Let's Get Crackin'

I've mentioned before that Dan and I were on the quest for local and organic meats and animal products like eggs, cheese and yogurt. While we've struck out so far on meats and cheeses, but hit gold with Sidehill Farm's yogurt. Now, we've struck gold again with Pete & Gerry's organic eggs.


I am thrilled to pieces to eat these eggs. In fact, I've eaten perhaps a few too many for my own good! They taste great, they're versatile, they're affordable, and they're good for people and the environment. What's not to love? What's else could possibly make them better?

Toast!

With (hungry) Love,
~Brande N.

Delicious looking soft-boiled egg photo credit goes to: Askliu via Flickr.

The Holy Grail of Yogurt

What could possibly be better than yogurt that is:

-Delicious and...
-Locally made...
-By hand...
-With no artificial sweeteners, flavorings, or additives...
-Using milk from ethically and humanely raised cows...
-Who are 100% grass-fed...
-On certified organic pastures?

The answer?

Nothing. Nothing could possibly be better! This is the holy grail of yogurt.

Introducing:

Sidehill Farms yogurt! I can't even tell you how good this stuff is. So good, in fact, that John ate two bowls of it over the course of a 4 hour meeting. So good that we went through almost 2 quarts over the last two days.

And it's good for you too! Pasture-raised cows produce milk that is higher in essential fatty acids such as Omega-3 and CLA. These fatty acids are linked to everything from healthy skin and nails to a decreased ricks of stroke and cancer to reduced depression. Super foods, indeed.

We're making great progress on converting our foods to local and/or organic varieties. Our coffee is locally roasted, fair trade and sustainably grown; our teas are all organic and/or fair trade; our honey is local; most of our produce is organic (soon to be local, come summertime!); our bread is local and organic; our apples are locally grown and residue free; our preserves are all locally made; even our instant oatmeal is organic!

The next and most difficult step is sourcing local and organic meats. We tried this winter and struck out, but we're hoping for better luck this time. I'll keep you posted, but in the meantime; wish us luck!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Regarding the Grandeur of French Toast

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. On the rare occasions that my family went out to eat, it was well known that if breakfast was available, that's what I was getting. To heck with chicken tenders--I want a waffle! During high school, one of my first jobs was even as a the "Sunday Morning Waffle Girl" at a local restaurant. My younger brother loves breakfast just as much. From the time he was two until seven, it's not an exaggeration to say that about a quarter of his calories came from pancakes and frozen french toast sticks.

"Yolk-Eggs" (what we called eggs over-easy before we knew their name), was a quick, tasty, and easy meal that I'd make about once a week. Scrambles were even easier. Once I learned how to make omelets, they too became central to my diet. Though, the omelets of my youth were very different from those I eat today, as my family didn't exactly partake in "vegetables", which I now love.

One of the "bad" foods that has been the hardest for me to give up as an adult is the joyous, glorious, artery-clogging Pillsbury Toaster Strudel. The strawberry one with the nuclear blue frosting was a dietary staple for about two years... until the trans fat craze swept the nation and I realized that not all foods are created equal. Since then I haven't been able to justify buying a box.

Despite my almost genetic love for breakfast foods, it wasn't until recently that I made the acquaintance of French Toast. I attribute this delayed fondness to the fact that my mother only ever bought Wonder bread. How many ways can you jazz up Wonder bread? Fake syrup today, maple tomorrow! Cinnamon today, plain the next! The options are rather limited.

As I grew older (and found my inner foodie) I discovered that Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat, SunMaid Cinnamon Swirl, and WonderBread are not the only choices available in the bread world. Suddenly, French Toast had the credentials to become a part of my life. Ciabatta, challah, brioche, baguette, croissant! Apple-Cardamom Swirl, Honey-Almond, Spiced Pumpkin, Blueberry Strudel, Ginger-Molasses! Oh, the possibilities! And beyond the bread you can even jazz up the egg batter: a dash of vanilla, a splash of buttermilk, a bit of nutmeg, a shot of espresso, the zest of an orange... Factor in toppings (simmered raspberries and fresh ginger... shaved chocolate and caramel sauce... fresh apples and maple-sweetened yogurt...) and you've got an endless world of options.

Sadly, a pancake will always be a pancake, whether you add a sweet, a nut, or a fruit to the batter. But French toast is like people. Every recipe, every variety is an individual. Unique.

