The B in B&B that is Breakfast

Our B&B - Larson Creek Farm Bed & Breakfast - has been open for almost a year now.  We had our first official guests in April last year.  For about the last 8-10 years we thought we might want to open a B&B when we moved here after retirement from teaching in the Minneapolis area.  We stayed in a few B&Bs to see how we liked them, we attended a weekend workshop sponsored by the Wisconsin Bed & Breakfast Association, we read lots of books and websites on the topic, and we built a house with room arrangements that could serve as comfortable rooms with the amenities guests would like.

But then there was the other B - Breakfast!

Neither one of us is a natural in the kitchen.  And we knew from the beginning that no one was ever going to attach the word "gourmet" to our meals, so on our website we refer to our meals as "hearty Northwoods!"  Not many people have left our breakfast table hungry, but it's just-plain-food that they had eaten - variations on pancakes, waffles, eggs in combinations with other foods, fresh fruits when possible, whole grain breads, and, of course, bacon from Jim's Meats in Iron River.

But first we had to try out our recipes to see if they are workable for morning preparation and tasty enough to serve guests.  And that's where our friends entered the picture.  We prepared two or three dishes and then invited them to try them out and give us a thumbs up or thumbs down.  We had some guests who stayed for multiple days and then we needed several menu possibilities so we didn't repeat anything.  And now were are starting to have repeat business from last year.  All summer last year I was going to start a spreadsheet so we could record what we served to which guests on which days.  Did I ever do that?  No, but it's started now so from here on out we're set!

And now when it's snowy and cold outside,  it's a good time of year to try new recipes again.  I think we're going to try a new one this weekend and I'm not sure if we'll have time to test it out first.  We'll see if they are ready for an adventure!

Today I just wanted to make something with unfed sourdough starter, not necessarily for a B&B menu.  Maintaining a healthy sourdough starter is kind of like having another child to care for.  The intricacies of that could be a blog post unto itself.  Anyway, the latest King Arthur flour catalog had a recipe for sourdough pretzels, so I tried it.  I remembered something about pretzels and Lent, with the shape of the pretzel resembling the crossed arms of a monk in prayer.  I had some trouble getting those pretzels curled into the right shape, but I'll try it again sometime soon, now that I sort of have the knack.  (There are YouTube videos of it!)

So here they are.  Not so pretty to look at but tasty coming out of the oven.   But then again, what bread isn't?