Camellia Cottage

What a business changer the Internet has been for us (and other B&Bs)! When we started our first B&B in Milwaukee in 1996, we had neither cell phone nor web site. We were deathly afraid of leaving the house for fear of missing a call and thus losing a reservation. The only advertising we did was in printed guidebooks whose information tended to be totally outdated by the time the book was printed.

Things have certainly changed in 16 years. We now routinely take reservations on the cell phone while food shopping at Harris Teeter. The online reservation system on our web site routinely takes reservations while we sleep. All in all, the Internet and new technology have made our lives easier and allowed for a bit more relaxation and recreation, resulting in more contented innkeepers.

Now, we are noticing a new trend which may or may not be as positive. People are now sharing and RATING their experiences online – the restaurant they ate at, the boat tour they took, the lawn mower they bought, and yes, the B&B they stayed at. This can be a very useful source of info to the next diner, explorer, mower buyer or inn guest. But there are pitfalls for both the service user (you, our esteemed guests) and the service provider (us) to keep in mind.

For one thing, how do you know that the information you read on the web is reliable? How do you know that the horrible  review wasn’t placed there by a disgruntled employee or the glowing review wasn’t posted by the owner’s mother? On the other hand, the pitfall for us is to avoid focusing all our attention on squeezing out that glowing review and getting it posted far and wide in the ether, at the expense of focusing on providing truly gracious service to our guests.

That said, we hope you scope out your next vacation experience using some of the many Internet review sites but, as the mapmakers say, also do a little “ground truthing.” For our part, we ignore the review sites at our own risk but we’re going to focus first and foremost on you.

It isn’t just happenstance that our inn is named the Camellia Cottage Bed and Breakfast. We are the proud caretakers of over 40 mature camellia bushes in our gardens; blooming in a variety of pure pinks, reds and whites as well as various combinations of these colors. Based on the size and apparent age of many of these showy shrubs, we think that they were planted by Henry MacMillan (of Henry’s Room fame) possibly during the 1930s when he was one of the founding members of the local Camellia Society.

What do we know about these stars of our gardens from Thanksgiving all the way to Memorial Day? (from Wikipedia)

Camellias are native to eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Korea and Indonesia. The genus Camellia was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel from Brno, who worked in the Philippines, though he never described a camellia. There are at least 100 different species.

The most famous camellia is the tea plant (C. sinensis). Among the ornamental species, the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica) (which despite its name is also found in Korea and Eastern China) and C. sasanqua are perhaps the most widely known, though most camellias grown for their flowers are cultivars or hybrids.

So, come to Wilmington to check out our camellias, take some pictures, pick a fabulous flower for your loved one or maybe even dig up a seedling to transplant to your garden.

 Here is a simple Italian  farinata for you to whip up when your sweet tooth is exhausted and craving something crisp and savory.  It is something between a tart and a pizza crust, baked in a cast iron skillet.  It doesn’t rise, stays flat.  I like it prepared very simply.  After baking and cooling, top it with some arugula, Japanese greens, or any combo of mustard, kale, pok choy, or any green you can eat raw dressed with a nice crisp vinaigrette.  Some olives tossed on top are good, too, but don’t overwhelm the unusual pastry.  As farinata is made with chickpea flour (Tidal Creek), it is perfect for our gluten-free friends. 

Farinata

2 cups warm water

11/2 cups chickpea flour (7.5 oz.)

11/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

61/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

8 inch cast-iron skillet

Pour water into a bowl.  Slowly whisk in chickpea flour until smooth.  Let stand at room temp at least 2 hours or overnight (8 hours). 

Heat oven to 500.  Skim any foam off batter, then stir in salt and 2 tablespoons oil. 

Heat skillet in oven for 10 minutes.  Carefully add 11/2 tablespoons oil to skillet, swirling to coat.  Pour about 2/3 cup batter into skillet (batter should be less than ¼ inch thick).  Bake until farinata is crisp around the edges and lightly golden on top, 20 – 30 minutes.

Repeat with remaining oil and batter.

Slide farinata onto a board; cut into wedges.  Sprinkle with pepper and serve immediately.

January in Wilmington, North Carolina.  The sky is clear, the sun is shining brightly, temps in the upper 60’s.  Ah yes, the dead of winter.  What to do to cure the post-holiday, mid-winter blahs?  Get out and get moving!  It doesn’t hurt here this time of year as it does where we came from!  Or maybe where you come from.

