"Greening" of the Bare Boxes

There's nothing quite like fresh beautiful greens and assorted other "finds" from the garden to create wonderful window boxes, flaunting nature's exhibition of splendor through an alternate view on a winter canvas.

Most of the greenery used had to be purchased as I do not have unlimited access to woodland areas for scavenging pine boughs and branches. But everything else was taken right from the offerings of my surrounding gardens. Even now in this transitional season the b&b gardens continue to offer many enjoyable treasures even though their stunning summer radiance has faded.

The short time span between dumping out of the summer/fall flowers and the addition of the winter greenery, leaves them looking empty and forlorn. The stark contrast of the devoid, barren boxes hastens my motivation to get them refilled for the winter season. When filled once again, they look so welcoming and inviting. Now that the window boxes at the Korner Kottage B&B in Suttons Bay are filled with their wintery mix, I truly feel like the holiday season can begin in earnest.

Behind the Pocket Door

Love, love, love being an inn keeper. Our guests are so appreciative of all the little things we do to make their stay special. Beds are made with the warmest and coziest of comforters. Our bed linens are always freshly ironed and pressed with our iron rite which makes for the softest, most decadent sheets you can ever image slipping into. Chocolates are left on the pillows for a sweet taste before retiring. Bathrooms are supplied with the thickest and fluffiest of towels and robes and fuzzy warm slipper socks can be found in every room to ward off any evening chills. Bottled water is tucked into each small room refrigerator. With our concerted efforts of being greener, we use glass bottles for refilling rather than adding more plastic to the landfill.

L.E.D. twinkle lights offer up a cheerful welcome on the screened in front porch as well as illuminating the fences bordering the garden, giving off a soft glow to the night. Candles in all of the windows show guests their way when walking back from a local restaurant or an after dark stroll.

Breakfast is always served with detailed attention, not to mention with brightly, burning candles and flowers on each plate. This is not just your everyday breakfast menu either. We serve breakfast in slow deliberate courses to be savored and enjoyed leisurely. Our Italian coffee maker is always a big hit. Once given the lesson, guests can have hot coffee or tea on demand any time of day or night.

It's fun to close the pocket door separating dining room and kitchen and listen to the chatter as newly acquainted strangers, gradually over breakfast conversation, become new friends. The laughs and giggles shared between them, make us smile to ourselves as well.

We always strive to create surroundings at the Korner Kottage B&B that are conducive to relaxation and restorative for your soul, as well as encouraging to your romantic senses.

Romance is about the "little things"~the smallest of gestures~the little ways of making daily life with your friend and lover a little bit more special. We can help with all of that.

A Soup Kind of Day

After being blessed with many wonderful warm and sunny fall days in a row, we finally got a taste of a grayish, chilly one today. One of our daily rituals consists of walking with Nestle Quik to the local post office, which is approximately 5 blocks from the Korner Kottage Bed and Breakfast. I returned chilled from our leisurely stroll, which is always extended because we stop and visit with shop keepers and locals along the route. I concluded a bowl of soup would be in order. Now, the cooking is normally left up to my husband, but every once in a while I get inspired to take my turn at it, especially when it comes to making soup. Soup is something I usually can't mess up.

I got out the trusty Le Creuset and set about scrounging around in the the cupboards and pantry to see what we might have in stock. Being that I don't do much of the cooking, that also implies I don't know what we have on hand. I was happy to find that we had all of the "stuff" to make an easy as well as favorite concoction of ours "Mexican Chicken Soup". Just the perfect thing to warm up this chilly afternoon. Not to mention it adds a nice aroma from the kitchen while our weekend guests arrive for check in time.

Here is all you need to make this savory, simple and healthy soup.

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up into bite size pieces

1 - 15 oz can refried beans

1 - 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 - 15 oz can low sodium chicken broth

1 large jar of salsa (your choice...I like Paul Newman's Black Bean & corn medium spicy)

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat through. When serving sprinkle with some grated cheese and serve with tortilla chips if desired. Yum- o

What could be easier than opening a bunch of cans right? But you'll be amazed at the flavor.

No Bad Weather Just Wrong Clothes

This is the time of the year when it's really not fall and it's not quite winter yet. It's the "in between" season or transition time. For us inn keepers at the Korner Kottage B&B in Suttons Bay, it's the season where we can take a deep breath and transition into a much, much slower and much needed relaxed pace. Our busiest seasons of the year are behind us now.....for awhile any way. We can linger in bed a little later in the mornings. I can don my robe and slippers, lingering over coffee and the morning crossword, which is my simplest pleasure. I cherish this quiet time now that the guests are fewer in numbers, especially during the mid week.

