We’re coming up on the most beautiful time of the year in New England.  Mother Nature never disappoints us when it comes to her artistry of harvest-hues in the autumn months. This year after a great deal of rainfall in August and early September, the woods are particularly lush and fall foliage is shaping up to be exquisite throughout New England.  October is the perfect month for a DINE leaf peeping getaway, but one word of caution.  While there are still rooms available, this is a popular time to visit,  so book now or forever hold your peep!  To get the room on the date you want, you’ll need to make your reservation soon. 

While the changing of the leaves can never be pinpointed to a specific date, in Northern New England Columbus Day usually coincides with peak foliage.  In the Berkshires and more southern parts of New England, color often lasts beyond Columbus Day.  A great resource for predicting when the leaves will turn is the Yankee Magazine fall foliage map.  There you’ll see first-hand reports from leaf peepers offering photos and details of the ever-changing foliage.

What makes the color turn?

 Plants use glucose as food for energy and growth. Photosynthesis is the process of  turning water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar  A chemical called chlorophyl also is needed to make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. Throughout the summer months, trees store up their nutrients. As summer ends and the days get shorter and shorter, the trees begin to ready for winter.  They begin to shut down their food-making process and the green chlorophyll disappears. As the bright green fades away, it is replaced by yellow and orange colors. While small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all summer, it’s covered up by the dominent green chlorophyll.  The bright reds and purples seen in leaves  are made only in the autumn. Some trees, like maples, trap glucose  in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. The combination of sunlightduring the day and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves to turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.

Now that you know the process, it’s time to get out and enjoy the views! Take photos and post them to the DINE blog.  Tell us about your trip and offer tips for where to see the best foliage shots!  We can’t wait to hear your stories.

There’s no doubt that coffee is an important … okay, we’ll even go so far as to say an essential part of the day. Today on Facebook I saw it referred to as “nectar of the Gods” and “starter fluid”! While some may start their day with coffee that tastes like starter fluid, you’ll always find the perfect cuppa Joe at DINE member inns.  Many offer a signature-brewed blend and most have it available upon request or help-yourself 24-7. 

Any way you brew it, coffee is an essential part of the day for the majority of Americans according to a survey commissioned this month by convenience store chain 7-11 and reported on Reuters.com.  The survey details that of the 65 percent of Americans who drink coffee, each consume an average of 13 cups of coffee per week, and three out of five agreed with the statement “I need a cup of coffee to start my day.” 

Freebies on National Coffee Day

What’s more important than who’s drinking it and how much, is where to get your free cup of coffee on National Java Day.  You’re in luck, there are a number of places where you can score your jolt for the morning or afternoon:

1)  7-11 stores throughout the country will be offering a free medium cup of coffee from 7am to 11am today.

2)  Participating Krispy Kreme locations are offering a free 12oz cup of House Blend coffee all day long.

3) I read a rumor that Duncan Donuts is offering 50-cent coffee all day, but it wasn’t confirmed on their website.  It’s worth asking, though! (Duncan Donuts free iced coffee day was celebrated in June).

WCSH-6 in Portland, Maine revealed some interesting coffee trivia this morning

• 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide each day; 300,000 of which are regular (vs. decaf) coffee
• The two largest coffee producing countries are Brazil and Vietnam.
• Coffee is a world commodity, second only to oil.
• Coffee stays fresh in the pot for only about 20 minutes, after that salt and sediment begin to build up.
• In an earlier story, WCSH reported that coffee lowers the risk of depression in women addording to Harvard researchers.

What are some doing to celebrate national coffee day besides drinking it?  You can send a free e-card to your fellow java-loving friends.  You can take a friend out for coffee.  Better yet, why not use this as a reminder to book a stay at your favorite country inn where the coffee is always delicious and fresh and you won’t have to make it yourself?

With autumn comes wonderful comfort food, and with wonderful comfort food comes great escapes to DINE country inns.  Knowing you’re probably still in the process of planning your leaf-peeping getaway, we’re bringing you some great Butternut Squash recipes to give you a preview of the savory tastes you’ll enjoy soon.  Tis the season for squash, zucchini and pumpkin-filled foods, so look for recipes from the kitchens of DINE inns in the future.  Let us know if there is a dish or a dessert from your favorite DINE inn that you’d like to make at home.  We’ll get the recipe and share it with you (if the chef will tell us!).  Here are two recipes for soups with a Butternut Squash base.  Let us know which one you prefer.

