Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast - Brewster By The Sea Inn & Spa

Cape Cod Dining - Pain D'Avignon

2009-07-30T18:36:00.005-04:00

Want a taste of French cafe life while on the Cape? Last night we had the distinct pleasure of dining at the Pain D'Avignon cafe in Hyannis. They had invited us to be their guests to experience the new dinner menu knowing that we have an upscale and romantic cape cod bed and breakfast.

We recommend dining to our rather discriminating guests all the time, assuring our big city guests from Boston, Providence, and New York that they will likely not be disappointed in their dining experiences here on the cape. For six years we have dined around the Cape, as well as collecting daily reports from our guests, so that our recommended restaurant list we send people prior to their stay is exciting. We love to try new restaurants for not only our personal enjoyment but also to be well educated when our guests ask us where to dine.

The cafe is actually an addition off of the main bakery on a commercial side street in Hyannis very near to the rotary and airport. The drive up appeal is no indication of what you will find inside since the bakery is located in a very busy and commercial section of the city. Once inside the experience takes on a whole new meaning. The decor is very french, simple yet elegant and live, very jazzy, music completed the atmosphere.

They make 9,000 to 13,000 pounds of bread a week as a commercial bakery using the finest ingredients to be found in the US. They gave us a complete tour of the facility and we found it to be fascinating and exciting. They are one of the largest individual employers on the Cape and their products are found in the finest resorts, restaurants, and hotels on and off the Cape.

Our highest regards to Pain D'Avignon for a job and business well done. Highly recommended.

Brewster by the Sea Compost Palace

2009-07-28T15:05:00.009-04:00

We are continually updating our inn and changing our amenities to keep things fresh for our new and repeat guests. We also have committed to a "green" environmental focus when making these changes. We recycle when possible and are very proud of our compost palace which is used daily. My husband Byron has become quite the photographer, and we both marveled at this picture which shows the left over fruit cutting that were going out to the compost after one of our daily breakfasts.

We actually have expanded our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast compost palace to include three different bins made up of cement blocks. The first one is our active pile where we add daily vegetable and plant clippings. When I am working in the the vegetable and perennial gardens I always have two buckets- one for weeds which I throw away and the other for deadheading, which is the dead flowers and plants that I add to our compost. The second bin is covered with plastic and is allowed to age for one year. That will be next year's fertilizer for the gardens. The third bin is our treasure. That is compost from two years ago. It becomes a dark brown color and you almost can feel the richness as you run the soil through your fingertips. I have grown to appreciate how special this compost is because I have seen the difference between plants and vegetables that have had or not had the compost added to the soil. We also like to add cow manure to the compost and gardens along with peat moss as needed to break up the soil.

This year's gardening has been a challenge due to all the rain. We have been enjoying plenty of lettuce, parsley, chives, nasturtiums, peas and recently some zucchini and squash. The recent sunshine has everything growing fast, and we anxiously await when we can have our first tomatoes for our summer BLT's.

My favorite time of the day is when I go out to the vegetable garden early in the morning to collect all of the herbs and garnish that I need for our daily breakfasts. Our guests are all sleeping, the air is so morning fresh, the birds are happily chatting with the world and for just that moments everything seems to stop in time . Our dog Harrison loves to follow and we usually have a quick game of chase before I head in to put the finishing touches on our breakfasts.

Like videos? Here is a Cape Cod Times Video for composting

Cape Cod National Seashore

2009-07-18T16:26:00.005-04:00

Mention Cape Cod and many different images come to mind....sunbathing, whale watching, fishing, kayaking, fresh seafood, history, art galleries, etc. All of these combine to form the unique ambiance and unpretentious charm that attracts so many people to Cape Cod, but, the most prominent Cape Cod image is our beaches.. We took a day off to buy our season pass to the national seashore and to spend a full day at the beach. This picture is Race Point beach in Provincetown.

We have lived in Brewster for almost six years now and are continually amazed and in awe of how unique and different each beach, both bay and ocean sides, is on the Cape. Thankfully the national seashore was established in 1961 to help protect many of the beautiful beaches on the Atlantic side. The National Seashore contains 44,000 acres along a 40 mile section of the coastline between Chatham and Provincetown.

The Cape is actually a glacial deposit that is continually undergoing changes as winds and water move sand along the shorelines, tearing away one place and building another. Art's Dune Tours in Provincetown is a must do if your Cape Cod vacation is 4 or more days. You can get a good sense of how quickly things are changing by looking at the diminishing beach at the Marconi Station Site in Wellfleet, where the peninsula is only a mile wide. Much of the high cliffs has eroded since Guglielmo Marconi first built his towers there in 1901. Changing too, though not so perceptibly is the Cape Cod Bay shoreline. Great Island in Wellfleet, where whalers used to congregate, can be explored via trails and one can walk out to the tip during low tide.It's hard to believe that houses use to exist many years ago on that thin peninsula.

So, the big question that we love to ask our guests is what is your favorite beach? We have many favorites! We love our Brewster flats which is just a short walk from our inn. Paine's Creek is a photographer's haven at sunset when the last rays of the day cascade beautiful colors over the bay. We also enjoy Nauset Beach and have marveled at the dedicated surfers that continue their sport in the colder months. We love Marconi for the beautiful waves and love to collect stones on Coast Guard beach. We recently enjoyed a tour in Provincetown with Art's Dunes Tour. What a hoot.....we were fortunate to have the owner Robert Costa as our tour guide who added much history about the dune shacks and marveled at the natural beauty of the dunes.

During our last trip to visit Race Point Beach we picked up a newspaper outlining all of the summer activities coordinated by the National Seashore.The list was impressive and has different activities to appeal to all age groups.One can learn about snorkeling, tour the three sister lighthouses,learn about the history, take a guided walk on Nauset Marsh or join in on a campfire. Check out the FRIENDS of the Cape Cod National Seashore to see how dedicated Cape codders, even us washashores are, to the majesty of our national treasure. A challenge to each and all: just try to find the definition to washashore. We were assured when we first arrived that one would be a washashore unless you and your relatives had lived here for 6 generations.

