Distraction

Earlier this week the members of The Wisconsin Bed and Breakfast Association met at The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for their annual meeting and conference.  The conference began with a special day of presentations for Aspiring Innkeepers.  Sixteen future innkeepers learned about the profession from experts in business, financing, and insurance and received lots of advice from practicing innkeepers about marketing, policies, record keeping and websites.  Tours of local B&B’s were enjoyed by many of the conference attendees.  The keynote presentation was delived on Monday morning by Jay Karen of PAII.  His message encouraged innkeepers to reach out to the next generation of guests by listening to their needs and desires.  The rest of Monday and Tuesday were filled with interesting workshops, a trade show, and probably most importantly, time for the members of WBBA to share time with old friends and welcome some new ones into this family of innkeepers.

What does happen when innkeepers get together?  Do they tell horror stories about bad guests?  No, well maybe a little bit but innkeepers are really a positive group sharing the feeling that B&B guests are a very special group of people who make a conscious choice to be a guest at a B&B.  So innkeepers time together is a time to share best practices, tidbits of vendor information, and recipes and breakfast menu plans.  It really is a time to recharge and then go back to their B&B’s with a long, long list of ideas, projects, and concepts to explore during the slightly quieter months ahead.

So, a new year begins now before January even rolls around.  There is blogging to do, facebook to do better, pictures to take (especially food pictures), rooms to refurbish or redecorate, a cookbook to create, new marketing techniques to master, and time management issues to resolve.  You can share my journey on facebook, if you care to.  It promises to be interesting.

Crab Trees at The Speckled Hen Inn

The Speckled Hen Inn is delighted and proud to be named one of Wisconsin’s Top Ten Eco-Elegant Inns by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.  We take our participation in Wisconsin’s Travel Green certification program very seriously and want travelers to know that “traveling green” doesn’t mean having to forgo some of the very nice things in life.  It often means making the best choice available and that choice is often delicious, delightful, and downright fun.

Here is what they had to say about us:

•  This coming weekend, February 6, is the big outdoor hockey event at Camp Randall stadium on the University of Wisconsin campus.  Will it be the largest crowd ever to watch a college hockey game?  The Badger women play at 2:00PM and the Hockey Badger men play at 6:00.  You will have to go to see how they created a level ice hockey rink on a very crested football field.
• On February 11 Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love will be speaking at the Overture Center.  Her presentation is a part of the Wisconsin Book Festival.
• Get ready for spring at the Midwest Garden Expo at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall.  Just catching the aroma of fresh dirt when you enter the building gets me in the mood to start planning and planting.  The show is February 12-14.  A great thing to add to your Valentine’s weekend celebration.
• On February 19-21 all of Madison will be having a grand old time at Madison Winter Festival.  Enjoy all of Madison’s favorite winter activities and see how fast cross country skiers can move.  It’s downtown on the beautiful Wisconsin Capitol Square.
• February 27 we will offer guests at The Speckled Hen Inn an extreme contrast in recommended activities.  On Saturday afternoon head on over to Middleton to Capital Brewery for the celebration of the release of this year’s Blonde Doppelbock (that’s a beer, folks!).  You can even try to catch a smoked chub (that’s a fish, folks) tossed from the roof of the brewery.  Have a rowdy good time and then completely switch gears when nighttime comes and head for the UW Arboretum for their nightwalk.  Hear the crunch of your boots in the snow and then stand perfectly still and listen for the great horned owls or just stargaze. Ahhh.  What a day!

The cookbook is more than just the recipes that have been contributed by over 150 different Wisconsin B&B’s.  It could even be used as a travel guide because there is information about each B&B that submitted a recipe and there are lots of fun facts about the food scene in Wisconsin.

The contents are not just focused on Breakfast, although there is a wonderful array of breakfast dishes.  There are appetizers, soups, luncheon and dinner entrees and marvelous deserts.

It is a fun read and a great gift for the foodies or cookbook collectors on your Christmas list.

Bob and I are both natives of Missouri.  We met in college in the late 60’s and were married in 1973.  We moved to Madison in 1978 and purchased the 50-acre parcel where The Speckled Hen Inn is located in 1984 and began construction and landscaping in 1986.  We completed the building of our home in 1990 and raised our two children in the house that is now the Inn.  In 2000, I opened the Speckled Hen Inn.  Bob retired from his “day job” of 32 years in 2005 and became the full-time assistant innkeeper .

Bob and Happy take a break.

Over the years, we have developed our interests in entertaining, cooking, gardening and wine appreciation.  They tell me that I have the creative genes that are best reflected in the decor of the Inn and interesting gourmet breakfasts served at the Inn.  The Inn is known for its breakfasts, warm ambiance and genuine hospitality.  Many of the breakfast entrées use ingredients produced at the Inn by the Innkeepers.   Bob is the assistant chef, head gardner and is responsible for the upkeep of the 50 acre estate.   The Inn is proud to be a member of Travel Green Wisconsin.

Come share our 25+ year labor of love and be prepared to be pampered and, of course,  well fed.

Pat with one of the lambs.