Easy Butternut Squash Bisque From the recipe files of Rabbit Hill Inn

(serves four to six)

 Ingredients:

1 butternut squash, peeled & cubed                                

1 shallot

2 cups heavy cream + 1 shot brandy/sherry                    

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

½ tsp nutmeg                                                               

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp allspice                                                               

salt & pepper to taste

Method                                                                    

• Roast squash along with the shallot until both are tender.
• Place squash and stock in a sauce pot and cook over medium-high heat until reduced by half.  Add cream, shallot, and spices.
• When hot, blend in a food processor or blender until smooth.  You may strain if you like.
• Serve hot and garnish with crostini, infused oils, baby greens, etc. 

Butternut Squash Soup from the kitchen of the Chesterfield Inn

 This is a very flexible recipe. Amounts don’t need to be too exact. I made a veggie version, but you can use chicken stock if you like, and you can use regular mushrooms if you don’t have shiitakes. Instead of sage, you could use curry powder or rosemary, which would both go nicely with the squash.

 Ingredients

1 TBL olive oil

2 TBL butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 or 4 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, chopped

2 stalks celery or celery heart, chopped

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 apple (any kind), chopped

3 cups water or chicken broth

1 apple (Granny Smith or other tart variety), grated

Apple juice (optional)

Fresh sage, chopped, to taste

Salt and pepper

Method 

• Melt butter with olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook for ten minutes, partially covered.
• Add mushrooms and celery and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Add squash, apples, and water just to cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cook until squash is soft (around 25 minutes).
• Let soup cool slightly; blend in blender or Cuisinart. Add grated apple, sage, and salt and pepper to taste. Use apple juice to thin soup if you like.

 Enjoy!

I was amazed to read recently in an article on CNN.com entitled Internet Fee Irritates Hotel Guests, that three quarters of the “luxury” or upper scale hotel chains charge for Internet access, a fee that rubs travelers the wrong way.  “It’s something that drives me and a lot of my clients relatively insane,” said Janice Hough, a travel agent who writes for the blog Consumer Traveler.  According to the CNN story, Janice says “They feel nickled and dimed. They feel frustrated. If you’re paying $500 for a hotel room, you can probably afford $15 or $20 a day for the Internet. But it leaves a bad taste in people’s mouth.”  Studies by BedandBreakfast.com and Professional Association of Innkeepers International have shown that more than 92% of inns and B&Bs in the United States offer free wi-fi access to guests.  In fact, when coupled with complimentary breakfasts (often gourmet), free afternoon or evening refreshments, complimentary afternoon tea, beverages, and parking, the amenities add up to as much as $150 per day savings at DINE properties, all  equivalent to the luxury hotels. 

Ironically, breakfast is in the same category as free wi-fi.  The more you pay for the hotel room, the less likely you are to find breakfast included in your room rate.  According to a second CNN.com story entitled Appetite Grows for Free Hotel Breakfast, only 4 percent of the properties in the higher end hotel category offer a complimentary breakfast. “They have a restaurant, and they want you to pay for your breakfast,” said Daniel Mount, associate professor at Pennsylvania State University’s School of Hospitality Management to CNN. “And at places like that, I don’t think free breakfast is necessarily important.” Yet travelers who’ve heard from their Mom that breakfast is the most important meal of the day want that free breakfast and are willing to choose a lodging property that’ll offer it.  When asked what they like most about inns and B&Bs in BedandBreakfast.com surveys, inngoers have consistently answered that the complimentary breakfast is among the top reasons they choose to stay at a B&B. Try to find a breakfast equivelent of what you’ll find at any of the nine DINE member inns, and you’ll spend upwards of $35 for two each day.

