View from the Innside

Bottger Mansion of Old Town featured in AAA New Mexico Journey Magazine

Happy 100th birthday, New Mexico! To help celebrate, AAA New Mexico Journey Magazine's January-February 2012 issue highlights the Bottger Mansion of Old Town, now a bed and breakfast, in the article "Hot Spots in History," places in New Mexico that are virtually the same as they were in 1912 when New Mexico became the 47th state.

The front portal has been enclosed with windows and the color of the house has changed a few times, but this grand old mansion faced Central Avenue when it was still Railroad Avenue, even before it became Historic Route 66. Three of the original Siberian elm trees still shade the front yard.

We are pleased to offer comfortable accommodations and great food, just as Miguela Bottger and her daughters did when they operated a boarding house here.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
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garnishing and plating tips and tricks

The plating and garnishing session at the innkeepers conference gave me a whole new set of skills and ideas to make what we do even better. I learned how to make strawberry roses, melon flowers, zucchini leaves and even a radish mouse. We didn't even get to the pineapple butterflies or... something with potatoes, since we ran out of time for all of the demos at the end. The chef also showed photos of beautiful unique garnishings, like watermelon swans made into a basket that holds the fruit.

So many fruits and so litle time! 

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW 
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

March of the ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock Arkansas

The Peabody chain of hotels is famous for their fountains with ducks, and the twice-daily march of the ducks as they come out at 11:00 a.m. and retire for the day at 5:00. A  Duckmaster is in charge of them, and they can have a "duckmaster for the day." Today it was Sean, and his younger brother was his assistant.

The ducks live in a special area on the second floor, where they are brought to the elevator in a crate and ride down to the main lobby. A red carpet is laid out for them from the elevator, around the corner, up the steps and into the fountain. The idea is that as Sousa's "Cotton King March" plays, the ducks proceed along the carpet to the fountain. However, Sean's mother told me the ducks were so anxious to arrive that they pretty much stampeded. The young duckmaster was supposed to precede them with his duck-headed cane, but the ducks were so fast out of the elevator that they left him racing behind. After all, there's a big pool waiting with a big plate of food in it.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
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Pine State Biscuits, Ikea, Famous Dave's and the Lucky Lab in Portland Oregon

We'll need a vacation after our vacation, since we're packing a lot into each day. We started Wednesday with breakfast at Pine State Biscuits on Belmont Street, the main feature of which is, of course, biscuits. I'm a purist, so I stayed with the sausage gravy on biscuits, but Steve got adventurous with the Reggie Deluxe--a pile-up of fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and gravy on biscuits, topped with an egg (that's the "deluxe" part).

Walking around Ikea was good for several hours, both for some specific things we were looking for and getting ideas for use of space in general. We picked up some very specific hardware we needed for our next project, but Ikea doesn't ship a lot of their stuff, so another field trip of the day was a trip to UPS, where I spent almost as much for the packing and shipping as I did for the hardware.

After shopping, it's time for another meal, of course! Since we were in the area, we had had lunch at Famous Dave's Pit Barbecue. A half a chicken with Rich and Sassy sauce, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, and a corn muffin was a really substantial meal.

The end of the evening was spent with some friends at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub for some pizza and catching up. Urban renewal continues in Portland in an area which used to be run-down and industrial. All those warehouses, auto repair places and machine shops have now been converted into trendy brew pubs, condos and shops. I love that they're keeping the industrial elements like big garage doors that open, concrete floors, and remnant hardware like big pulleys hanging from the ceiling beams. It's a way of moving into the future while retaining reminders of the past.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

Blue Plate Diner, Powell's Books, Ristretto Roasters, Rejuvenation and Sushiville in Portland

I love traveling. It's one great meal to the next with some fun stuff in between. Yesterday's lunch at the Blue Plate Diner was wonderful. The Tuesday specials were the "American in Paris" sandwich and Grandma's Pot Roast, which was delicious. I also enjoyed the Hawaiian Sunset Soda, and Steve had a coffee milkshake with his grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. The Blue Plate is my idea of the perfect diner--do a few things very well for the daily menu and also have a couple of specials every day to keep things interesting.

After a quick stop at the Apple Store, we headed over to Powell's Books, where I picked up a fabulous new book on Paper Engineering by Natalie Avella.

The most interesting stop of the day was Ristretto Roasters, located in the Schoolhouse Electric Building on the fringe of the industrial area of Portland. After enjoying a fine hand-crafted mocha, we strolled around the building, enjoying the warehouse interior and the creative uses of industrial pieces and materials, like a bench made from a card catalog.

A visit to Rejuvenation was interesting but proved fruitless, which is what happens when you're looking for very specific parts, like crescent window locks and transom window hardware, although they had an intriguing sliding door which could work in a specific place in one of our rooms.

