Valentine's Day at the Inn

Valentine's Day at most bed and breakfasts is usually very busy. They fill up with couples looking for a romantic get-away to celebrate the day or week-end with someone they love. The Inns offer Sweetheart Packages, Spa Packages and the like. They fill the rooms with red roses, champagne and chocolates. We, at the Aleksander House, http://www.aleksanderhouse.com/ like to serve a special sweetheart's breakfast of Belgium Waffles with fresh strawberries and real whipped cream. Strawberries and chocolate seem to be very popular on Valentine's Day, so many of the Innkeepers make chocolate-covered strawberries. They're really not difficult to make. Here are a couple of recipes:

Recipes for Chocolate Covered Strawberries

INGREDIENTS
16 ounces milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
1 pound fresh strawberries with leaves
DIRECTIONS
Insert toothpicks into the tops of the strawberries.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding them by the toothpicks, dip the strawberries into the chocolate mixture.
Turn berries upside down. Insert pick in Styrofoam for chocolate to cool.

Recipe from: Armida Cooks
Since it's Valentine's Day today, I figured I'll re-post this oldie-but goodie recipe for Chocolate Covered Strawberries. If you want to impress your cutie pie, these strawberries are so easy to make.
Whenever I go to a fancy Sunday brunch, there are two things that I first look out for: the champagne and the chocolate covered strawberries. The recipe below is fool proof and delicious. Just make sure your strawberries are super dry before you dip them in the chocolate. Oh my gawd, I'm having cravings just writing this!

INGREDIENTS
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening, such a vegetable Crisco (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil)*
12 large fresh strawberries, with stems, rinsed and patted dry

DIRECTIONS
Prepare cookie sheet by placing wax paper on bottom of it.
Place chocolate chips and shortening in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1-1/2 minutes or just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred; cool slightly.
Holding strawberry by top, dip 2/3 of each berry into chocolate mixture; shake gently to remove excess. Place on prepared tray.
Refrigerate until coating is firm, about 30 minutes. Store, covered, in refrigerator.
*Butter, margarine and spreads contain water which may prevent chocolate from melting properly; oil may prevent chocolate from forming a coating.

*Chcek out our Valentine's packages. They are available now through the end of February.

You deserve a break: Summer Travel

Summer travel this year is all about the bargain. You might consider a trip to a lovely, historic bed and breakfast, where getting more for less could mean you have the best room at the Inn, more personal attention, and lots of extras. Most B&Bs, across the country, feeling the economic crunch, are reacting by offering discounts, valuable packages, additional services and more. It's definitely a win win situation for travelers looking for a great deal. So, now is the time to plan that great escape!

Look for Value: We're all uneasy about these economic times and a great many of us have decided to cut back, spend less and save more. But that doesn't mean we must continually deprive ourselves of the very things that can revive and recharge our batteries. We still need that occasional manicure, trip to the health club, massage or get away. This year more than ever, travelers are looking to get the best get-aways they can afford. Bed and breakfasts, all over the country, are plugging into that need by offering affordable relaxing and fun week-end packages.

Travel in the US: With airfares still fairly high, traveling in North America instead of Europe or other far away destinations is a cost effective. Leisure travelers might consider travel by car, since gas prices have remained down. Business travelers, flying into town, may find prices and amenities are to their advantage. If you wont be traveling this summer and plan your trip for sometime in January (slowest accommodations month of the year) and February (Valentine's Day), you'll find plenty of interesting and reasonable packages and things to do.

Explore Kentucky: Kentucky is rich in history,. It is jam packed with beautiful scenery and lots of towns and cities with lovely Inns, bed and breakfasts and working farm Stays to accommodate your overnight and breakfast needs. Week-end rates are a great value and most major attractions are free or minimal in price.

Plan Your Trip with the help of an innkeeper: Innkeepers are great concierges. They know the area. They can suggest ideas for sight seeing and entertainment, restaurants and can make reservations for you. They can help you get the most for your money; a popular travel trend every year.

A wonderful little Italian restaurant only 3 blocks from my Inn

The Amici' Cafe opened July of 2006 in a historic building, within walking distance of the Aleksander House, in Old Louisville. Serving Northern Italian cuisine, it has developed into a popular neighborhood restaurant, frequented by locals and enjoyed by many out of town visitors.

After visiting the restaurant several times myself and finding the food authentic, delicious and superbly prepared, and the ambience romantic and inviting, I began sending my guests there for lunch and dinner. They all loved it! Hurrah! another very fine restaurant in Louisville,.....and we have so many!

I'm from Chicago, where there are so many very fine restaurants. When I came to Louisville 15 years ago, I experienced one of the surprises of my life. Louisville is truly loaded with some of the best restaurants around. And Amici is certainly included in this prestigious group!

"You will think you are in a Tuscan courtyard when you step into our dining room with cherry red and white checkered tablecloths, large windows, beautiful artwork, and the aroma of ragu pomodoro sauce simmering in the kitchen; all inviting you to sit down and enjoy a flavorful and relaxing meal" (the owners).

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Weird Week At The Inn

Ever since the ice and snow storms hit the City of Cardinals, things have been very unsettled here at the Aleksander House. Traditionally, January is our very slowest month of the year. But because of the storms, we are getting call after call from local residents who have no power. The storms outed the power of aproximately 177,000 Louisville residents.