Lighthouses of the Cape Cod National Seashore

2009-05-23T15:09:00.011-04:00

Everyone dreaming of Cape Cod thinks of magnificent beaches and picturesque lighthouses. Many of our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast guests ask about the history and location of the lighthouses that grace the National Seashore and a short history is at this link.

Two recent pictures of the Cape Cod Highland Lighthouse in Truro and the Provincetown Wood End lighthouse are shown at the top of this post.

Cape Cod has had over twenty lighthouses operating along its shores over the past 200 years and today seven still operate and several other decommissioned lights stand along the coastline.

We recently had a darling young German couple stay with us and by the end of their week long stay they had decided that they wanted to get married on Cape Cod and envisioned their elopement in front of a lighthouse.We have many elopements at our Cape Cod bed and breakfast but this was the first request to have the ceremony near a lighthouse. They decided upon the Highland Light in North Truro We planned a picnic lunch complete with chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, french bread, cheeses and fruit. What a wonderful surprise when the custodian of the lighthouse offered the couple an inside peek and the photographer was able to get a great shot of the newly married couple atop the lighthouse.

During the 19th century heydey of lighthouses, keepers were needed to tend the kerosene in the lamps.After the Cape Cod Canal opened in 1914, ships traveling from Europe to Boston were able to bypass the Cape's outer shore. The number of shipwrecks declined dramatically and that coupled with 20 century technology made many light houses obsolete. By 1960s most of the remaining lighthouses were automated and no longer needed keepers.

Today, many of the lighthouses that remain are open during the summer for tourists to see. Each has it's own unique character and is well worth a visit:

Race Point Light House, Provincetown

Wood End Light, Provincetown

Long Point Light, Provincetown

Highland Light, North Truro

Nauset Light, Eastham

Three Sisters Light, Eastham

We love to visit the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham which is a great place to plan your adventures on Cape Cod

Chatham Light

Monomy Point Light, Chatham

Nobska Light, Woods Hole

We love to visit the Salt Pond Visitor Center which is a great place to plan your Cape Cod adventure. Happy exploring!

Visual Thesaurus

2009-05-16T19:37:00.006-04:00

Donna and I really appreciate the diversity of our guests and we are always amazed at how well spoken they are. I still run to the dictionary and sometimes to the thesaurus after a morning conversation.

With Donna in Houston, I started looking at a few words; recalcitrant, curmudgeon, etc. that, in a strange way, might be a reflection of my missing her. At any rate I hope you enjoy using this online thesaurus tool

This should be a great way for kids to learn new words. Imagine this tool expanded so a student could use the words in the nodes in sentences, including verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.

type rest of post here!!

Whalewatching on Cape Cod

2009-05-05T13:42:00.006-04:00

Posted May 09; Most of our Brewster By The Sea Bed and breakfast guests have taken the 2009 whale watching tours already this year.

Whale watching in the summer months has always been one of our guests favorite excursions while visiting beautiful Cape Cod. This year the tours arein full swing and the naturalists are excited about the whale sightings during their daily tours out of Provincetown.

This past weekend one naturalist commented that the sightings were a dream come true seeing about two dozen humpback whales, over 150 Atlantic whitesided dolphins and a dozen finback whales all in one afternoon tour.Many of the whales have been named and are recorded and monitored by the naturalist team throughout the summer.

Each tour includes information about the whales, marine life and habitat where guests can also view lighthouses, beaches and the Stellwagen Marine Sanctuary. We recommend to our guests staying at our inn in Brewster to make this a complete day trip so that you can enjoy all that Provincetown has to offer as well as a special seafood lunch or dinner at the Lobster Pot where you are sure to enjoy the freshest seafood on Cape Cod.

Appreciating the simple things in life

2009-05-04T11:57:00.005-04:00

As I grow older, my mind loves to wander at the end of the day. I think about what was special, what my conversations included and all the little and big things in my life that I am thankful for. Our lives took a major shift when we purchased the ever so lovely Brewster By The Sea bed and breakfast on Cape Cod in 2003. The changes in my priorities and daily appreciation list feels so much more real and sincere. In a word it all comes back to the "simple" things in life.

Yesterday, as I was watering some pansies in our front yard, my gaze drifted across the street to the beautiful wind mill that gracefully welcomes visitors to our lovely town of Brewster on Cape Cod. I look at that windmill daily but yesterday I realized what an incredible landmark and a beautiful part of history that is visible from many of the windows at our inn. I was taking that beautiful sight which I glance at many times during the day for granted.

Yesterday, we also concluded the festivities for our annual Brewster in Bloom celebration with inn tours. While the day was dreary and many of our guests came with rain gear, what a pleasure it was to greet so many kind warm faces that wanted a glimpse of what life is like at our inn. This year our theme included sharing the chocolates we love to give our guests. We do a nightly turn down service that includes delectable truffles from Brewster Sweets. We also had a free drawing for a one night stay at each of the inns. All of our visitors seemed excited about the prospect of winning. We even had one couple return because they had forgotten to fill out their ticket and did not want to miss the chance of winning.

So for me, my appreciation list for Sunday was simple and clear. I am thankful for the love of my husband and the health of our family. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country and will smile each time that I look at the beautiful windmill across the street. I feel blessed to have landed into this wonderful world of inn keeping that allows me to meet so many wonderful people each day.

Note from Byron (I love Donna so totally!!)