Don't get me wrong though, there are still many seasonal "to dos" on our job list for sure. We wash all the windows, put on the storm windows and put up the plexiglass on the screened in front porch. These are one of our most dreaded of jobs. The windows in this b&b must be the originals, circa 1921 and they are NOT easily washed and maneuvered. Lots of up and down on different tracks and old pegs that barely hold. Once done though, they look so bright and shiny and in my opinion, there's nothing better that clean windows.

Next we tackle the garden and get it ready for winter. Slashing flowers and plants that once were spectacular in their blooming glory, now are out of control and in need of cutting down. All our glorious window boxes must be dumped into the street. This is done with much sorrow on my part. So many people stop and gaze at the window boxes all summer long, many taking pictures and asking about the flowers. It's so rewarding to be able to share this bit of nature to all the passersby. I miss the enjoyment of the flowers at my kitchen sink, now bare as I stand doing the dishes. The garden looks so sparse after this stage.

And then begins the raking and raking and raking of leaves that seems to go on and on. Thanks to our village workers who keep these piles of leaves and garden debris cleaned up on a regular basis until all the piles have vanished.

Next the garage must be cleaned and reorganized for all of the outside furniture, metal sculptures and various other garden ornaments needing a place to be stored for the winter. Again the garden and patio area continue to look barer still. We continue these jobs, mind you during all kinds of "in between" weather. High winds, sunny days, cloudy days, rainy days in the cold, continuing the work as the weekend forecast is calling for "rain mixed with snow". We don't relish the thought of carrying out these outdoor tasks in the snow. However, as one of our German guests told us while visiting during a cold and wet spring weekend a few years back, "there's no bad weather, just wrong clothing choices". I've kept that saying posted on a sign on the front porch of the b&b.....I always feel responsible for offering our guests good weather when they visit.

With these end of season jobs list completed, this transition time offers us the new possibilities to take to the woods and to the trails. This is time of season offers some of the best hiking opportunities in the area. There are so many interesting and beautiful places to hike in Leelanau. We are truly blessed to live in such an awesome spot in the world. So even though the weather is colder and the skis are grayer and filled with intermittent showers, we put on the "right clothes" and head out to do some exploring. There's no bad weather in Leelanau and Nestle Quik our fur kid and hiking expert agrees. There are still plenty of trails to be walked and enjoyed.......and now we have the time to do it.

Sharing a post from Cathy "Fried Green Tomatoes"

Grilled “Fried” Green Tomatoes
Written by Cathy on 26 October 2010
I spent the day ripping out the tomato plants and have some good size green tomatoes. I love fried green tomatoes but I feel guilty eating them fried and I am not fond of standing there and frying tomato after tomato. I thought there has to be a better way. I tried grilling them, as you may have noticed by now; I’m always throwing stuff on the grill. Well, I can do them all at once and it only takes a few minutes. The tomatoes come off the grill soft and then I created the “crunch” of a fried green tomato crust by making herbs crumbs and sprinkling them over the grilled tomatoes. It tastes like a fried green tomato and much easier to do.

Grilled “Fried” Green Tomatoes

Green tomatoes

Olive oil

½ cup fresh bread crumbs

1 garlic clove

2 Tablespoon minced fresh herbs, such as; sage, thyme, oregano, dill and parsley

Salt and pepper to taste



Heat grill to medium hot heat. Cut green tomatoes into wedges, so they don’t fall through the grates of the grill. Drizzle the wedges with olive oil and rub to make sure all is coated. Place tomatoes on grill. After a couple minutes turn tomatoes, continue turning until all sides have grill marks and are soft when squeezed with the tongs. Remove to a platter, season with salt and pepper and keep warm.



In a small skillet heat 2 teaspoons olive oil, add bread crumbs; stir until all is coated with oil. Add a garlic clove that has been pressed through a garlic press. Continue stirring so they brown evenly, add herbs and stir until the crumbs are nicely browned, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Immediately spoon over grilled green tomatoes and serve.

I shared this post from my friend Cathy because just yesterday, I pulled out all my old tomato plants from the Korner Kottage B&B alley garden. Sadly, the plants were still loaded with "green" tomatoes that were just NOT going to get any riper due to the cold November temperatures. I was sad to think there was nothing I could do with all of these little green tomatoes. Now I'm wondering if I can go out to the compost pile and try to salvage them by putting them on the grill.

