rigged sailing ship. The captain's room and parlor were rescued just prior to the ship being scuttled (sent down to the bottom of the sea) and reconstructed in this fine exhibit. The richness and detail of the wood furnishings and paneling was amazing.
For dinner that night we went to S & P Oyster Company.
While waiting for our table, we had drinks and appetizers on the outside wall - a wall the height of bar stools! It was a marvelous spot to just enjoy the view.
I guess we ate the dinner too quickly because we forgot to take pictures, but it was delicious! I especially remember with fondness the decadent flourless chocolate cake that I had for dessert.
This past week we took a little trip to Mystic, CT at the invitation of fellow innkeepers, Greg and Mary Lou Peck, who own The Adams House.
Greg and Mary Lou are such wonderful and gracious hosts. We felt right at home the minute we stepped through the front door. I just loved our room!
We then had time to head into town to stroll the main street before dinner. We crossed the drawbridge in the center of town to find parking and then strolled the town.
This is part of the workings of the bridge. It is drawn up every hour at about 15 minutes after the hour.
We had dinner at the Captain Daniel Packer Inne, one of the restaurants highly recommended by Mary Lou. I had the petite filet mignon and Mark had the lobster stuffed with crab. We both thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the whole dining experience.
The next day was our one full day in Mystic. After a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese baked on top of halfed croissant rolls, we headed into Stonington, a small town next to Mystic. The Town of Stonington is situated in the southeastern corner of Connecticut, bordering Westerly, Rhode Island to the east, Long Island Sound to the south, Groton, Ledyard, and North Stonington to the west and north. Stonington is the only Connecticut town facing the Atlantic Ocean.
This is a wrought iron fence around the front of one a house at the start of our walk through the town.
On a historical note, Stonington made a name for itself during the War of 1812, when in 1814 just two canons were used to successfully hold off four British ships.
Along our walk through Stonington, we visited the Old Lighthouse Museum.
This is the view from in the lighthouse tower.
. . and the stairs down from the tower!
Next on the agenda was the Mystic Seaport: The Museum of American and the Sea. It includes three major components for visitors: a re-created 19th-century coastal village with historic ships, a working preservation shipyard, and formal exhibit galleries.
This is the interior of the Charles Morgan, the last of the wooden whaling ships. The restoration project is set up so that visitors can tour certain sections of the work in progress, while the ship builders are actually working on other sections. This is the upper deck of the ship.
This is another ship available to tour was the Joseph Conrad, a square rigged ship that has been used as a training vessel.
A horse-drawn cart was available for tours around the entire facility (not on board the ships, of course!)
This was the captains room of the Benjamin F Packard, which had been a 244-foot square-rigged sailing ship. The captain's room and parlor were rescued just prior to the ship being scuttled (sent down to the bottom of the sea) and reconstructed in this fine exhibit. The richness and detail of the wood furnishings and paneling was amazing.
For dinner that night we went to S & P Oyster Company.
While waiting for our table, we had drinks and appetizers on the outside wall - a wall the height of bar stools! It was a marvelous spot to just enjoy the view.
I guess we ate the dinner too quickly because we forgot to take pictures, but it was delicious! I especially remember with fondness the decadent flourless chocolate cake that I had for dessert.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
New Mugs from Deneen Pottery
We just got a new shipment of our logo mugs from Deneen Pottery. They are wonderful as always.
Deneen offers such fabulous color selections that I like to order something different every year.
We also finally got a Life By Chocolate mug! This is the Rancher mug style - nice and big for a lovely mug of hot chocolate.
The Life By Chocolate mug will soon be available for purchase from our online chocolate shop. All of the mugs are available for purchase at our inn or over the phone.
In case you didn't know, Deneen Pottery is a family run business in MN that has been making custom hand-made pottery for 40 years. Each mug is formed by hand on a potter's wheel! I would highly recommend them if you or your company needs custom mugs for a special event. They are wonderful to work with, too!
Deneen offers such fabulous color selections that I like to order something different every year.
We also finally got a Life By Chocolate mug! This is the Rancher mug style - nice and big for a lovely mug of hot chocolate.
The Life By Chocolate mug will soon be available for purchase from our online chocolate shop. All of the mugs are available for purchase at our inn or over the phone.
In case you didn't know, Deneen Pottery is a family run business in MN that has been making custom hand-made pottery for 40 years. Each mug is formed by hand on a potter's wheel! I would highly recommend them if you or your company needs custom mugs for a special event. They are wonderful to work with, too!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Backporch Strip, Stain, and Paint!
Striping layers of paint may not be the most exciting thing to blog about but I'm doing it anyway!
Our inn is of such a size that our painting budget only allows for a portion of the inn to be addressed each year. This year the painters worked on the lower north side of the main inn and the back porch. The biggest part of the job was scraping and sanding away years of paint from the back porch because we wanted to stain it the same Rose Red that we used on the front porch last year.
The painters started with the deck, first stripping the paint and then sanding it smooth to reveal the beautiful old wood that had been hidden under all that paint. Next came the porch railing and posts. Those were tricky too because of all the groves and detail work.
It was also revealed that the under structure of the porch was rotting and had to be replaced! It was great to discover this so that it could be fixed, but it also set the time schedule off a bit. We were anxiously trying to get all the work done during a week when we had no guests at the inn, but on the upcoming weekend we'd have a full house. Time was of the essence!
Our painting team was great, though, and put in long hours to get the job done as quickly as possible. They finished on the day when just some of the weekend guests arrived. Whew - just in time!
Our inn is of such a size that our painting budget only allows for a portion of the inn to be addressed each year. This year the painters worked on the lower north side of the main inn and the back porch. The biggest part of the job was scraping and sanding away years of paint from the back porch because we wanted to stain it the same Rose Red that we used on the front porch last year.
The painters started with the deck, first stripping the paint and then sanding it smooth to reveal the beautiful old wood that had been hidden under all that paint. Next came the porch railing and posts. Those were tricky too because of all the groves and detail work.
It was also revealed that the under structure of the porch was rotting and had to be replaced! It was great to discover this so that it could be fixed, but it also set the time schedule off a bit. We were anxiously trying to get all the work done during a week when we had no guests at the inn, but on the upcoming weekend we'd have a full house. Time was of the essence!
Our painting team was great, though, and put in long hours to get the job done as quickly as possible. They finished on the day when just some of the weekend guests arrived. Whew - just in time!
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