Goodies for Golfers for Good

Did you know that Rhode Island has an abundance of golf courses? Fantastic courses. Tough enough for LPGA tournaments and easy enough for the beginner. Long ones, skinny ones, short ones, fat ones, oops that's the "Guess I'll Eat Worms" song but you get the idea. Plus, from what golfers tell me, green fees are low compared to other places on the East Coast.

This  is the year you absolutely must come to the Narragansett Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament  on June 1, 2012.  Don't you have better form than this duffer?

Check out the amazing gifts for each golfer: round trip tickets to the Vineyard for two (to thank your golf widow/widower for putting up with you), the Lighthouse Cruise (unbelievable fun) and theater tickets are valued at more than your entrance fee! Then there are prizes for each hole, the goodie bag, and the banquet.  I'm actually thinking I should register and just walk the course. (The first and only time I played my drives went about 25 feet but I could sink a 20 foot putt. I'm still traumatized by the memories.)

So check out the copy and links I pulled from the Chamber web site. If you register, I'll give you 20% off of your room rate (up to a three night stay) as another thank you for supporting Narragansett.

Now, take a deep breath, and yell, FORE!

Innkeeper Seely

Narragansett Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament June 1, 2012

Posted by chamber Featured

All Players receive 2 round trip tickets on the Martha’s Vineyard Fast Ferry and 2 Tickets for the popular Rhode Island Bay Cruises-Lighthouse Cruise, 2 Tickets valid for any summer theater show at The Contemporary Theater Co., (That’s already over $250 in gifts) a gift bag with valuable coupons and promotional items, continental breakfast and post tournament buffet.

Join us for another fun filled day of great golf with great friends. This tournament continues to be one of our most popular events.

North Kingstown Municipal Golf Course- aka Quonset 7:30 am Registration and Continental Breakfast, 8:00 am Shotgun Start. Post Tournament Buffet, Raffle, Contests and Prizes. Only $115.00 per golfer. Register and pay by clicking the link below. You may register and pay for up to four golfers per form. Don’t have a foursome? Don’t worry. We’ll pair you with other single players.

Don’t hesitate – Register Now.

Updating the dining room

Fourteen years ago we selected the paint colors for the public areas. (Actually, my brother selected the paint colors due to circumstances that revolved around an innkeeper's leg broken in a fall from a dumpster, a second innkeeper too stressed to make a choice, and major deadline pressure. That's a story for another day.) Over the years the furniture and decorations evolved but the paint stayed the same.  The living room and dining room are fairly traditional without being overly fussy or Victorian. They are pleasant rooms, IMHO, but to be honest, the pinkish beige wall scheme has always bored me to tears. 

So, call it my middle age crisis or a late seven year into innkeeping itch or just pure insanity but a former-innkeeper-girlfriend and I just tore the dining room apart and started painting two days ago. On a spur of the moment, hey we have a stage let's put on a show, we don't have any reservations for a few days, the time is now plan. It was such a sudden, serendipitous, convergence of schedules that I forgot to tell Dave that it was going to happen.

So stay tuned for the big reveal. There's a three toned color scheme: Behr Rhythmic Blue over Rainstorm with white trim. The dividing line is a new chair rail at the level that chairs actually hit the wall. We are playing with possible furniture rearrangement and the window valance is going on to another stage.

If anyone has any suggestions for other changes, feel free to chime in. For instance, I'm really not sure what I what to do to window treatments.

Innkeeper Seely

Scrub-a-dub-dub, get the Third World in a tub Discount

I've mentioned before that in our efforts to be a "green" property we save all of the left-over guest soaps and send them to Clean the World for reprocessing. Last year the inn donated 15 pounds of soap to their cause. Not nearly as much as the Disney resorts but more than nothing.

photo from CTW blog

Clean the World is a not-for-profit group based in Florida. Their mission is "save the millions of lives lost each year to acute lower-respiratory infection and diarreal illness by distributing recycled soap and promoting proper personal hygiene practices." They collect soaps from inns and hotels all over the country to melt, sanitize and reshape into bars to be used for personal hygiene and general cleaning.  Remember the big Haitian earthquake? Clean the World was one of the first to send supplies. Their blog just featured their recent outreach to an orphanage in Guatemala. 

In addition to collecting used soaps, Clean the World welcomes new soaps collected at community soap drives.  Anyone can organize a soap drive so I thought, why not have one here at the inn?

Any guest that brings a full-sized bar of new soap to be donated to Clean the World will be given a $5 credit toward their room rate, packages or gift shop items.  (Limit of $10 discount per stay per room.)  Any brand, any scent, no scent, whatever you like - or don't like, say, that smelly gift set that you have never opened from holidays long gone. Now if you get wild and crazy and want to bring more than one bar I will be happy to send them along. This promotion will run through June 20, 2012.

Let the bubbles begin!

Mother's Day is coming, do you have plans??