Fall in Suttons Bay at the Korner Kottage

Love, love this time of year. We've had a glorious week of beautiful weather. Our house continues to be full of guests...probably because we are b&b after all. We are blessed to be so busy but I am anxiously awaiting some free time to enjoy this lovely fall weather. There are so many things I need to be doing in the garden to get it ready for the winter.....but the flowers are still so beautiful. I just can't bear to begin cutting and slashing them just yet. On the other hand I don't want to be doing it when the weather is cold and gray either. For today, I'm just going to enjoy the garden a bit longer, just the way it is.

Making new friends = best part of inn keepers' world

As you can imagine (or maybe you've never thought of it) the life we live as busy inn keepers is ever changing, challenging, interesting, exhausting but most of all rewarding. The constant revolving door of guests from places all over the map, creates extremely interesting morning breakfast table conversation.

Most of our guests check in, make themselves at home, enjoy the area, our hospitality and comfy beds, and Jim's excellent breakfasts and then check out with fond memories of time spent "up north". A brief, small connection having been made with us, the inn keepers, that is most likely soon forgotten as they return back home to their normal reality and daily routines.

However, every so often, we meet guests where there is an instant, spontaneous connection. Where it feels like we have known each other forever or in another time and place and it feels like the perfect "matching glass slipper" that was lost at the ball.

Recently we experienced such a connection with our new "very best friends" who traveled from California to attend a wedding. We started this connection through email way back in December. Through many exchanges back and forth I just knew this was going to be an interesting pair of guests. I was not disappointed.

I wanted to "sell" these world travelers and Californians on Michigan. It was after all their virgin visit to Michigan. I was a bit tentative as to whether they would "buy" into our small town "Mayberryish" area where it literally is like stepping back in a different time and place. I am the supreme marketer of our area as I weave the spell of our "little bit of paradise" to all new comers to the area. I don't want to promise too much, but then what's not to like about Leelanau...still there is always a bit of apprehension on my part.

July came closer and closer, and I waited in anticipation to finally put names and faces together. As we texted back and forth through landing at Traverse City airport and driving down M~22 and entering the little village of Suttons Bay, my excitement was palpable. I met them at the back door....instantly feeling like we had known each other for ever.

The few days that they were our guests made a stronger than normal connection. We spent time together chatting, enjoying cocktails in the afternoon and making plans to visit them soon in California. Sometimes it just feels like fate, karma , a bonding of kindred spirits where all the planets and stars are in alignment or something magical like that~~~~~

Apparently the connection was not one sided as I later received this email after they returned home~

"It’s always good to get home and a little interesting transitioning back to our own life. California has a lot of beautiful places to see and things to do but Suttons Bay and Traverse City area are magical. The whole area is really charming. I kind of understand why we were so taken by the area … we flew into that little airport drove 10 minutes and were on the Lake … we entered a stunning little world and never left for 6 days!

We had fun on Sunday … we got up and rented a jet ski. We took it out the point on Mission Peninsula, cut across and came down the other side. It was fun to see everything from the water. Then we went to the car show. Kathy’s dad hooked up with Ray so I checked out and sat at the Shed on top of the Blue Tractor and sipping a cocktail and watched the Blue Angels. We went to PoppyCock’s for dinner and watched the firework show. A wonderful ending to a great holiday!

Getting up this morning at 4am was not fun. We walked outside and noticed the ground was wet. Ray and I looked at each other and said … maybe it rained every day and we just didn’t know it. I asked an airport security guy and he laughed at me. We knew you were going to have a hot humid couple of days. The trip home was long but easy – we slept!

We had a wonderful trip with much thanks to you and Jim. Korner Kottage is a jewel of Michigan and your hospitality and friendship made the trip all that much better!
Life is good … we came for a wedding, found a vacation spot we love and new friends. Lucky us – all of us – to spend time together and get to know each other. We are very excited that you are planning to visit us in California. I am looking forward to being your host and showing you are our home."

This is the best of the best of being inn keepers.....we value these moments when real friendship just happens in a few short days. The conversations were real, the memories will be cherished and the bond will endure.

We are planning our trip to Sonoma, San Franciso and Tahoe as we speak. We can't wait for them to show off their charming area and "sell" us on California.