Sharing culinary secrets with each other is one thing us innkeepers do best. Last March I traveled to Ashland for the annual meeting of the Oregon Bed and Breakfast Guild and 
was a guest at the Oak Hill Bed and Breakfast, hosted by innkeepers Pat and Tom Howard.
Pat developed her own custom salts and these are sprinkled onto food just before serving. The basic recipe is 2 Tbsp good salt and 1 tsp. flavoring. "This is where you want to use a good quality salt - grey salt, sea salt, or at least a Kosher salt", Pat emphasizes. Put a teaspoon of the salt into a coffee grinder (dedicated to spices), add the flavoring, grind for a few seconds, then mix with the rest of the salt in a shallow bowl or jar. We thank Pat for sharing some of her favorites here:
was a guest at the Oak Hill Bed and Breakfast, hosted by innkeepers Pat and Tom Howard. Pat developed her own custom salts and these are sprinkled onto food just before serving. The basic recipe is 2 Tbsp good salt and 1 tsp. flavoring. "This is where you want to use a good quality salt - grey salt, sea salt, or at least a Kosher salt", Pat emphasizes. Put a teaspoon of the salt into a coffee grinder (dedicated to spices), add the flavoring, grind for a few seconds, then mix with the rest of the salt in a shallow bowl or jar. We thank Pat for sharing some of her favorites here:
- Matcha - especially nice on eggs, and it has a dramatic color.
- Smoked paprika - Pimenton de la Vera - gives a smoky, powerful, earthy blast of flavor to potatoes, risotto, and grilled meats
- Porcini - earthy umami flavor that enhances eggs, pasta, risotto, and grilled meats and vegetables
- Toasted fennel - one of my favorites - adds a toasty, spicy depth to meats, rice, pasta and especially potatoes
- Citrus - zest any combination of citrus and let that zest dry for a few hours before mixing with the salt. Brightens fish, salads, sliced tomatoes.
- Lavender - pulse culinary lavender buds first, then mix with salt - used sparingly, adds depth to most vegetables, especially tomatoes.
Really...this man needs no introduction, needs no drum roll and most definitely needs no one to miss out on seeing him perform later this summer.
Over twenty years ago, I had my first experiece staying at an inn. The Bath Street Inn in Santa Barbara was lovely. Flowers, cakes, cookies, wine and yeah...the fact that it was set in Santa Barbara didn't hurt anything either. Well...that was a while ago and a few years back my dream of being an innkeeper came true. It will be two years on May 1st since we opened our inn and began our new lives as innkeepers. Wow...what a change from being the guest to being the innkeeper! Yes...it's romantic, yes...it's even a bit like living in a fantasy world and oh yeah...it's a heck of a lot of work but you know what...we wouldn't have it any other way!
In Southern Oregon near Ashland, Jacksonville, and Cottage Grove, our innkeepers are so lucky to have so many choices when it comes to "good food!" The Rogue Creamery, several wineries, and great restaurants that use local food when preparing their recipes top the list in Southern Oregon. The Willamette Valley is also known for their local booty as well. Where else can you go to harvest hazelnuts, pick wine grapes, grab a box of organic veggies and go back to your inn and prepare a feast? Well...we know it's here! Then there's the Hood
River Valley...what can we say about that region? Yummmmm! Orchards full of things like pears, organic cherries and apples!
In the afternoon, we began our Epicurean tour of Ashland restaurants at the Ashland Springs Hotel with samples of 
A road trip to Ashland to prep for our 
important as the cheese itself. A nice mild Oregonzola with an Oregon Pinot Noir perhaps? Chocolate Stout, (my fav) with such beer as a stout or porter? Artisan cheese from an artisan cheese company focused on sustainability, perfecting the art of making the world's best cheese and sharing it with the rest of us who just simply love cheese!
This is a fun recipe because it is so easy and you can change it up by adding fresh crimini mushrooms, small slices of fresh garden zucchini, fresh basil or thyme and change the type of cheese now and then with the same results. Your guests will be amazed at this sweet little cheese dish.
Don't you just love this time of year? An end of another year and the beginning of "new" beginnings, resolutions and promises we make to ourselves and others. Well...in 2010 I resolve to learn more about where I live. I resolve to learn more about Oregon, to learn more about why people flock here for the food and drink but most of all, I resolve to taste and learn all that I can about the beer brewed here in Oregon and why it is famous all over the world! I think this is a resolution I can keep!
Imagine soaking in a tub filled with hot water in the great outdoors or sitting by a fire pit roasting marshmallows and sipping hot cocoa with a rushing river close by or waking to the delicious smells of coffee, bacon and eggs with onions and peppers and then the scones...oh the scones baking with the cranberries and nuts and then the marmalade or lemon curd and butter... 
Oregon offers unparalleled opportunities for outdoor winter recreation and ski conditions have set records this year. Whether you are a skier, snowboarder, or looking for back-country trails for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling, Oregon has it all. And after your day's adventure, get pampered at a member inn of the 
The Sesquicentennial birthday of Oregon is reason for Celebration. And the celebration will last until February 13, 2010 at events taking place across the state. And its your chance to win with the 
as organically grown vegetables, grain fed beef and pork, fresh eggs and whatever gorgeous flowers are blooming. I prepared the recipe above yesterday after hitting the 
Ashland, Brownsville and Albany, these two have experienced our Oregon Bed and Breakfasts, our delightful culinary treasures, our beautiful beaches, our quaint towns and villages and are looking forward to sharing it all with you.
Last summer just a few months after we opened 
Oregon has the most 
Valley Covered Bridge 
bridges to tour. The 
The Oregon Bed & Breakfast Guild provides OBBG Comment Cards to its member Oregon bed and breakfasts and encourages the inns to put them out where the guests will use them.
But sometimes guests aren't comfortable mentioning what they didn't like about their stay. The Comment Card gives them a way to let the Guild know--and the innkeeper know too--either anonymously or with name provided--what the issue was.
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