Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Details for the Kick Back and Kook Culinary Event: Feasting With Brew to benefit The Hope and Light Foundation are coming together very rapidly. Angela McKeller has done a whole lot of work in a very short period of time.
Below are the details:
Dates: June 4-6, 2010
Where: 1847 Blake House Inn Bed & Breakfast
Events:
Friday afternoon: Beer and Truffles 2:30 – 4:30pm. $29 per person
Think beer and chocolate don’t go together? One of Asheville’s most popular microbreweries will come by and explain the ins and outs of brewing, the difference between one brew and another and give a presentation on how to pair beer with chocolate! Angela McKeller of “Kick Back and Kook!” will be offering her recipes for three types of Chocolate Truffles you can make at home, but taste them now, taste the chocolate and beer together yourself to see just how compatible these flavors really are! Think it’s never been done before? Think again!
Friday Evening: Soufflés Made Simple 6:00pm – 9:00pm. $45 per person
Angela McKeller will take you further down the culinary path, deep into the heart of Paris. Or at least you’ll feel like that is where you are! French for “puff up”, Angela will demonstrate just how easy these seemingly difficult, but impressive dishes are for dinner and dessert! On the menu: Shrimp Soufflé with Creamy Dill Sauce; Spinach and Ricotta Soufflé and Dark Chocolate Soufflé. Bring out your inner Julia Child, get ready for Summer and say “Bon appétit!”
Saturday Afternoon: Simple Summer Desserts Sampling and Brew Tasting 1pm – 3pm. $29 per person
Angela McKeller will offer samples of the most delicious summer dessert recipes she’s developed and encountered during her culinary career. On the menu: Chef Mike Carrino’s Cherry and Apple Tart to Angela’s own Flambéd Brandied Peaches to Chef Jerry Solomon’s Zabayon, a simple but delicious Italian custard served with mixed berries, you’ll experience it all! And yes, these all go great with your favorite beer! While this is a sampling of desserts and beers, it is also an opportunity to get to know Chef Angela McKeller, ask her as many questions as you can think of about these delicious desserts and become acquainted with one of Asheville’s best microbreweries and their brews!
Saturday Evening: Iron Chef Competition! 6:30pm -9:30 pm. $65 per person
Who will win? The Salad Spinners or the Wire Wisks?! “Kooky” prizes to the winners!
Paired off into two groups, munching on some of Angela’s most popular dips while you “kook”, two teams will go head to head, competing to see who can create the best meal of the evening! Who judges? You do!
Everyone is given a score card to fill out without anyone else seeing. On a scale of 1-5, you try each others dishes and rate them, putting the score cards in a bowl for Angela to tally the scores while you finish dessert. The winning team gets a prize as “kooky” as Angela is!
On the menu:
Team 1:
- Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs in a Red Wine and Balsamic Reduction
- Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in a Mushroom Cream Sauce
- Lemon Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis
Team 2:
- Baked Brie en Croute with Caramelized Walnuts
- Chicken Provençale
- Crepes with Strawberries and Rich Chocolate Sauce
On-site accommodations are limited so book your room early! Want to add an extra night or two so you can explore Asheville, the Biltmore, the breweries? Come a day early, stay a day after and you’ll get a 10% discount off the nightly rate for the extra night(s).
The first 3 room reservations at the B&B for the Culinary Weekend that include at least one of the fundraising events will receive a FREE Blake House Inn Handmade Soup Mug. All of our mugs, pitchers, keychains, and Do Not Disturb signs are hand thrown custom stoneware from Deneen Pottery out of St. Paul, MN.
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
2010 has already been busy and we’re only a week into the new year.
First off, the weather has been a real downer with temperatures in the teens and single digits for at least a week. And, we’re expecting some more snow this weekend (January 8 – 9). It’s a real challenge keeping this old house warm, but it forces me to be creative. The second floor is no problem since heat rises, but the first floor (thank goodness there’s only one guestroom on the first floor) is another story. The pipes under the original house always seem to do okay, but the pipes under and in the kitchen never fare well. Last winter we had 3 burst pipes. So far this year, I’ve seen one tiny pinprick leak in a pipe that’s been topped off. The next couple of days will see temperatures higher than freezing so it remains to be seen if there are any issues.
While the weather outside has been truly frightful, I’ve been keeping busy, taking down holiday decorations. I pace myself so it takes a good week to get everything down and packed away. Everything outside is finished and all but the Parlor and two guestrooms have been packed away. I hope to get that completed today and tomorrow.
At the same time, I have been making some changes to two guestrooms: the Rose Room & the Magnolia Room. As soon as the changes have been completed, I will update the room photos and descriptions. The main changes involve switching the beds between these two rooms. The king/twin beds that were in the Rose Room have been moved up to the Magnolia Room and the queen bed from that room has been moved downstairs to the Rose Room. The main reasons for the switch are 1) the Rose Room is a handicap accessible room and the king/2 twin beds were just too high for someone in a wheelchair and 2) with a queen bed in the Rose Room, there is more floor space to maneuver around if a guest is in a wheelchair. Also, with a the king bed in the Rose Room, it had to be configured such that is blocked off half of the built-in bookcase and I simply hated that. Now with a queen bed, the bed can be moved to a different position and the bookcase can be used fully. It looks so much better. I’ve also been installing bedside wall sconces on both sides of the bed, changing the curtains into a roller shade on the door and adding a painted window to the transom above the door. Just small adjustments that make a big difference.
I should have photos of the room changes within the next week so check the Rooms Descriptions Page (under Rooms & Rates) to see what I’ve done.
Lastly, I’m working with a previous guest, Angela McKeller, to put together a fabulous culinary weekend during the weekend after Memorial Day. Angela won a recipe contest I had a few years ago and since then, she has written her own cookbook and hosted her own cooking show, among other things. Angela lives in Atlanta so she will be coming to the Inn and working her magic for a few days. We’re still working on the details, but this will be an all-inclusive package with demonstrations, cooking classes, accommodations (if desired), and tie-ins to the Asheville community (possibly Biltmore or Asheville Food Tours). It is shaping up to be a fun time so definitely check back often for more details.
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
We are offering FREE Asheville Food Tour tickets to our mid-week guests during December, January & February.
Guests who stay 3 or more nights (Mondays – Thursdays) in December and 2 or more nights (Mondays – Thursdays) in January or February will receive 2 FREE tickets to one of Asheville’s food tours. This $50 value keeps on giving because once you go on a food tour, you receive a 5-day passport to receive 10% off dining at any of the restaurants on the passport.
There are currently 3 different food tours and each tour has different restaurants. Tuesday tours visit Biltmore Village. Wednesdays and Fridays visit one set of restaurants in downtown Asheville and Thursdays and Saturdays visit a second set of restaurants in downtown Asheville.
Each tour only takes up to 12 people so it’s a good idea to schedule your tour early. Please keep in mind that there is a minimum headcount requirement for a tour and it may be canceled due to low headcount, but it will not be canceled due to weather. Tours run rain or shine.
Once you make your room reservation at Blake House, I will ask you what tour you want and will make reservations for you. For reservations with at least 7 days notice, I will have your tickets for you when you arrive for check-in. For reservations under 7 days, you will receive your tickets/passport when you meet for your tour.
Check out the Asheville Food Tours website for additional information. I have been on the Biltmore Village Tour and can say firsthand that it is fabulous! We had so much food to sample between the 7 restaurants visited that we didn’t need dinner that night. The downtown tours feature more restaurants so I recommend that you not miss this opportunity to sample a lot of the good food that Asheville has to offer.
