B and B Breakfast – Not like your corner cafe.
Our signature breakfast is Gruyere cheese souffle with a strawberry crepe.
One of the things I always check out is a b and b breakfast menu on the website. I want to find a place that will serve me something that I can’t get in a chain restaurant. If I want bacon and eggs with toast then the b and b needs to be extra special with other amenities. Before we opened Down By The River B and B, breakfast was one of the first things on our list to figure out. We didn’t want to spend hours on preparation or cook times but we also didn’t want to be short order cooks. To be able to have the best of both worlds we felt we needed to research and develop our recipes to be easy to prepare and have that “Wow” factor that Barb loved to find.
Our signature dish would probably be the Gruyere Cheese Soufflé served with a strawberry crepe. At first look just thinking about a soufflé is daunting. I thought of nothing but watching an “I Love Lucy” episode when I heard that this would be perfect. Too hard and takes a lot of time. But Barb was determined and took a class to learn how it was done. I found out that the prep time wasn’t that bad; 30 minutes or less and it keeps you organized so that you don’t make mistakes. If you would like to know how it is done read our blog on making soufflés.
We serve a fruit smoothie in the morning just before breakfast.
Over time we have developed and adapted different recipes to add to our selection. One thing we planned was to keep a database of our guests and what they had on their visit. This list has been handy when the guests return. We will then provide a different recipe for them on a return visit. This way our guests will end up with a variety of breakfast entrées. We have had guests at our b and b breakfast for 14 days in a row. We now have 13 recipes to choose from before we have to repeat.
We serve quiche at some breakfasts and yes real men do eat quiche.
One last part of the b and b breakfast plan we decided on was “How do we want to serve breakfast?” We have been at different b and b’s that serve over a several hour time period. These were generally the normal short order cook breakfasts. Others did a buffet style breakfast but they had to keep the food conditioned for heat or cold while people served themselves. The first people there saw the nice presentation while the ones at the end may have gotten lukewarm food that had been worked over by previous guests. We decided on “Family Style”. Why family style? Well that allows us to do dishes that we can prepare the afternoon before when needed. It allows us to make soufflés , quiches or our other casserole type entrées in an orderly manner and we also get to sit down with the guests and learn things about them. We do have times when guests have a schedule that they must adhere to so we try to modify the meal time for them but they may not get the dish everyone else is getting.
Our table can seat 10 guests comfortably during our b and b breakfast.
When everyone is at the table, we usually have discussions that can be informative and interesting. One example is an engineer who worked at Cern on the supercollider. Another was a guest that runs African Safaris in Botswana. Other guests were b and b owners who one day may have us as guests. We also have the guests that tell us funny stories and in turn other guests will share theirs. Sometimes we find out that we have been enjoying breakfast and conversation for 2 hours. When this happens we like to tell our guests that they “Made Memories” at our b and b breakfast. If you would like to experience this, book a room with us at Down By The River B and B. Bring your appetite and your stories.