I am not the only bed and breakfast in Louisville. There are 14 of us, mostly in the "Old Louisville" preservation area. We all belong to the same organization, the Louisville Bed and Breakfast Association, and when we fill up with guests we always refer to each other. So the calls were from both other Innkeepers and locals.

Our check-in time is 3:00 pm or after. Check-out is 11:00 am. Our rates are based partly on how long people are here. The confusing part of all this is that people without power would check in and then, when their power came back on, they would leave, sometimes at odd times. People were coming and going according to their power, or the lack thereof. It was hard to determine how much to charge them. In addition, feeling guilty that I had power and they didn't, I struggled with how much to charge them. I ended up giving everyone a discount. The longer the power was out, the deeper the discount.

The phone was ringing off the hook with calls from freezing people, who had tried to tough it out in their icey homes in front of tiny fires in fireplaces or wood-burning stoves. They were desperate to have a little relief, a shower, warm hands & feet, and a home cooked meal.

My heart went out to my local guests, reluctant to leave their homes, their pets and their plants...... throwing a few night clothes and sundries in plastics bags (too cold to go search for the suitcase in the storeroom) and searching for warmth and comfort.

We did our utmost to make them feel at home; trying to turn our Inn into a safehaven for new friends. One thing they were all grateful for were our huge gourmet breakfasts. Today, we served a delicious Spinach-Mushroom Quiche, homemade Lemon Blueberry muffins, fresh fruit and sausage. (see "recipes" on side bar). They were delighted.

This Old House

If you've never owned an old house (100 years or more), you probably have no idea what it's like. They are beautiful, interesting, and historic, yes. But, they also require constant and close attention and upkeep. It's an old house...Right? No one really knows who did the work on it..........the rehab, the repairs, the upgrading. Or, how well it was taken care of. Upon buying an old house you can, of course, completely restore it, including all the electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, etc., but that is pretty pricey. And the days of finding one, in a decent location, cheap enough to off-set all the expense of restoring are pretty much over.

My house was built in 1882. It's a beautiful, 4028 square foot, Victorian, 3-story brick building with 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. I bought it nearly 15 years ago and turned it into a bed and breakfast, http://www.aleksanderhouse.com/ It is situated in the 3rd largest preservation area in the US, making it a part of America's history. I had never owned a historic home before and had no idea what I was getting myself into. Not that I have ever been sorry. I love my house, every original nook and cranny of it. But, I didn't know it would need constant attention, in order to keep it in tip top shape. Now, I am ecstatic if I get through a year with no mishaps.

I've lived though the collapse of my parlor ceiling, the cracking of water pipes which sent water trickling down out of the light fixture over my kitchen worktable, while preparing breakfast for guests, and the explosion of 7 feet of water out my water heater onto my basement floor, causing the furnace to go out in January. These are just a few situations; there have been more. Remember, if you haven't replaced all the major systems, pipes, structures, and tanks, those systems, pipes, structures, and tanks might be "ancient." I couldn't afford to do so, when I moved in, so I am having to attend to them, one at a time, as life and the B&B go on.

So, this brings me to today. We have been having severe snow and ice storms for the past 3 days. One day of snow (6-7 inches), one day of ice and sleet, and a 3rd day of more snow. How has this affected my beautiful, old historic home? Well, first of all, the strong winds and ice tore away some of the roof. This sent icy water dripping down onto my 3rd floor storeroom floor (unbeknown to me), where the carpet soaked it up and dripped it down onto the second floor ceiling. The ceiling swelled and threatened to explode water all over the back hall. Knowing what to do, I poked a hole in the middle of the swelling to let the accumulated water out. Down it came in an avalanche of dirty icy liquid....all over me and the floor. I thought I was prepared, with my pails and old bath towels, but I expected it to drip out, not rush out! Finally, I situated two large containers under two different drips and went to bed, totally unaware of the leak in the 3rd floor storeroom.

Next morning, it dawned on me that this leak wasn't coming from a pipe on the second floor; it had to have originated from the 3rd floor above, where the storeroom was . I checked the storeroom and found I was right. I placed the containers under the 3rd floor leaks, which stopped the 2nd floor leaks, and called my maintenance man at 6:30 am! He lives in the neighborhood, so he was there in a flash. (Love this guy, Richard). He confirmed my suspicions, but said, because of the ice storm, it would be too dangerous to get up on the roof, until Saturday, after the storms receded.

So I'm living with the dripping ........... and the shhhhing sound of huge branches falling from my beautiful, old Magnolia tree; branches heavy laden with ice and snow, falling one by one across the old icy, snowy front walk leading to my beautiful, old house. And here I sit, writing on my blog, away from the storm, warm, cozy, and quiet, except for the constant dripping from the ceiling in my storeroom.

CookBook Caper

(continued from sidebar: Room At The Table)
...and so the committee had to do most of the work, including raising funds for the project, testing all the recipes, styling all the photographs, and writing & editing all the copy (with a little help from our friends, the publishers). In addition, we engaged in long brainstorming and planning sessions and spent hours setting up systems and contacting & talking to potential Innkeeper participants.

We hired a photographer and a publisher.

The going wasn't always easy. As a group, we bonded, we argued, we had lunch together. We agreed, we disagreed, we had dinner together. We became adamant, we acquiesced, we traveled together. We laughed together. We cried together.

There was more togetherness than most of us were used to.

Traveling through Kentucky
......working the whole time