With that in mind, I'd like to share with you a recipe that Dan and I concocted in San Francisco. The town we stayed in had a beautiful market just brimming with locally made and grown goodies and our cottage had a full kitchen. We saw it as a calling to make breakfast.




Espresso-Cinnamon French Toast (a.k.a. Mill Valley French Toast)
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/4 cup cream, half and half, or whole milk
1 shot of espresso (or scant 1/4 cup very strong black coffee, or 1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 6 tbs water)
2 tbs butter
4 slices soft cinnamon swirl bread, cut about 3/4" thick*

Crack eggs into shallow dish, and whisk until uniform in color. Add coffee first to the milk (to cool it) and then add the milk and espresso (if you can resist drinking it) to the eggs . Whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat a frying pan or griddle on medium heat and add the butter. When butter starts to froth slightly, the pan is hot enough.

Dip bread in batter, pressing gently with fingertips to help it absorb the goodness and be optimally delicious. Place egg soaked bread on hot pan and cook until surface is a bit darker than "golden"


NOTES:
-It is better to cook a thick-cut french toast at a lower heat for longer period than it is to flash fry it. This is because the mixture of egg and cream in the bread needs time to "set" very much like a custard. If the temperature is too high the egg cooks too quickly and will impart a very strong "egg" taste instead of the delicate "custardy" flavor we're looking for.
-It's better to slightly overcook french toast than to slightly undercook it, as undercooking can result in a mouthful of soggy, raw, eggy mush. Bleh.
-Lastly, The bread Dan and I bought at Mill Valley Market had a slight glaze on it, so we served it with nothing more than a bit of whipped cream. If yours need a bit of sweetness, I recommend maple syrup.

Enjoy!
~Brande N.


*Brownie points (and better flavor) if you use a locally baked variety!

(photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asstrogirl/3013387404/)

This is Why I Make the Pancakes

I am not athletic. Or coordinated. I never have been. In fact, when I was 10 years old, my two-year old little brother could whoop my butt at Super Mario. That's how bad my hand-eye coordination is.

While many of my high-school friends were twirling and tossing banners in Winterguard, teaching the cast of the musical how to tap dance, or playing marimba in state-level band competitions I was reading Shakespeare, doing research papers, and performing in non-musical plays.

(Notice how these are activities that have minimal risk of tripping.)

In the grand scheme of things, I'm perfectly happy so long as I'm coordinated enough to pick up a book, turn a page and type a sentence. I might not be able to kick a soccer ball [without falling] but I can speak in Elizabethan dialect. And for me, that's far more fun that scoring a goal (yup, I'm weird).

On that note: When Dan and I started here it was sort of an accepted fact that I was going to be the cook. After all, I've always been the one to cook during our marriage and I've whipped up some pretty mean recipes, so it only makes sense, right?

It did, until I found out that this is how we make omelets:



If I had done that, the omelet would have landed about two-and-a-half feet to the left of the pan instead of inside it.

That's why he's the egg guy and I'm the pancake girl. We're a great team.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Something Old, Something New

Wow! What a day it's been and it's only 11:30!

Already we've:

-Served a complete breakfast (and might I say that the maple granola recipe Dan and I whipped up is VERY good. I think I'll even post it sometime.)

-Done all the post breakfast clean-up.

-Set a dessert table for 12 (for which we had NO decorations and had to improvise--I'll post pictures tomorrow because it turned out absolutely lovely in spite of our being limited to streamers and silver spiral-twig-things.)

-Taken some candid pictures for the wedding

-And managed to fit eating my own breakfast in there somewhere, too!


There's still a lot left to do today, so I must, go, but I though I'd give the blog-reading world a taste of my day. I'll be back to regular posting soon, I promise.

Have a good one, all!
~Brande N.

PS:How do you like the new layout? I'm still adding a few more things, so keep your eyes open over the next few days!

Esselon Coffee

After three months of searching and researching and brewing and tasting and testing and stressing we have finally made a decision on coffee. WHEW!


Readers, meet Esselon Cafe. In addition to their homemade hot chocolate, exceptional sandwiches, delicious salads (one of the best house dressings I've ever had), and crazy good desserts, they serve and sell incredible house-roasted coffees. Richard, the owner, is a man with a deep passion for coffee and all of the intricacies of growing, buying, and roasting. In fact, Richard only buys from small (4 hectares or less) family farms and co-ops, and roasts all of his coffees to order.