One of our favorite hikes, any time of year, is Carolina Beach State Park, located 16 miles from Camellia Cottage, just off Carolina Beach Road.  It runs along the Cape Fear River, not on the ocean at all.  There are wonderful sandy trails, shaded by tall pines.  Some of them along the river have narrow beaches at low tide.  Inside the park are several large ponds and wetlands, home to naturally growing Venus Flytraps.  Boaters can take advantage of the newly renovated marina.  Best of all, this time of the year you pretty much have the whole park to yourself.

As much as Sparky loves the beach, he loves the variety of sights and scents here even better. He particularly likes water bodies (river and ponds) without waves in them. If your four-legged friend isn’t comfortable in the ocean waves, check this place out.  Next time you’re staying with us, throw the dog and a picnic in the back seat, instead of skis and snowshoes.  Enjoy the stroll for an hour or a day and feel rejuvenated.

Here is a festive, easy dessert to make over the holidays.  It uses local pecans, is quick to prepare and freezes beautifully.  Guests at Camellia Cottage Bed & Breakfast love it even first thing in the morning!

Chocolate Orange Gateau

4 oz. semi or bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

Grated rind of one navel orange

1 tablespoon Orange liqueur

3 eggs, lightly beaten

11/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Lightly grease 8inch springform pan.  Melt chocolate in double boiler, then stir in sugar and orange rind till well mixed.  Stir in eggs and liqueur, then pecans.  Pour into pan and bake at 375 25-30 minutes till set.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Release from pan, spread with glaze and garnish with more chopped pecans.

Glaze

Melt together 1 cup semi or bittersweet chocolate chips with 3 tablespoons butter.  Stir 1 tablespoon light corn syrup till blended.

Ever wonder where your smiling hosts hang out while you guests are out enjoying downtown Wilmington? Our innkeeper quarters are located on the third floor. We have a bedroom, bathroom, living room, office and a fantastic view of downtown Wilmington from up there. No, there isn’t an elevator. Or a dumb waiter. Or a laundry chute. And Sparky refuses to carry his 40-lb bags of dog food.

There are 28 steps from the first floor hall where we greet inn-coming guests to the third floor hall where we stop to catch our breaths. Let’s see…28 steps up plus 28 steps down times 5 trips a day times 365 days is…too many steps! Actually, it’s a little over 100,000 a year for those of you who don’t want to do the math.

We actually lugged a big treadmill to the third floor so we could exercise but somehow we’re always too tired to get on it! But, who needs to jog every day when we already have a Stairmaster built into our lives? We also get perverse entertainment watching repair men and service people slog up all 28 steps to look at our cable connection or fix the toilet and then do it again because they didn’t bring the tool they needed most.

We do believe that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger…at least when it comes to our calves.

The woman on the phone was asking the standard series of questions:

Where are you located?

Do all the rooms have private baths?

What amenities do you provide?

How much are the taxes?

But then she hit me with one that I had never heard before, one that stopped me dead in my tracks–”Is the room fresh?”

After a suitably pregnant pause, I blurted out a pithy response– “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“You know, have the rooms been kept fresh?”

 I didn’t know.  However, my overly analytical mind started working on the problem. The short term framework for the “freshness” issue might involve newly cut flowers in the room or maybe a plug-in room odorizer, de-odorizer or both. It might also involve making sure that nothing of significant size has died in the room recently. The long term freshness framework might relate to how often we have redecorated over the 10 years we have been offering rooms to guests or how well we have kept up with fashion trends along the way.

The “freshness” problem continues to puzzle me to this day. The good news is that the caller reserved the Crane Suite, enjoyed a great stay here and hopefully we’ll see her again some time at our downtown Wilmington bed and breakfast. We will try to stay fresh in the interim.

The big day is almost here!  People are so busy this time of year, I thought I’d share a couple of recipes and tips that are quick, easy and yummy.  These work all year long, but bring an especially festive flair to your holiday dinner!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Fingers

Sweet Potatoes

Fresh basil or sage leaves – as many as you have wedges

Thinly sliced prosciutto or bacon, cut in half horizontally-as many as you have wedges

Olive oil

Slice your regular sweet potatoes into wedges (8-12).  If you’re using the fingerlings, slice them in half.  Place one herb leaf on each wedge, wrap with prosciutto and lay in 13×9 pan.  Drizzle with some olive oil and roast in 350 oven till soft, about 15 minutes. 