Recently, when staying in a boutique hotel (which will go unnamed) which did not offer a complimentary breakfast, the waitress asked if we’d prefer REAL maple syrup to imitation. Of course we answered we’d like the real maple syrup, only to find an additional $2 charge on the breakfast bill.  This inngoer, accustomed to enjoying real maple syrup on my complimentary breakfast at every DINE inn and B&B she travels to felt particularly nickeled and dimed there.

Yet it’s these added fees that have travelers rubbed the wrong way, and which have the same travelers looking to discover a better way to stay.  According to a recent study by Peter Yesawich of the Y-Partnership, 79 percent of travelers are interested in visiting an inn or B&B in the upcoming year.  They are looking for a better way to stay and they’re finding it when they visit DINE inns.

We know we’re preaching the country inn advantages to the choir here.  Help us to spread the word.  Pass this on to your hotel-going friends and family who are looking for distinctive hospitality, delicious breakfasts and complimentary wi-fi, snacks and beverages when they travel.  Show them the better way to stay is also the value way to stay at a DINE inn.  

 Thanks.

Having collectively spent probably close to a century in the innkeeping business, Distinctive Inns of New England  members have just about seen it all.  Yet, after watching the video entitled Cooking breakfast in a hotel room where the “star” of the video demonstrates how to make “porridge” in a coffee maker and cook eggs and bacon with an iron, we can all only shake our heads.  The piece de resistance is the cutlery and plates she created from tin foil. Click on the link above or the photos here to watch the video.

While we’re all for Yankee ingenuity, going on vacation, staying in a hotel and then cooking eggs and bacon in foil with an iron and eating off of foil plates just doesn’t seem like a very relaxing way to start the day. Creative?  Yes.  Relaxing and delicious?  Hardly.

One of the best parts of staying at a country inn is waking to a hot cup of coffee and gourmet breakfast.  The priceless part about a country inn vacation is the fact that breakfast waiting for you when you’re ready to enjoy it.  No cooking, no clean-up, just gourmet breakfasts – often served fireside – the perfect way to start the day!

The B&B industry has embarked on a campaign to introduce travelers to today’s inns and B&Bs called Better Way To Stay.  The goal of the campaign is to bust the myths about inns and B&Bs and to help travelers understand today’s B&B experience.  Wouldn’t the star of this video prefer a fabulous three course breakfast to her coffee pot porridge and tin foil forks?  The best part of all is that breakfast is included with the stay at a B&B or country inn, which is generally on par or even less than hotels in the same vicinity. No need to soft boil eggs in the coffee pot; awake to a fabulous breakfast after the perfect night’s sleep at a country inn, often for the same price as the nearby hotel!

We say, find a better way to stay to this in-room chef.  Soggy tin foil bacon and runny eggs cooked in your coffee pot are not the way to start your day! Here’s  the better way to breakfast from DINE inns offering the better way to stay!

For many the end of the summer signals a return to work, school and the grind.  August’s summer freedom and warm weather is replaced with September’s back to school and back to work leading to longer stints between vacation days.  According to Cari Nierenberg in a story appearing on MSNBC, if you’ve recently returned home from an end of the summer vacation you might be enjoying more than just the photos from your travels and suffering from a Happiness Hangover, that post-vacation afterglow which wanes quickly upon re-entry into the work world.

Nierenberg explains that the psyche-payoffs wear off within two weeks either directly or gradually after returning from vacation.  For those of us with kids and jobs, I’d say the afterglow is snuffed out within two hours!  Jeroen Nawijn, a tourism researcher at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands who has studied the after-effects of vacations maintains that during vacations people generally experience a greater sense of freedom, less structure, and more socializing. These are often gone immediately once home.

Interestingly, a longer trip will not prolong your post-holiday happiness. According to the studies Nawijn’s completed or researched he says it’s certainly possible that a great 3-day weekend might produce the same two week afterglow as a fantastic 14-day cruise. The key is the quality of the trip and your enjoyment of it.  . “If you had a great vacation, you experience two weeks of afterglow,” Nawijn says.

Additionally, that post-trip afterglow is also very dependent on how the vacation felt and how well life is going in general, says Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist and TODAY show contributor in Nierenberg’s article. If you’re coming home from vacation to a job, loving family and an environment that makes you happy the return home can also lift your spirits. Saltz also maintains that one’s personality comes into play too. An optimist may hold on to happier feelings longer than the pessimist who may think “it’s over” rather than “it was great”.