If you are going to be in town, the Coast Guard House offers a lovely Mother's Day Brunch and an eqaually lovely special dinner. Book early as they fill up quickly.

Blueberry Cove Inn Fudge Cake with Raspberry Mousse Filling

Because it is Valentine's Day I thought I would post a recipe for all of you chocolate lovers. This started out as a Coconut Fudge Cake from an ancient Reader's Digest Magazine. Over the years things have been changed (including the filling) so it is mostly "mine." I make this regularly as it is one of our Sweetie Package choices.

Don't be frightened by the ingredient list or the number of steps. It is really a very simple cake. To breeze through the steps, take the time to measure out the ingredients in advance like the cooks do on TV.

Remember, it's an old recipe. The cake recipe was developed with basic grocery store unsweetened chocolate like Baker's not the fancier chocolates. The cocoa is also just your run of the mill Hershey's not some exotic Dutch processed powder. 

The grocery aisle with Asian or Mexican food is the least expensive place to find canned coconut milk. I buy the least expensive, it doesn't seem to make a difference in the cake. Just stir the coconut solids back into the liquid before you measure it out. One can makes two cakes, so freeze the left over milk for your next cake.

 Save your money for the chocolate in the ganache which should be the best you can afford. I use Callebaut which I buy in 11 pound blocks. They have a fun web site with all kinds of chocolate tips. I prefer the bittersweet but the dark will also work.

So have fun with the recipe. If you prefer a less intense chocolate cake, substitute bittersweet chocolate for the unsweetened in the cake. You can use regular old semi-sweet chocolate chips for the ganache if you aren't into the bittersweet style. Warmed left-over ganache makes a wonderful ice cream topping. My sister-in-law likes a dollop in her coffee. I've been known to serve the extra mousse with poached pears for a decadent breakfast treat.

And send me a photo of you enjoying the treat with your honey. I love to see people enjoying chocolate.

Blueberry Cove Inn Fudge Cake with Raspberry Mousse Filling

CAKE

¾ c. canned coconut milk
1 tblsp. Kahluha or expresso

1 1/3 c flour, sifted with baking soda
1 tsp. Baking soda
Pinch of salt

3 oz. Butter softened
2 c. dark brown sugar
3 eggs

1 ½ tsp. Vanilla
2 ½ oz. Unsweetened chocolate
3/8 c. crème fraiche or 5 tblsp. of sour cream

Preheat oven to 375; butter and flour an 8-in. spring form pan.

Combine coconut milk and Kahluha and set aside. Sift dry ingredients and set aside. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or on stove top.

Beat butter and brown sugar until a little fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down beaters and bowl in between each one. Add the vanilla, followed by the melted chocolate and finally (slowly on lower speed) the coconut milk mixture. Add flour and soda at once, beating only enough to mix in. Fold in crème fraiche.

Pour into pan, bake 40-45 min. until toothpick inserted 2 in. from edge comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack, center will fall. When cool, cut a thin slice off of the bottom, this will become the lid. Lift the rest of the cake off the lid with pancake turners and place on cardboard round.

Scoop out the center of the top to make a well for the filling. (A grapefruit knife and spoon are great for this.) Heat up 1/2 cup of jam and spread on lid and inside the cavity. Fill with the mousse, top with the lid jam side down, wrap in plastic and freeze or chill 1-2 hours.

Remove from cold and top with warm ganache. On warm days place the cake in the fridge or freezer for 10 min. to help the ganache solidify. Keep in fridge until 30 min. before serving.

RASPBERRY MOUSSE FILLING:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

4 - 5  tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam plus 1/4 cup for cavity - room temperature or slightly warm

1 teaspoon raspberry extract or liquor (Chambord)

Chill cream in mixing bowl, beat on high with whisk until it looks like whipped cream. Add powdered sugar and whip a bit more. Do not under beat, it should feel soft but firm but not waxy (that would be the start of raspberry butter.) Place jam and extract in a medium sized bowl. Blend 1/3 to 1/5 of the whipped cream into the jam to lighten it. Gently blend back into the rest of the whipping cream. Taste, add more jam or extract to taste using the same blending steps. Place in freezer for 15 min to firm up.

GANACHE

8 oz. Bittersweet chocolate

1 oz. Butter

2 tblsp. Light corn syrup

2 tblsp. Cocoa, sifted

¾ c heavy cream

1 tblsp. flavoring (vanilla, brandy, extracts)

All pans and utensils must be dry. Water, even little drops, will cause the chocolate to seize which is not a good thing. Heat chocolates on low  to avoid problems.

Melt chocolate, butter and syrup in the microwave or on stove top slowly until just melted together. Do not over heat. Place cocoa in a small sauce pan, gradually add cream and heat but do not boil. Add to the melted chocolate mixture, then flavoring, and stir until smooth. (Be patient, it will look awful until it suddenly comes together.)