Brewster in Bloom, A Cape Cod Weekend

2009-05-01T18:27:00.008-04:00

Spring is my absolute favorite season, and I always feel like it truly is here when we celebrate Brewster in Bloom festivities in our lovely Cape Cod bayside town of Brewster. We have been innkeepers for 5 plus years at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast and are simply amazed at how beautiful nature is here on Cape Cod.

The whales are back and can be seen at the whale watching tours in Proveincetown, the herring are running at the grist mill here in Brewster, and the national seashore has so many stunning beaches to walk on this time of year.

On our property the daffodils and tulips are in full bloom, the magnolia and cherry trees are stunning and I am anxious to get into our vegetable garden to start planting seeds.

Happy spring to all!

Savory Breakfasts at Brewster by the Sea

2009-04-11T14:39:00.005-04:00

Breakfasts are a special time at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfasts. We have always paid attention to the two most important parts of our business...the bed and the breakfasts! Our guest always comment how comfortable our beds are and we are continually changing, improving and updating our three course breakfasts.

We recently had an acclaimed San Diego chef and concept caterer and his new bride, Syrisa, stay with us for their honeymoon. They had stayed at several bed and breakfasts on the east coast and commented that they were tired of all the overly sweet breakfasts they had been served over the past week (ever hear of muffin valley?). We rotate a sweet breakfast one day with a savory the next and always offer an option of scrambled herbed eggs or homemade granola and yogurt for those that do not like the daily menu. Immediately my husband and I started talking about what we could serve Kurt and Syrisa since we knew that they know good food and would want a flavorful, savory breakfast.

Coincidentally, we had just been talking with the owner and chef from our favorite Cape Cod restaurant, the Brewster Fish House and he shared some delightful herbs with us. Victoria Taylor's Herb's de Provence Seasoning was the perfect accompaniment to our Frittata. Now on to the garnish. My husband Byron always loves to serve mushrooms with our savory but I have been hesitant in the past because the mushroom medley I made with butter tended to come back on the plates. So something new was in order.We went on-line and looked in many of our cookbooks and landed on a portobello mushroom pan seared with olive oil, thyme and rosemary. I love to make homemade bread so I put together the dough for a dill bread that would go perfectly with our homemade raspberry jam.

The next day we started out with our fresh squeezed orange juice, a martini glass filled with fresh melon, mint and lemon and the main course that includes the herb frittata, a light sourdogh toast and slices of our new pan seared mushrooms. We finalize breakfast with lavender and grapefruit spritezed warm towels.

Happy to report that all of the plates that day came back empty with smiles and accolades from all of our guests......a perfect way to begin any innkeepers day!

Easter fun at Brewster by the Sea

2009-04-05T19:47:00.006-04:00

Every holiday we find unique decorations to place around our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast . Spring has always been my favorite season and every April I enjoy placing a unique Easter Egg tree that I found at our local Pier 1 store. We also have some cute bunnies that we place on our smaller dining tables.

This year, my husband Byron had some fun redecorating our dining room. As you can see from the attached picture he placed the bunnies around our tree as if they were adding their own touches to our Easter Egg tree. We laughed and smiled and left the silly decor out for our guests to enjoy that day.

As I was reflecting later that evening, I realized the importance of laughter and letting our inner child come out to play. We have lived on Cape Cod for over 5 years now and are still in awe of this beautiful peninsula. My husband and I are taking the time to laugh at the small things in life and appreciate every moment we are blessed with.

On a side note about self care, I have enjoyed reading a free magazine called Cape Cod Healing Arts published here on the Cape. It is filled with many helpful articles for improving and maintaining your health and well being. Certainly laughter is a great way to start! Happy Easter.

Winter getaway to Wyoming

2009-03-24T19:25:00.015-04:00

This year we were planning an adventuresome getaway to Costa Rica for our winter vacation. After much discussion and family issues, we felt obligated to change our plans and go to Cody Wyoming to visit my mother in-law who was just moved into a long term living facility. We decided to tweak our getaway and stay at a nice hotel.

Since we own a Cape Cod bed and breakfast we were able to do a trade with a lovely boutique hotel in Cody called the Chamberlin Inn. We not only had a fantastic stay but made new friends with the innkeepers, Ev and Susan. They have beautifully restored this property with intricate metal and brick on the exterior and tastefully decorated rooms inside.

We spent most of our time packing up the family home and visiting my mother in law, but on the last day we decided to take most of the day for ourselves and what a special afternoon we had. Upon our innkeepers suggestion we headed up to Shell, Wyoming where a recent archeological find included some dinosaur tracks. The weather was absolutely perfect with full sunshine and temperatures in the 60's. We did some hiking, had a picnic lunch, took some great pictures and had some great laughs on a nearby hill.Our day concluded with a relaxing dinner at Trapper Creek Mountain Lodge.

We drove back to our beautiful room in Cody knowing that this was an absolutely perfect vacation. We not only had a relaxing but busy stay in Cody, but we were able to spend some quality time with my mother-in-law, put a smile on her face each day, made some new friends and have fond memories of our afternoon in Shell, Wyoming.

Dining with friends

2009-03-14T14:36:00.006-04:00

One thing we love about living on Cape Cod is being surrounded by excellent dining choices! My husband and I own a Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast and are always looking for unique dining to recommend to our guests. During our high season in the summer we are usually too busy at the inn to dine out much so we always reserve our dining experimentation for the winter months. That actually has turned out to not only be a pleasant way to unwind but also a nice reprieve on our pocket books since many of the restaurants are running off season specials.

This past week we had the pleasure of dining with the some new dear friends at the Ocean House.They are running a winter special that is a tremendous value; for $25 you can order a three course meal that includes generous portions for an appetizer, main course and dessert. I ordered a vegetable spring roll with Chinese cabbage slaw and fresh local cod for my main course. Their specialty is American cuisine with an oriental infusion which always adds a nice twist to everyday dining. I have been on the South Beach Diet and have just reached my goal so I was pleased to have a meal that was flavorful, special yet still healthy.

