Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

Guests of Bed and Breakfasts, for the most part, are pretty easy to please. A comfy bed in clean surroundings - a few pretties, here and there, and a hot breakfast with lots of fresh coffee. That's pretty much the formula! This weekend we installed a small coffee nook to satisfy the need for the fresh, hot coffee. We're still waiting on a new countertop but it's easy to imagine the finished space. Spread around the B & B are several one-cup coffee makers; allowings guests to grab a quick cappuccino or hot tea before breakfast or after a late night in Newnan. It's been seven years since we closed The Old Garden Inn. Between learning how to operate a leased-access channel and running a Bed and Breakfast, the work load was a little too heavy. But, as the opening draws near, I find myself becoming more and more excited. Choosing the breakfast menus and adding a few new items is great fun for a "foodie". Imagining the "oohs and ahh's" from ...

  I have been anxious to try my new experiment with my own freshly roasted coffee beans. Using about a half of a cup of my Mocha Java Joe Beans (great chocolately undertones) I created the sugar-free liqueur with the addition of a Madagascar Vanilla Bean to a decanter of vodka. The mixture has been sitting under the wine bar for about four weeks-developing the most beautiful deep chocolate brown tones and decadent aroma! It struck me today that the perfect presentation for this liqueur was this beautiful cordial from the 30's. Cool colors, minted simple syrup and my own coffee-chocolate liqueur resulted in this refreshing "Peppermint Patty" cordial.

  I can so easily get off track when I clean and play in the kitchen! Today was no exception, I rearranged my baking cupboard which I will share with you in another post I gathered all my baking supplies in one central location, moved out all my cookbooks and now I'm struggling to find a new location. I want to install a new cupboard outside my walk-in pantry to house all my cookbooks. I envision a piece of granite on top so that I can grow herbs in this perfectly sunny location. Maybe for Christmas! I also blended ten pounds of my Robust Morning Blend! I'm shipping samples out to friends in two states and ground a fresh batch for my morning coffee. It's almost as good as a trip to my friend's market in Tuscany. I love the Sandee Bar Gold Moka Espresso and have it blended as soon as I arrive in San Guistino Valdarno. Usually I send back nine or ten kilos but after ten years of carefully selecting and blending fresh roasted beans I now have a truly authentic cup ...