Before we settled on Esselon, I did some intensive research and practically questioned poor Richard to death. I was so happy when he had all the right answers! The coffee is purchased either directly from the farms or through a community co-op for a price that is at least at but usually above the standard for fair-trade pricing. All of his coffees are locally roasted in the cafe, which is in Hadley, MA--about an hour away. This means less fuel gets used transporting it from roastery to us and therefore this coffee has a pretty itty-bitty carbon footprint.


And did I mention that it's delicious? Really, really delicious. One of my New Years Resolutions is to drink more tea, but it's definitely harder with this coffee hanging around! By summer we hope to have 1-pound bags available in our gift shop as well. I'm a huge fan of edible souvenirs (Dan and I will be grabbing some California Almond Blossom Honey while we're in San Francisco, mmm!) so I thought that would be a good way for our guests to take home a taste of the Inn. Hooray for edible memories!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Maple-y Breakfast Goodies

Dan and I spent the last few days brainstorming breakfast ideas for Maple Syrup Weekend. We came up with (and taste tested--yum!) the following recipes:

On our Buffet:
-Homemade Maple-Walnut Granola with Dried Apple and Nutmeg
-Maple Pecan Cream Cheese

To Order:
-Buttermilk Pancake with Almonds and Vanilla-Orange Maple Syrup
-Maple-Sweetened Organic Yogurt Parfait with Fresh Apple and Granola (in a wine glass)

In our Guest Pantry:
-Hot Mulled Apple Cider with a touch of Maple

And we will, of course, be serving our full breakfast menu as well. If maple syrup isn't your thing, fear not! We've got plenty of other delicious entrees for you.


There are also some neat events going on in The Berkshires that weekend.

-The Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA will be hosting a space-themed dance party, complete with professional hula-hooping lessons.

-The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield is hosting a multi-instrumental Celtic music and dance show.

-The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington will be showing the Met Opera's Madame Butterfly in HD.

-And none other than The Harlem Globetrotters will be at the Boys' and Girls' Club in Pittsfield.


You know why I keep falling in love with The Berkshires? Because it's just so darn eclectic! Short of going to a big city, where else would I find all of this with a 40-minute drive? Especially in March!

I must say, this is a good place to be.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Maple Syrup Weekend

After growing up, moving out of my parents' house, and living in several different places, I've learned that there are a few things I took for granted growing up in a small, rural town in the northeast. Autumn is a good example. Living next to Lake Ontario, too. And cheap, easy, abundant Maple Syrup, is a big number three.

My uncle, who lived just a couple miles down the road from us, made maple syrup in his garage. Just for fun. And we got it for free. Gallons and gallons of sweet, buttery, delicious syrup. That's how plentiful it was growing up.

It wasn't until I got older that I realized the sweet stuff isn't so abundant or inexpensive in other parts of the world. I stumbled on this webpage recently and was flabbergasted by some of the numbers.

In the spirit of appreciating that which was once unappreciated, I'm going to make known the nifty new package we just finished putting on our website. It's called "Maple Syrup Weekend" and we're going to be doing all kinds of fun things to celebrate this delicious local resource. I'm really excited about that maple candy making demonstration. ...and free samples. I love free samples.

Dan and I are also working on a special breakfast menu for that weekend that highlights maple syrup. Of course there will be yummy buttermilk pancakes and waffles, but we want to get creative. Maybe I'll whip up come pumpkin spice cookies with maple cream cheese frosting for the guest pantry. Maybe some homemade maple granola? I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

I'll be sure to post the menu when we get it all sorted out. Until then, I have an assignment for you:

-Go grab an eggo waffle (or homemade or all-natural equivalent) out of your freezer.

-And the maple syrup out of your fridge.

-Toast the eggo.

-Now grab a jar of peanut butter out of your pantry.

-Schmear a happy helping of it on your waffle.

-Drizzle (or drench) it with maple syrup. Yes, on top of the PB.

-Enjoy!

True story: When I was in third grade I stayed overnight at my best friend McKenzie's house and her mom made us these waffles for breakfast the next morning. I remember being equal parts appalled, confused, and stunned as I watched her and her brothers gleefully mar those beautiful waffles. After much persuasion I finally (reluctantly) gave them a try. And to this day, it's one of my favorite ways to top waffles.

With Love,
~Brande N.

It'll Put Hair on Your Arms

Cast of Characters:

MAN – Middle aged, athletic

WIFE – Middle aged, delicate

WAITRESS – (Me)

The Scene:

MAN and WIFE sit at breakfast table. He’s reading the sports section while she nibbles on her egg-white omelet and reads “Berkshire Living”. The WAITRESS comes by, pours coffee the WIFE, and then proceeds to pour the MAN a cup.