One of our new year's resolution was to reach out and be more social this year. We have spent the last five years at the inn doing major renovations which has really consumed our free time. We were pleased when our former innkeeper friends decided to join us and what a pleasant evening we had. They both have similar age grown children and understand what it's like to be an innkeeper. We had time to catch up on each of our lives, laugh and enjoy good food! What a good life we have on Cape Cod.

Spring fever on Cape Cod

2009-03-10T13:42:00.010-04:00

Spring is my absolute favorite season, and I felt it's allure this past Sunday when the temperatures on Cape Cod peaked over 60 degrees.Our dog Harrison was in need of some exercise so we opted to check out a walking path in Nickerson State Park.The park is just a few miles from our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast and what a treasure we have right here in our lovely town of Brewster. (more)

The park has over 1900 acres that include beautiful rolling hills, 8 crystal clear kettle ponds, an eight mile bike path that connects into the Cape Cod Rail Trail and beautifully maintained walk paths around the lakes.

The walk was absolutely stunning! Harrison was content to stay close by, we saw a beautiful hawk in flight and were impressed with how well the bike path was maintained. You will find helpful maps along the way to acclimate yourself in the park and guide you around the different paths. We chose the deer park path which highlighted the back of the park and took us by the Triangle pond.

What a treasure we found.....and right down the street from our home!

Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast Internet Marketing

2009-02-21T11:39:00.006-05:00

Charlie Heller just put on a website internet marketing seminar here in Brewster at the Brewster Ladies Library. Although this was suppose to be for people just starting with internet marketing, I always find that it gives me more knowledge and more specifically that it gives me energy and motivation to do a little more for our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast website marketing.

The biggest thing I learned (relearned) this time was to increase both the number and the quality of our inbound links. I will post code below that I would want people to use in putting a link to us on their Cape Cod Activities page or on their

The bit below is what I would like to offer as our link (with the picture from this blogpost) for links. Contact me for the HTML (use view source on your browser).

Brewster Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast/

Brewster By The Sea is an upscale Cape Cod Inn and Spa with beautiful walks to the beach through the Museum of Natural Histories’ nature trails and to Paine’s Creek Beach. It features an onsite spa, heated pool and outdoor Jacuzzi, elegant breakfasts and luxurious accommodations.

Wyoming on Cape Cod

2009-02-01T14:37:00.005-05:00

Most people visiting our Bed and Breakfast on Cape Cod notice upon their arrival a very distinctive US Flag with 44 stars. The significance of this is a huge surprise to our, mostly Northeastern, Bed and Breakfast guests. Very few know anyone from Wyoming and no one seems to know that Wyoming was first in the US and indeed the world to give women the right to vote. You may wish to check out this link on women's suffrage and Wyoming.

Donna and I are headed to Wyoming for two weeks in March to clean my mom's house out as she is no longer able to live alone. We really look forward to hiking, visiting the cabin in the mountains, seeing the Buffalo Bill Historical center and in particular the Whitney Gallery of Western Art.

The 44 Star Flag : This Flag became the Official United States Flag on July 4th, 1891. A star was added for the admission of
* (44th) Wyoming - July 10, 1890
This was the official flag for 5 years. The Presidents to serve under this flag were Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), and Grover Cleveland (1893-1897).

It is always nice to get a 30 second overview of US and world history whenever I think of my home, the "wyoming territory" and for the 1890's the

United States History: The Gilded Age (1890)
and the brainy history version

It is harder to find the quick world history timeline overview and this is the best I found with just a quick search.

New Year's resolution

2009-01-22T17:56:00.006-05:00

My 2009 New Year's resolution was to become more social with respect to people from my past. As a happy and very social Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast innkeeper, not many would suspect that I have not always been social. My family history, small town upbringing, and personal early antisocial behavior helped define a very introverted character. So, in an effort to effect a continuing transition, I have created a blog for Donna and I to stay in touch with our guests, friends and family, a facebook account to reach out to classmates from Cody wyoming, my university, Northern Arizona University and to the younger crowd that populates these type of social sites. I believe this exercise is really a look forward to a time in 10 years or so when Donna and I will not be innkeepers, but happily retired and looking forward to visiting places and people from our past. Building and enhancing relationships.

TEASER : Below the fold is a quote from Alexander Hamilton. The lesson I take is twofold: we are incredibly simplistic and non creative when describing those we do not like today and the cause of that is likely to be our reliance on technology that enables quick, short, and non thoughtful communication and secondly, a reminder that without this level of skill I am much better off thinking well of everyone!!

Enjoy
Byron

Alexander Hamilton on John Adams

This scrutiny [of some of Adams's writings] enhanced my esteem in the main for his [Adams's] moral qualifications, but lessened my respect for his intellectual endowments. I then adopted an opinion, which all my subsequent experience has confirmed, that he is a man of an imagination sublimated and eccentric; propitious neither to the regular display of sound judgment, nor to steady perseverance in a systematic plan of conduct; and I began to perceive what has been since too manifest, that to this defect are added the unfortunate foibles of a vanity without bounds, and a jealousy capable of discoloring every object.

Do a google search for "Best Insults" and one can easily speculate about the qualities that technology and quick communication have brought us.

Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast Cupcakes

2009-01-20T16:08:00.008-05:00

Remember the last time you had a cupcake? I recently smiled when my mother, who lives with us and makes many of the inn's home baked goodies, commented that she wanted to try a new recipe for buttermilk cupcakes. more

We are always trying new recipes at Brewster by the Sea for our breakfasts and afternoon tea and I found her cup cake idea intriguing. My mind immediately started to wander back to fond childhood memories of birthday and school events where the moms baked cupcakes.....it was a perfect solution to school events where each child could have one little cake without much mess!

My mother and I started looking through recipe books and we landed on a light buttermilk lemon cupcake. We added a family cream cheese frosting that we love on our carrot cake!