“A big feature of vacations is that you’re playing and that’s in sharp contrast to working,” shares Saltz in the article. Her best advice is to integrate some of the elements that worked to nourish the body and soul on vacation into your everyday life.  With a little focused energy and perhaps some candlelight, the romance and intimacy of a luxury inn can be incorporated into one’s life at home where it often takes a lower priority.

Our best advice for the post vacation blues?  Start planning the next one!  As in most of life’s best moments, the anticipation is 75 percent of the fun!

We’re continuing on our recipe theme this week, by posting another new apple recipe.  If you’re anything like us, your taste buds are moving toward harvest comfort foods.  Here’s a great early fall recipe to usher in  autumn with apples!

Chesterfield Inn Apple Cranberry Crisp  (makes 6 to 8 servings) 

6 cups peeled, cored, sliced apples (I like to use Cortland)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2/3 cup brown sugar, or to taste

5 tbl. cold unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus butter for greasing the pan

½ cup rolled-oats

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup dried cranberries

Dash salt

 Method:

Preheat oven to 400.  Toss the fruit with half the cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and spread it in a lightly buttered 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine all the other ingredients – including the remaining cinnamon and sugar – in the container of a food processor, and pulse a few times, then process a few seconds more until everything is well incorporated but not uniform.  (To mix the ingredients by hand, soften butter slightly, toss together the dry ingredients, then work in the butter with your finger tips, a pastry blender, or a fork.). 

Spread the topping over the apples and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until the topping is browned and the apples are tender and bubbly.  Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.  Bon appetit!

Now that September is here and kids are back (or almost back) to school, it’s beginning to feel like fall in New England.  Wisps of color have been spotted in the Berkshires and in the higher reaches of the mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont too.  With fall comes harvest dishes, and with the harvest comes apples.  DINE member inns have shared a number of fabulous recipes for you to use after your apple or pumpkin picking trek.  Try this one from Captain’s House Inn when your bushel is brimming with apples this fall.  Better yet, plan a visit to Cape Cod this summer, and enjoy this at tea time or for evening refreshments!

Apple Walnut Streusel Cake With Cinnamon Custard from Captain’s House Inn

Prehead Oven Temperature   350F

 Ingredients

1 Cup                          Corn Oil                                             

1 ½ Cups                      Sugar                          

4                                  Eggs, beaten                                      

2 ½ Tsps                      Vanilla Extract                                  

½ Cup                        Orange Juice  

3 Cups                         Flour

3 Tsps                         Baking Powder 

Ingredients – Streusel & Filling 

1/3 Cup                       White Sugar                           

¼ Cup                         Brown Sugar                          

½ Cup                         Flour                                      

2 Tsps                         Cinnamon                              

½ Cup                         Coarsely Chopped Walnuts                                                   

2 Tbsp                         Cold Butter, cut into bits                                                      

3 Large                        Apples, peeled, cored and sliced

 Method – Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine oil & sugar. Add beaten eggs, vanilla and orange juice.  Mix in flour & baking powder. Beat until just smooth.

 Method – Filling & Streusel

Mix the streusel ingredients together. Toss half the streusel with the apples to coats slightly. In a well-greased and floured 14 cup tube pan spread half the batter. Layer the streusel mixture with all of the apple slices in the center.

Bake for 1 hr and 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

Ingredients – Custard

 11/2 Cups                    Half-and-Half

4                                  Egg Yolks                                          

¼ Cup                         Sugar                                      

2 Tsps                         Vanilla Extract                                  

3 Tsps                         Cinnamon                              

 Method – Custard

Scald the half-and-half in a medium saucepan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk the half-and-half into the egg mixture; whisk to combine well. Pour the mixture into the saucepan & cook over a low heat until it just begins to thicken. Pour into a small metal bowl and submerge the bowl into ice water to stop the cooking. Whisk until slightly cooled.

Whisk in vanilla & cinnamon. Serve each piece of cake in a pool of warm custard.