Why isn’t there more chocolate featured for Thanksgiving?  If there’s anything to be thankful for……!

Here’s a simple, but decadent, dessert that showcases our farmers’ pecans, as well as, chocolate.  It freezes really well, so you can make it ahead of time or stash leftovers, if there are any.

Chocolate Orange Gateau

4 oz. semi or bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

Grated rind of one navel orange

1 tablespoon Orange liqueur

3 eggs, lightly beaten

11/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Lightly grease 8inch springform pan.  Melt chocolate in double boiler, then stir in sugar and orange rind till well mixed.  Stir in eggs and liqueur, then pecans.  Pour into pan and bake at 375 25-30 minutes till set.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Release from pan, spread with glaze and garnish with more chopped pecans.

Glaze

Melt together 1 cup semi or bittersweet chocolate chips with 3 tablespoons butter.  Stir 1 tablespoon light corn syrup till blended. 

-         Mix together 2 tablespoons grated lemon rind, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese or any quantities to taste.  Stir into roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes or turnips after taking them out of the oven.

-         If you boil your sweet potatoes, use the leftover water in soup stock or in your gravy

-         Dip fresh cranberries or grapes, washed and dried well, in a bit of beaten egg white and roll in granulated sugar. Let dry on cooling rack to use as garnish.

When we first came to Wilmington and opened the Camellia Cottage Bed and Breakfast we had no intention to allow pets to stay at our inn with their owners. But as we explored Wilmington’s downtown historic district, we were impressed by all the shops that welcomed pets, all our neighbors walking their dogs and several restaurants that allowed pets in their outdoor seating areas. Some of them even bring a bowl of ice water to refresh Fido!

Seeing all this dog-friendly activity and being dog lovers without our own dog, we made the decision to open as a pet-friendly B&B. After almost 10 years, we have not regretted this decision. Even though we now have our own Sparky, we still enjoy meeting new dogs almost every week.

We have also learned that there is absolutely no reason to impose a weight limit on the size of the dog we allow to stay here. The question is not “How big are they?” Rather, the most important question is “Are they well-behaved in a strange house with strange people and other dogs?” Speaking of the size of the dog…The largest pet we’ve hosted was a 230-lb English Mastiff. (I think his head alone weighed 50 lbs!) The smallest guy was a 2 lb Tea Cup Chihuahua.

So, Fido, the next time you stay with us, bring your people, too.

When you’ve been serving breakfast to guests for 15 years, you have to stay creative in the kitchen,  both for the guests’s experience and your own amusement. While there are cookbooks, cooking shows, blogs and websites galore, I find that some basic formulas allow you to safely experiment depending on seasonal availability and guests’ food  restrictions/preferences. 

Quiche and stratas are standards, but I like to skip the crust and bread and layer the “inside goodies” in individual ramekins.  The presentation is more special and it is easier to accommodate one person’s unique requirements (vegetarian,  lactose-intolerant or gluten-intolerant, for example).  Use 6-inch oval  or one cup round oven-proof ceramic ramekins.  The ingredients can be prepped and layered the night before.  Add eggs and milk just before baking.  Here’s  a sample frittata, in fact, what we served this morning.

3 DEC potatoes, quartered and cut into ¼ inch slices, roasted till golden brown

Chopped, raw DEC spinach or other greens

2 cups grated cheese of your choice (I used the NC Dill Havarti from Carolina Farmin)

11/2 cups diced ham or cooked bacon

8 DEC eggs

2 cups ½ and ½ mixed with 1 tablespoon interesting mustard

Salt, pepper

Butter your ramekins.  4 if using the 6inch ovals, 8 if using the 1 cuppers.  Put down a layer of potatoes, followed by meat (if using), spinach and cheese on the top.  This can be covered and chilled overnight.  For frittatas, beat the eggs and milk/mustard and pour into ramekins.  Bake at 375 degrees till set and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.  For shirred eggs, break 2 eggs on top of the 6inchers and 1 egg on top of the 1 cuppers.  Pour the ½ and ½ into the ramekins and bake at 375 degrees till eggs are done to your liking, 10-15 minutes. 

Obviously, this is another really flexible recipe.  Other favorite ingredient options are mushrooms, onions, broccoli, peppers, sausage, prosciutto, the sky’s the limit!  Serve with your favorite cornbread, biscuit or grits recipe and some fresh fruit.  Easy and yummy, the perfect combo!