I mentioned to several guests that we were having cupcakes for tea and the reaction was so sweet! Every guest had the same comment.....oh I don't remember the last time I had a cupcake, how special and when will they be served? We even had one guest miss out on a movie invitation because she did not want to miss out on the cupcakes.

Well, need less to say all of the cupcakes were in no time! The left overs from tea were a perfect dessert for our evening meal and the two that were left were gobbled up by our housekeepers the next day. We have decided to make cupcakes a regular attraction at Brewster by the Sea afternoon tea.

The recipe we love is shown below. Hoping you enjoy this old fashion favorite as much as we and our guests have.

Makes 18 cupcakes. Preheat 350. Line muffin tins with muffin liners.

1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar
3 large eggs plus 1 yolk, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
3 teaspoons lemon zest

Sift dry ingredients together.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time to sugar mixture, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk and ending with dry. Beat well. Add vanilla, lemon extract and lemon zest.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

Bake 20 minutes until tester inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean. let cool on wire rack.

Cream cheese frosting

3/4 cups softened butter
6 oz. softened cream cheese
1 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Blend butter, cream cheese and sugar together with blender. Add vanilla and zest

Add frosting to each cupcake and top with a twist of lemon rind.

Enjoy!

Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast Food Safety

2009-01-13T19:32:00.013-05:00

We have been innkeepers for five years now and derive great joy from our guests pleasure at breakfast time. Breakfasts have become an enjoyable passion here at BBTS since Byron and I both love to entertain, appreciate fresh well presented food and are always trying new recipes. Our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast innkeeper license requires us (Donna) to retake a "food safe class" every five years. I took this class 5 years ago when we purchased the inn and have always felt confident that our kitchen was clean, that our food was safe and that we followed proper procedures in handling all of our personal and breakfast food for guests. I signed up for the class because I like to follow the rules and knew it was important. The 7 hour class began with a detailed description of all of the diseases monitored by the FDA......YIKES....it was enough to scare any student into submission (more)

Like anything in life I believe that information and education is what improves our life and helps us make better decisions. Did you know that most food borne illnesses involve improper use of time and temperature when handling food? I have always used a meat thermometer when cooking roasts or turkeys but learned in the class that you should never reheat items in the microwave more than once and the meat should always be at 165.

The class was filled with good information and the instructor knew her stuff! While most of the food handling information was common sense some was new. Did you know that garlic can become lethal if combined with Olive oil and left at room temperature for more than 4 hours? Did you know that that the temperature danger zone for hazardous food is 41 -135 degrees and should not be left out in the danger zone for more than 4 hours? I immediately thought of our pancake batter which I do leave out while making the pancakes. It was comforting to know the 4 hour rule and that we were completely safe making the batter at 7 and serving it throughout the morning until 10am.

Throughout the day we kept hearing about the importance of washing our hands. I have always washed my hands often but after taking this course I think I will wash my hands even more. New information.... we should wash our hands for 20 seconds. That does not sound like a long time but after I was given this information I payed attention in the ladies room during our break. I started counting and realized I was about a 10 second washer. Time your self the next time and you will be surprised.

So after a seven hour state required class I am happy to report that things are a little safer at BBTS. Just a few things were changed mostly involving the way we store our food in the frig. We still make everything from scratch and will continue to buy fresh and organic food when we can.

You may want to check out breakfast recipes at Pamela Lanier , bnbfinder, Iloveinns and bed and breakfast and as always, we welcome suggestions.

Other thoughts

- about.com always has a word to say, for the very detailed here are quite a few worksheets on food preparation
The state of food safety in Britain is changing as Mr. Fernandez comments on here
Donna will be working on a recipe book from Brewster By The Sea this winter and we look forward to chronicling the progress on this blog.

Top Hard Rock Songs - Relaxing at Brewster By The Sea

2009-01-06T10:59:00.010-05:00

Happy New year to all and may your lives be blessed with good music. I watched part of VH1's reporting of the Top 100 Hard Rock songs ever and thought I would try to put mine together. What a mine field. Will be very interested in people's comments.

You know things are quiet at Brewster By The Sea and on Cape Cod when I spend valuable time reliving the past. It would be fun to get all of these "top 100's" (pop, rock, hard rock, etc), on video and watch them on a quiet winter day as part of your Bed and Breakfast getaway special

I think the numbering is impossible to do from an individual point of view and derives mostly from the VH1 poll type ranking as well as two other people's rankings. The second person added King Crimson and that surely dates them into the same era as myself and for that, a big thank you. A lot of the songs past 120 are too modern for me and I did not really know.