MAN: Thanks! This coffee is great! It’s nice and manly.

WAITRESS: I’m glad you like it! It’s a manly coffee for a manly guy! (laughs)

WIFE: (having just taken a sip) Well, what does that say about the women who drink it?

WAITRESS fails to find an adequate response and proceeds to eat foot.

The Order That Will Live in Infamy

(If you're a dork like me and like to analyze handwriting, click to enlarge)

Believe it or not, this is an order for one table. A table of four, I give you, but still! It was so big and complicated that I had to separate it into two courses and bring them out separately.

You'll notice on the last ticket (which is the entrees, the middle one is the "fruit and sides" course) that my handwriting was suddenly not all that horrendous. That's because it's poor Dan's ticket and he has to read it, so I always transcribe my scribbles for him. If I didn't do that, I'm sure a "tomato, basil, bacon, and manchego" omelet would come out something like "Onion, walnut, berries, and mushroom" Which is significantly less delicious...

...unless you're pregnant, in which case it might be exactly what you wanted.

With Love,
~Brande N.

Summer Sunset Fruit Salad

Today I gift you with a recipe for my all-time favorite fruit salad. I call it "Summer Sunset Fruit Salad" because the colors just scream fiery summer sunset: luscious kiss-red strawberries, bright orange clementine segments, and blushing pieces of ripe peach. Oh, and cream. Heavy cream. I'll say that's the clouds. In the sunset. You can't have a sunset without clouds...or cream.


Summer Sunset Fruit Salad:
(Sufficient for two as a side dish or snack, but easily edible by one)


Ingredients:
-1 large ripe peach
-5-8 ripe strawberries (depending on size)
-1 clementine, tangerine, or orange
-1 tbs agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, or sugar. (I recommend a liquid sweetener both for ease of mixing and for health reasons.)

We interrupt this recipe for an important announcement:

If you've never had agave nectar you have to try it! It's a minimally refined, all natural sweetener that has a low glycemic index, so it's safe for diabetics and dieters. I use it in everything from coffee to pumpkin pie. I'd almost say it's a miracle food; it's that good. Sorry, tangent over!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled recipe:

Lastly,
-2 tbs heavy cream (Or half and half if you have some self control [I don't])

Directions:
1) De-stem the strawberries and irregularly chop them into bite-sized pieces. Place them in a bowl.

2) De-pit the peach and chop into bite-size, irregular pieces. Add them to the bowl too.

3)Here's the fun part. Cut the clementine/tangerine/orange like this:



...and add the pretty little skinless slices to the bowl.

(Why did I make you skin the citrus you might ask? Because citrus fruits have a lot of tough skin on them, silly! If we had left that on your salad would require significantly more chewing. Plus this makes the juice more accessible, YUM! But you can leave them on if you want, I won't be mad.)

4)Reserve the membrane with all the orange bits on it.

5) Now mix your favorite sweetener with the half and half or cream.

6) Squish the juice out of the membrane and into the sweetened cream. (see Fig. 5, above)

7) Pour the orange-infused sweet cream over the salad.

8) Grab a spoon and toss it all together.

9) Devour!!*


Now go forth and make fruit salad!


*If you can resist devouring this for about 5 minutes, let it sit and the flavors infuse and the juices start to come out and it becomes amazing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Which makes me sad because there are no peaches in the house...

My bread is Green!

I can't believe I haven't written about this yet! This green change is practically eons old, but only last night when I was counting loaves of bread did I suddenly realize it.

This is our delicious "new" bread from Berkshire Mountain Bakery. From left to right you are looking at San Francisco Sourdough, Multigrain, and Raisin. We've had it since about early December (the type of bread, not these particular slices), and let me tell you, this bread is good!

I've always dreamed of living off the classic European diet: freshly baked breads, cheeses, wine, butter, fresh veggies... And my own personal twist: fish. No chicken, no red meat. Just fish. And crustaceans. Mmmm. I'm going off on a tangent now, aren't I?

Anyway, this bread is so very, very good that it makes me feel like living that dream is not only possible, but good for me. As in healthy and encourageable in spite of the carb fever that occasionally strikes the nation.


Why do I think it's so healthy?

Firstly: Berkshire Mountain Bakery uses organic flours. Good for me and good for the environment. And considering that their bread is only comprised of flour, water, and a sourdough culture that is made of flour and water, I might as well just say that the whole bread is organic!