The day ended at Sushiville for conveyor belt sushi, one of the joys we've missed in Albuquerque.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

 

Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant and Penzeys Spices in Portland, Oregon

The first place our daughter and her husband took us after we landed in Portland was to Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant for lunch.  What a wonderful place! I haven't been a big fan of pita bread because, like flour tortillas, if you get it at the grocery store it may not be that good. But made fresh and served directly to your table, it's awesome, especially with the hummus! I had chicken shawarma with hummus and my husband had a beef kafta sandwich. Everything was so yummy! Great restaurants is just one reason we love Portland.

Ya Hala Lebanese Restaurant
8005 SE Stark Street
Portland, OR  97215
(503) 256-4484
open Monday-Saturday 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
www.yahalarestaurant.com

Among other places that afternoon, we visited Penzeys Spices in Beaverton and picked up some Ceylon cinnamon and "Sunny Paris" spice herb blend (can't wait to try this in scrambled eggs). Steve also bought some breakfast sausage spice mix so he can make his own sausage. I picked up their catalog, which has recipes as well as their product line. Penzeys  Penzeys has locations all over the country, so you can look for one near you or order online.

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

Chocolatesmith in Santa Fe

What could be more wonderful than a chocolatier who uses only luscious dark chocolate? The Chocolatesmith is a required stop every time we visit Santa Fe. The aroma alone when I walk in the door is enough to make me swoon with delight.

Chocolatesmith has everything you want, like chocolate barks, chocolate-dipped apricots, and chocolate caramels, but so much more, including green chili pistachio bark with cranberries or white chocolate lemon lavender bark.  Even the names are whimsical, for instance, Don Juan pecan, Pecos peanut butter bars, and Mucho Ancho petite pate. And just for fun, you can get chocolates that look like chilies or cactus and Day of the Dead chocolates.

ChocolateSmith
851A Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
www.chocolatesmith.com
(505) 473 2111
Hours:
10—5:30 Monday thru Saturday
12—5 Sunday

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe

We recently visited the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe to see their exhibit for the centennial, which has photos and artifacts from the 100 years of New Mexico statehood. The exhibit starts with statehood itself, including photos of the constitutional convention representatives and the unofficial 47-star United States flag, and progresses through the railroad and Fred Harvey memorabilia, the Great Depression and public art projects; World War II, the Code Talkers, the Bataan Death March; the atomic bomb and its impact on history since; transportation--railroads, highways, and plane travel; and life-giving water, with its battles over water rights and the development of the land. The end of the exhibit is a wonderful room full of a collage of free-standing photos depicting New Mexico today, its people, arts, lifestyles and culture.

Of course, the New Mexico History Museum has a whole building full of other exhibits, and it's worth your while to visit again and again. Current exhibits include Illuminating the Word--the Saint John's Bible, Telling New Mexico--Stories from Then and Now, Tesoros de Devocion (Treasures of Devotion), and Santa Fe Found--Fragments of Time.

New Mexico Museum of History
113 Lincoln Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico
www.nmhistorymuseum.org
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
visit website for admission and additional hours

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook

 

Croissant French Toast a l'Orange recipe

Croissant French Toast is really special, and we served it at the Bottger Mansion of Old Town for breakfast on New Year's Day.  For a printer-friendly full-size pdf page, click here.

Croissant French Toast à l’Orange

adapted from Arroyo Village Inn
Arroyo Grande, California
6 servings

6 large croissants or 12 cocktail-size croissants, cut horizontally into top and bottom halves
9-oz. orange marmalade
3 oz. orange juice
5 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. almond extract

Place the bottom halves of croissants on a half-sheet pan or jelly-roll pan (pack them as tightly as possible).  In a small bowl, combine the marmalade with the orange juice; mix completely.  Spoon thinned marmalade over each croissant bottom half, saving a little to be used as a glaze for the tops of the croissants.  Place the croissant tops over the croissant bottom halves.  In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, milk and almond extract.  Pour this mixture over the croissants.  Spoon the remaining marmalade over the top of each croissant as a glaze.  Cover the baking sheet and refrigerate 8-10 hours, allowing the croissants to soak in the egg mixture. 

When ready to bake, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and allow it to stand at room temperature for 45-60 minutes before baking.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray half-sheet pan with vegetable spray.  Using a spatula, remove the croissants out of the cream mixture to the greased baking sheet.  Leave space between the croissants.  Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.  For a nicer presentation, take a small knife and cut around the croissants before removing to plates—this will get rid of excess custard around the croissants.  Serve the croissants hot, garnished with strawberries and mandarin orange sections.  Offer syrup on the side.

Optional: strawberries, whole or sliced, for garnish fresh mandarin orange sections for garnish (or clementine, dancy, satsuma, or tangerine) syrup of choice

I’m having fun--come on along!

Kathy
Bottger Mansion of Old Town
historic bed & breakfast
110 San Felipe Street NW
Albuquerque, NM   87104
www.bottger.com
follow us on Facebook