Cheers, Byron

1	Welcome to the Jungle	Guns N' Roses
2	Whole Lotta Love	Led Zeppelin
3	Paranoid	Black Sabbath
4	Enter Sandman	Metallica
5	Aqualung	Jethro Tull
6	Won't Get Fooled Again	The Who
7	Smells Like Teen Spirit	Nirvana
8	Walk this Way	Aerosmith
9	Runnin' with the Devil	Van Halen
10	Ace of Spades	Motorhead
11	Sweet Child O' Mine	Guns N' Roses
12	Smoke on the Water	Deep Purple
13	Breaking the Law	Judas Priest
14	La Grange	ZZ Top
15	Photograph	Def Leppard
16	Run to the Hills	Iron Maiden
17	Dr Feelgood	Motley Crue
18	Rock and Roll All Nite	KISS
19	Rock You Like a Hurricane	Scorpions _DELETE
20	Tom Sawyer	Rush
21	Kashmir	Led Zeppelin
22	Crazy Train	Ozzy Osbourne
23	In A Gadda Da Vida	Iron Butterfly
24	Blitzkrieg Bob	Ramones
25	Bad To The Bone	George Thorogood
26	Freebird	Lynyrd Skynyrd
27	Radar Love	Golden Earring
28	Bad Reputation	Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
29	21st Century Schizoid man	King Crimson
30	Even Flow	Pearl Jam
31	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap	AC/DC
32	Cat Scratch Fever	Ted Nugent
33	Barracuda	Heart
34	School's Out	Alice Cooper
35	Hot for Teacher	Van Halen
36	My Generation	The Who
37	Another Brick in The Wall part 2	Pink Floyd
38	Cum on Feel the Noize	Quiet Riot
39	Should I Stay or Should I Go	The Clash
40	Sunshine of Your Love	Cream
41	Born to Be Wild	Steppenwolf
42	You Got Another Thing Coming	Judas Priest
43	Don't Fear the Reaper	Blue Oyster Cult
44	Alright Now	Free
45	Tush	ZZ Top
46	Mississippi Queen	Mountain
47	Bad to the Bone	George Thoroggod
48	Sultans of Swing	Dire Straits
49	Aqualung	Jethro Tull
50	Shine	Collective Soul
51	Back In Black	AC/DC
52	Nirvana	All Apologies
53	Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers	ZZ Top
54	I Wanna Rock	Twisted Sister
55	Space Trucking	Deep Purple
56	Ballroom Blitz	Sweet
57	Hey Joe	Jimi Hendrix Experience
58	Everlong	Foo Fighters
59	Sunshine of Your Love	Cream
60	Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?	Frank Zappa
61	Basket Case	Green Day
62	Stone Cold Crazy	Queen
63	Talk Dirty to Me	Poison
64	Yankee Rose	David Lee Roth
65	Holy Diver	Dio
66	Bridge of Sighs	Robin Trower
67	Give It Away	Red hot Chili Peppers
68	Her Strut	Bob Segar
69	Peace Sells	Megadeth
70	Working Man	Rush
71	You Really Got Me	The Kinks
72	18 and Life	Skid Row
73	Paradise By The Dashboard Light	Meat Loaf
74	Innuendo	Queen
75	Red	King Crimson
76	Heartbreaker	Pat Benatar
77	Smoking in the Boys Room	Brownsville Station
78	Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll	Blue Oyster Cult
79	Pump It Up	Elvis Costello
80	Rebel Yell	Billy Idol
81	Heaven and Hell	Black Sabbath
82	Who Do You Love?	George Thorogood
83	Are You Gonna go my way	Lenny Kravitz
84	Aces High	Iron Maiden
85	Invincible	Pat Benatar
86	Locomotive Breath	Jethro Tull
87	Sunday Bloody Sunday	U2
88	Police Truck	Dead Kennedys
89	Sympathy for the Devil	Rolling Stones
90	Higher	Creed
91	We're an American Band	Grand Funk Railroad
92	I Can't Drive 55	Sammy Hagar
93	Helter Skelter	The Beatles
94	You Give Love a Bad Name	Bon Jovi
95	Carry On Wayward Son	Kansas
96	Still of the Night	Whitesnake
97	More Than a Feeling	Boston
98	Slow Ride	Foghat
99	Madhouse	Anthrax
100	Bawidabata	Kid Rock
101	Search and Destroy	Iggy Pop and the Stooges
102	Interstate Love Song	Stone Temple Pilots
103	The Stroke	Billy Squier
104	Round and Round	RATT
105	Breaking the Chains	Dokken
106	Hot Blooded	Foreigner
107	Mountain Song	Jane's Addiction
108	Jailbreak	Thin Lizzy
109	Kiss Me Deadly	Lita Ford
110	Any Way You Want It	Journey
111	Slither	Velvet Revolver
112	Bullet With Butterfly Wings	Smashing Pumpkins
113	Carry on My Wayward Son	Kansas
114	Frankenstein	Edgar Winter
115	Freak on a Leash	KoRn
116	Cherry Bomb	The Runaways
117	Epic	Faith No More
118	Cherry Pie	Warrant
119	Liar	Rollin's Band
120	Kick Out the Jams	MC5
121	The Final Countdown	Europe
122	More Human Than Human	White Zombie
123	Cult of Personality	Living Colour
124	Love Removal Machine	The Cult
125	Seven Nation Army	White Stripes
126	Black Hole Sun	Soundgarden
127	Since You've Been Gone	Rainbow
128	Bring Me Back to Life	Evanescence
129	I Wanna Be Somebody	W
130	The Beautiful People	Marilyn Manson
131	Seventeen	Winger
132	Would?	Alice In Chains
133	Party Hard	Andrew W
134	Don't Tell Me You Love Me	Night Ranger
135	Turn Up the Radio	Autograph
136	I Believe In a Thing Called Loved	The Darkness
137	Lit Up	Buckcherry
138	Break on Through	The Doors
139	AXEL RUDI PELL	FOOL FOOL
140	Working Man	Rush
141	Fox on The Run	Sweet
142	Children of The Grave	Black Sabbath
143	Veteran Of The Psychic Wars	Blue Oyster Cult
144	Wynona's Big Brown Beaver	Primus
145	Foreplay/Long Time	Boston
146	Rock and Roll	Led Zeppelin
147	Princess of The Night	Saxon
148	No One Like You	Scorpions
149	Eye of The Tiger	Survivor
150	Stranglehold	Ted Nugent
151	Rock Bottom	UFO
152	Panama	Van Halen
153	Bad Company	Bad Company
154	Holy Diver	Dio
156	Kool Thing	Sonic Youth
157	Problems	Sex Pistols
158	Freak on A Leash	Korn
159	Symphony of Destruction	Megadeth
160	More Than A Feeling	Boston
161	Mr	Guns N' Roses
162	Am I Evil?	Diamond Head
163	Breaking The Silence	Queesnryche
164	Jeremy	Pearl Jam
165	Falling To Pieces	Faith No More
166	Flirtin with Disaster	Molly Hatchet
167	Slow Ride	Foghat
168	Barracuda	Heart
169	The Final Countdown	Europe
170	Overkill	Motorhead
171	Come As You Are	Nirvana
172	Perry Mason	Ozzy Osbourne
173	Cowboys from Hell	Pantera
174	Foolin	Def Leppard
175	Tomorrow	Silverchair
176	Mother	Danzig
177	Holy Diver	Dio
178	Godzilla	Blue Oyster Cult
179	Stillborn	Black Label Society
180	Fast As A Shark	Accept
181	Down with the Sickness	Disturbed
182	Shout At The Devil	Motley Crue
183	Proud Mary	CCR
184	Seek and Destroy	Metallica
186	Wait	White Lion
187	Ziggy Stardust	David Bowie
188	Whatever	Godsmack
189	Here I Go Again	Whitesnake
190	Cherry Pie	Warrant
191	Rock n Roll(Crazy Nights)	Loudness
192	Hot for Teacher	Van Halen
193	Sweet Emotion	Aerosmith
194	Vertigo	U2
195	Tommy the Cat	Primus
196	You Got Another Thing Coming	Judas Priest
197	Detroit Rock City	KISS
198	Kashmir	Led Zeppelin
199	White Wedding	Billy Idol
200	Type	Living Colour
201	Cliffs of Dover	Eric Johnson
202	High Speed Dirt	Megadeth
203	Frankenstein	Edgar Winter
204	Wheels Of Steel	Saxon
205	Eye of the Tiger	Survivor
206	You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet	BTO
207	I Can't Drive 55	Sammy Hagar
208	The Ocean	Led Zeppelin
209	Tom Sawyer	Rush
210	Search and Destroy	Stooges
211	Dead Reckoning	RATT
212	Heavy Metal	Sammy Hagar
213	Amerika	Rammstein
214	Come Out and Play	The Offspring
215	Metal Health	Quiet Riot
216	Living Colour	Cult of Personality
217	The Lumberjack	Jackyl
219	Unconscious Power	Iron Butterfly
220	Future World	Helloween
221	Killing In The Name Of	RATM
222	We Care A Lot	Faith No More
223	Portrait	Kansas
224	Creep	Radiohead
225	Feel Like Makin' Love	Bad Company
226	Into The Void	Black Sabbath
227	Seven Mary Three	Cumbersome
228	Them Bones	Alice In Chains
229	For Those About To Rock	AC/DC
230	Bad Reputation	Thin Lizzy
231	Be Crool to Your Scuel	Twisted Sister
232	Brain Stew	Green Day
233	Avalancha	Heroes Del Silencio
234	Fire	Jimi Hendrix
235	Stone Temple Pilots	Sex Type Thing
236	Mama weer all Crazee Now	Slade