Secondly: They use a traditional fermentation process when making the bread. Now, I'm no food scientist, but Richard, the owner, appears to be and there's a breakdown of the process and health benefits on their website that makes for some pretty interesting reading. In short, the process renders the bread more easily digestible, which means that you absorb more of its nutrients. Oh yeah, and that process makes it tastier. Don't you just love when something is good for you but doesn't taste like cardboard?

Thirdly: They mill all of their grain fresh. Essentially, the vitamins and nutrients in any fresh food oxidize and break down when exposed to oxygen. By milling fresh, there is less time for nutrients to break down and therefore more goodness in the bread. When I describe the bread to guests here, I usually tell them that Berkshire Mountain Bakery has pretty much mastered the science of bread making.

Lastly: It's locally baked in Housatonic, Ma. And I know that anything that's good for the environment is also good for me in the long run.

If you happen to be visiting us, they have a store front as well where you can purchase any of their breads, and let me tell you, they have some incredible bread varieties.

Until next time, I'm off to go have lunch. Which will probably involve a grilled cheese on San Francisco sourdough. Mmmm!

With Love,
~Brande N.

Regarding Large Pancakes and Bad Diners

Yesterday, Dan and I went out to breakfast. If we aren't cooking it ourselves or eating at Haven, we're every bit in love with Sylvester's in Northampton. Did you happen to click that link? You should, because no one can fully understand the glory that is Sylvester's without at least looking at their menu. Huevos rancheros, eggs benedict, ham-apple-chevre omelet, banana bread french toast, homemade corned beef hash... it's too much! And that's just breakfast. They do lunch, too!

But we eat at Sylvester's A LOT. And my greatest fear is eating there so much that we grow to hate it. How sad would that be? So Dan and I decided to go to a new place, about 20 minutes past Northampton, for breakfast. It offered locally sourced and organic ingredients, had an interesting menu (French meat pie, anyone?) and seemed quirky and fun.

It wasn't. Ugh! This place was in the middle of nowhere, we got lost, had to turn around twice, it was humid and musty in the dining room, and the food ended up being pretty much bad. What a disappointment.

I have always been an optimist, however. So out of the pile of burnt homefries, microwaved turkey sausage, and cold pancakes I found something precious. A blog topic. I give you:

The World's Most Atrociously Large Pancakes:

Now at first glance, they might not seem that big. But that's a butter knife on the left there. This pancake was at least one-and-a-half butter knives in diameter and almost an inch thick. And there were two of them. You can barely see the second one peeking out from the monstrosity on top of it.

When Dan ordered "two blueberry pancakes, please", the waitress asked him if he'd like one instead, "They're plate sized, you know".
"Nah, I'll take two." he says. Because he had been craving pancakes. Really craving them.
"Alright," says the waitress, "But I rarely see any man finish two."
And then, the eavesdropping gentleman across the room joins in and says, "That sounds like a challenge!"

What man can stand up to that kind of pressure? Dan couldn't. The sleeping gladiator in him awoke and attacked those pancakes with fire and zeal. He suffered and perservered but, after eating about two-thirds of he mess, he was beaten. And a little bloated and kind of drowsy.

That was breakfast. you know where we went to dinner? Roberto's. A sister restaurant to Sylvester's. And it was delicious.

The lesson of the day? Sometimes it's a good idea to just stick with what works!

With Love,
~Brande N.

My Favorite French Toast

THIS is my favorite new French Toast recipe. I wish I had a name for it. Right now it's just "Coconut and Walnut Crusted French Toast" and that's just not very exciting. And "Coconut Walnut" really doesn't even sound good, but this recipe is more than just good. Served with cream cheese, i might even go as far as to call it divine. Yet a name eludes me. Divine French Toast? Heavenly? Coco-Nut? Ugh! This is the French toast that needs not, and has not, a name.
But it does need a recipe, so here it is for you, my lovely readers. Enjoy!

Nameless French Toast
1/2 C raw walnuts, processed into a fine meal (use a food processor, blender, or just a good old fashioned sharp knife)
1/2 C shredded coconut
4 slices bread
2 eggs
Pinch of cinnamon
Splash of cream or half and half

Mix coconut and walnut on a plate, set aside. Whisk eggs, cinnamon, and cream until well combined. Dip bread in egg mixture, then coat each side in coconut and walnut mixture, pressing to adhere. Fry in skillet until golden on each side.