238	Fire Woman	The Cult
239	High N' Dry	Def Leppard
240	Fell on Black days	Soundgarden
241	Jerry Was A Racecar Driver	Primus
242	The Pot	Tool
243	My Own Prison	Creed
244	AIR	Anthrax
245	Slither	Velvet Revolver
246	Black Sunshine	White Zombie
247	Toadies	Possum Kingdom
248	Three Lock Box	Sammy Hagar
249	Last Child	Aerosmith
250	Everything Zen	Bush

How Harrison fits in with our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast

2009-01-01T20:13:00.007-05:00

We have a new addition to our Brewster Cape Cod family, a one year old Labradoodle whose name is Harrison (Pictures at this link). The interesting twist is that we have an 8 room bed and breakfast on Cape Cod, and we were very nervous on the challenge of training a new puppy to have proper manners around our guests. Harrison has not only captured both of our hearts but also managed to be therapeutic to many of our guests and continues to befriend every two or four legged creature that come his way.

Last year about this time we were grieving mightily over the loss of our two beloved family pets, Honey and Blackie. They had been with us for 15 plus years and had both passed away within 6 months of each other. They were wonderful family pets who loved our family unconditionally. As all pet owners can understand it's always hard when you are grieving the loss of old pets to move on to a new puppy. Byron did quite a bit of research beforehand and we settled on the Labradoodle breed since they are both loving, smart and hypoallergenic. We traveled to New Hampshire where Harrison was born on a lovely small country farm. His owner believed in all organic food (which included a kitchen full of turnips) We fell in love with his standard poodle Mom and knew this was the litter we wanted to chose from. We decided on Harrison because he was friendly and not jumpy.

We breezed through the puppy training and have many fond memories of his silly little antics. We tease each other that life is all about Harrison since our children are all grown and Harrison has become the center of our universe. Please don't get me wrong, Byron and I love each other and cherish the time we spend together, we love our careers as innkeepers, we love our children and feel so blessed that we live in such a beautiful area and have our health. But it is Harrison who puts a smile on our face every day. It's Harrison that tugs at our heart to get down on the floor and play a simple game of ball. It's Harrison that gets us out every day for a walk on the beach or park.

The best part of this whole new puppy experience is how Harrison has touched the hearts of many of our guests. It was just this past week that we had a very quiet guest come through our front door. She really had very little to say to us but immediately got on the floor and started playing with Harrison and talking to him like she was her small child. We did get to know her later but realized it was Harrison that really put her to ease the moment she arrived at our inn. Another recent experience was with repeat guests that have become dear friends. They both have stressful jobs and came to the Cape to relax and de-stress. They played with Harrison each day and commented that playing with Harrison was so therapeutic. They even asked for a toy that they could play tug of war with and came to the park to watch him play.

So each time we greet a new guest Harrison follows us to the front door and has to say hello in his own way. He also is there when we serve breakfast and has been known to drop a ball in a guest's lap. We do have the occasional guest who does not like dogs in general and we are always respectful to keep Harrison in our owners quarters during their stay. But overall, we feel like having a new puppy at our inn has been such a positive experience for not only us personally but also for most of our guest.