Serve with any number of toppings, but I found cream cheese and maple syrup to be my favorite.

And now, a few more pictures for your enjoyment:




With Love,
~Brande N.

PS: Have you seen our Valentine's Day package? It's now available on our Specials page, and I'm really excited about it. As a sonnet-reading, red rose loving, chocolate eating, die-hard romantic, I had so much fun putting this together. I hope you (and your sweetheart) like it!

Eco Update!

It's time to announce yet another easy green change for us here at the Inn.

What do you notice about this picture that is AWESOME?

That's right, almost every tea is Organic and/or Fair Trade Certified! It's a little bit more of an investment to offer these options, but we believe that they're completely worth it due to the wealth of ecological and social benefits that come with growing organically and trading fairly.

And I wish I had more to expound on for this post, but I really don't! Change doesn't get much easier than this!

With Love,
~Brande N.

New Years Eve Part II

Thank you for tuning into our second installment of "New Year's Eve at The Garden Gables Inn"! Please turn off all cell phones, beepers, and baby monitors. Enjoy the show!

Oven Roasted Tomatoes and Asparagus. Yum!

Surf 'n' Turf anyone? Oh wait, Dan has brought to my attention that HE cut the lemon crown, and would like everyone to be aware of that. Way to go, honey! I'm proud of you. (Prior to innkeeping, Dan's cooking skills were limited to microwaves and protein bars, so this is a big step!)

A lovely piece of freshly seared Filet Mignon.

Grilled Salmon with Beurre Blanc and roasted potatoes.

This decanter has a great story behind it. There is this very nice couple that comes up every summer and stays with us for about a week. They decided to stay during our New Year's Package this year, and they brought some friends along as well. One of their friends had given this couple a bottle of 1963 Port 20 years prior and they had kept it. So they welcomed the new year by opening this 45 year old bottle and sharing it with friends. How neat is that?

This is only moments before the ball dropped, all of us flocked into the Guest Pantry to watch the ceremony. In the rush of congregating around the TV, trying to remain unobtrusive, and trying to still get pictures, I got this one which I find amusing because, yes, that is Dan's chin. The picture is even better if you click and see the full-sized version.

There are only seconds left in 2008!

And here are the first embraces of 2009! (and a kiss too, how sweet!)

And what better way to recover from a night of champagne, staying up late, and laughing until your stomach hurts than with a big, hearty breakfast? Oven roasted potatoes, anyone?

How about some steak and eggs with those potatoes? And maybe a mimosa, too?

And if steak and eggs isn't your thing, how about an omelet with a rainbow of fillings? And the best part: omelets aren't just for New Years, you can get them anytime!

With Love and Sudden Hunger,
~Brande N.

DISCLAIMER:
Brande N. and The Garden Gables Inn are not responsible for any broken New Year's resolutions including but not limited to: no more meat, no more red meat, no more junk food, dining out less, or losing weight. Thank you.

The Garden Gables Inn Presents:

A Compliment of the Highest Regard

A True Story, Adapted for the Stage:

Cast:

-WAITRESS

-YOUNG MAN

-YOUNG WOMAN

-HUSBAND

The Scene:

A cozy New England Bed & Breakfast. Early morning. A nice young couple sits at one table, sipping coffee and nibbling at goodies from the buffet. Their WAITRESS approaches, order pad in hand.

WAITRESS: Good morning! Would you folks like a few more minutes or are you all set to order?

YOUNG MAN: I think we’re ready.

WAITRESS: (names off litany of breakfast options, which includes waffles, eggs cooked any way, omelettes, blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes, and apple strudel french toast)

YOUNG MAN: (with awe) Can I have one of everything? (laughs)

YOUNG WOMAN: (in a motherly, gently reprimanding voice) No, Honey. We’ll each get one thing and split it, okay?

YOUNG MAN: Alright... Well I want the Apple Strudel French Toast then.

YOUNG WOMAN: I’ll have an omelette with goat cheese and tomato.

WAITRESS: Sounds great! I’ll have that out for you in a few.

(A few minutes pass while the WAITRESS and her HUSBAND cook their order. She returns with French Toast that looks a lot like this:

..and an omlette that looks a lot like this:

...and presents it to the COUPLE.) (The YOUNG MAN stares at the plate of French Toast in front of him, nearly mesmerized. The WAITRESS is amused.)

WAITRESS: Can I get you guys anything else?

YOUNG MAN: (in an entranced voice, still staring at his plate) No... absolutely nothing.