We do believe in animal rescue and adoption agencies as appropriate. However, we needed very specific properties, non allergy and well tempered, to fit in with the inn. We chose a breeder who is definitely not running a puppy mill and had a sincere love for all the animals on her little farm. Her circumstances have changed and she is not breeding her poodle at this time.
type rest of post here!!

Cape Cod Treasure - Museum of Natural History

2008-12-23T10:17:00.005-05:00

The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History is across the street from our Bed and Breakfast
Most of our guests take the walk to the beach, 15 minutes from our front steps, through the museums nature trails.

There are many activities that visitors to the Cape as well as us "washashores" and natives should take advantage of.

Check out the January and February 2009 Wednesday Walks with Connie Boyce .

Christmas Tradition on Cape Cod - Peanut Butter Fudge

2008-12-20T11:37:00.008-05:00

Every year one of our annual traditions at Brewster by the Sea is to make Peanut Butter Fudge! It's an easy recipe that my Aunt Madeline found and is so creamy and smooth. Interestingly, every year it comes out a little different! Some years it crystallizes and is too hard to cut and sometimes it's too soft and has to be eaten with a spoon. Each year we try this recipe and remember those years when it comes out perfect, velvety smooth and delicious. Know a wine connoisseur (snob), we are peanut butter fudge connoisseurs.

A little confession, I have a problem in not being able to resist the temptation of this decadence. One piece is all you should eat at a time, but, I can eat 3-4 pieces at one time and then I feel so sick! So I had this bright idea this year that I would just not make it to avoid temptation. Nanna's response was "you are a wimp and have no will power" and top top it off both daughters, April and Jennifer, were so upset. So, plan #2- Aunt Carrie who is staying with us for Christmas offered to make it and then would bring a small tin for us and limit each of the girls to 1 or 2 pieces. This seemed like a perfect solution until she called to tell me that this year it came out like toffee and could only be eaten like pudding. Her arthritis really did not allow her to stir the final ingredients together.

also check out another Peanut Butter Fudge Victim

So what else could I do but make a batch of my own. As I was stirring the sugar mixture on the stove this morning I just smiled at all of the family stories surrounding this peanut butter fudge. This year's version came out just OK. It seemed to be a little more granular then I like but is still delicious and I am sure none will go to waste. Of course I have already sampled 2 pieces....oh well straight from the mouth to the hips!

Happy Holidays and beautiful culinary experiences from
Nanna, Donna, Byron & Harrison on beautiful Cape Cod at "Brewster By The Sea Bed and Breakfast"

If you would like to try our recipe I have listed it below....Good Luck and Happy Holidays from Brewster by the Sea Inn and Spa on Cape Cod.

1 1/2 cu p creamy peanut butter
8 oz marshmallow fluff

5 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk
1 stick butter or margarine (1/2 cup)

Mix together peanut butter and fluff in large bowl. Put aside.

Stir sugar, milk and butter in saucepan on stove. Bring mixture to a boil and continue to stir 10 minutes after boiling.

Immediately pour hot mixture over peanut butter mixture and mix well. Quickly pour in a 13 x 9 plan and let cool.

Place in frig and when mixture is set cut into pieces.

Enjoy... a real treat!

mmm

Christmas Storm

2008-12-20T08:55:00.004-05:00

Donna and I will be posting pictures of the snow storm today later. Cape Cod is very special weather wise compared to just a little ways on shore. Our snow will last just a short time, the temperature is typically warmer in the winter and much cooler in the summer and yet retains all of the beauty of "real weather". We really love it here.

Here is a picture out the back door (before I have started to shovel) LOL

Harrison's First time to the beach.

2008-03-09T21:23:00.003-04:00

We had to put Honey (part Akita & part Chow) and Blackie (Black lab / Shepard) mix down this past year. They had been with us for 15 years and spent the last 5 in a lifestyle that was light years better than any other part of their lives. In there memory we planted a "weeping dogwood" in the backyard of our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast.

Donna and I had really thought we would wait until the fall to get another dog, but we just could not wait any longer. Harrison was born on Dec 23, 2007 along with 8 other brothers and sisters to a Chocolate colored standard poodle. The father is also AKC registered and is a large Golden Lab.

The picture you see here really describes his personality well. Initially shy, but always friendly, fairly quiet, but still fun loving. Athletic and ever so photogenic. I will be posting pictures both to the Brewster BY THe Sea Bed and Breakfast flickr account as well as to the bbts website, http://www.brewsterbythesea.com.

Brewster in the news - new picture of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan

2008-03-06T12:40:00.005-05:00

Helen Keller and Brewster Cape Cod in the news. From the AP newsroom. The story continues to fascinate and the connection to Brewster which is, IMHO, the nicest town on Cape Cod is wonderful to contemplate.

My brother in Montana used this photo to start a history search of Sea Captain's from Brewster and found a great source of information . He asks which of the Sea Captain's originally built the building which is now Brewster By The Sea Inn and Spa? The answer is Nathan Foster, who married Polly Dillingham. Both of these families have long histories on the Cape. We keep a short history in the rooms of what we have discovered to date. Nathan registered as a sea captain at some point in his life, but the location of the building suggests, at the very least, a not prosperous sea captain. At this time I do not know if he had children or if and how he is related to the foster shown in the cape cod history link above. We can still tease our guests that they are sleeping in a sea captain's house.

A short excerpt from the AP story is below.

1888 Photo Depicts Helen Keller, Teacher

By MELISSA TRUJILLO – 19 hours ago

BOSTON (AP) — Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod and tucked inside a family album.

The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Experts on Keller's life believe it could be the earliest photo of the two women together and the only one showing the blind and deaf child with a doll — the first word Sullivan spelled for Keller after they met in 1887 — according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which now has the photo.