Snow's Over - Daffs Are Blooming!

Our epic and unusual snow storm of March 6, 2013 is history!Snow's over, roads are clear, temps are warm, hiking's good, daffs are blooming, sky is blue...all's right with the world!  Come for a visit!

Tim Cabell, Innkeeper

Dick and Hayden Cabell
Owners/Innkeepers

The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com

Recipe for Fresh Orange Fruit Nut Bread

The fresh orange for flavor and a bit of sour cream or plain yogurt for tenderness are the keys to this outstanding recipe that our guests find irresistible.

 Makes 1 loaf.

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening
3/4 c. orange juice
1 Tbsp orange rind, grated
1 egg, well-beaten
3 Tbsp. sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 c. nuts, chopped
2 c. fruit -- fresh, chopped cranberries, or any dried fruit you have on hand. I usually use 2 different kinds for extra flavor - dried cherries, craisins, raisins, apricots, etc. Hint: Mix dried fruit with 1-2 Tbsp. flour so the fruit "floats" in the batter while baking and doesn't sink to the bottom.

Grease 9 X 5 loaf pan. In a large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients. Cut in the shortening. Combine the orange juice, rind, egg and sour cream and pour all at once into the dry ingredients. Mix just until moistened. Carefully fold in the fruit and nuts. Spoon into prepared pan and spread corners and sides higher than the center. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 min. - 60 min.



Dick and Hayden Cabell
Owners/Innkeepers
The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com

A Recipe to Love

Whenever we serve Hannah Banana cake to our guests, copies of the recipe never fail to ride home with them where they look forward to enjoying this delicious dessert once again with fond memories of Sugar Hollow.

Here it is, one of the best cakes you have ever tasted. Named, of course, for our 11year old granddaughter, Hannah Joy.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 50 minutes
Yield: 1 Bundt Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease and flour the bundt pan. Note: Grease the pan very, very well, especially the creases.

Ingredients:

3 medium very ripe bananas
3 large eggs
2 1/4 c. sugar
2 1/4 sticks butter or margarine (Margarine will give a more fluffy textured cake.)
6 TBSP plain yogurt
1 TBSP pure vanilla extract
1 TBSP dark rum (I have also been known to use rum extract - @ 1 tsp.)
2 c. plus 2 TBSP cake flour. (If you are fresh out of cake flour, you may substitute 2 c., only, all purpose flour.)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.

Mash bananas w/ fork until pulpy, not entirely smooth.
Cream butter/margarine and sugar together until fluffy.
Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla, and rum/rum extract. Mix until combined.
Stir flour, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl then fold gently into batter along with mashed banana. Batter will be rather wet.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake until top springs back and toothpick in center comes out clean -- in about 50 minutes. Cake will be flat on top, not raised/puffed up.
Allow to cool and remove from pan.

Rum sauce glaze - extra special finish...

Heat until bubbly: 5 TBSP butter and 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
Warm slightly in microwave : 4 TBSP 1/2 & 1/2 or cream
Add cream slowly to butter/sugar mixture, stirring well after each addition.
Also add 4 TBSP rum or about 1 tsp. rum extract and stir well.

Drizzle over cake slices when ready to serve to guests.

Enjoy and come for a stay with us at the Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm!

Tim Cabell, Innkeeper
Dick and Hayden Cabell,Owners
The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com

A Story About Breakfast

Here an excerpt from an anonymous post to another website that I frequently visit, regarding the art of breakfast, and how your approach to cooking is a reflection on your approach to life.

I remember reading a story about a guy who had gotten divorced in his early 30s and in his funk, his family decided it would be a good thing for him to spend a week visiting his aunt and uncle in a different state ... He was moping and feeling sorry for himself, but on the first morning there, his uncle woke him up early for breakfast. But breakfast was not made yet. So, he watched and talked to his uncle while his uncle cooked breakfast.  His uncle made cheese scrambled eggs with hash browns and onions, a side of room-temperature salsa, bacon, melon and buttered wheat toast with local honey. He also had a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a cup of brewed coffee. When he gave his nephew the food, everything was cooked to perfection. Everything that was supposed to be hot was still hot. The nephew dug in and loved every bite, but at some point made some comment about his uncle not having to go all out to please him. 

His uncle responded that what he made was a simple, typical breakfast, and that he had not done anything unusual ... for him. He went on to say that everyone sets standards for themselves. Breakfast for many people is just eating sustenance and they have never thought about how they could perfect every step in the process so that you end up making a meal that is the best that you can do. But if they do strive for "better" continuously, at some point the quality of what they produce ends up being consistently very high.

It was more a statement on how you live your life. Cooking can be a reflection of your approach to everything. Do the best that you can and if you burn the toast, do it again, right. Food can be both an expression of how much you care for others as well as a reinforcement for how much you care about yourself.  

So, let's think about that breakfast for a minute. There are numerous videos on youtube that teach you to cook perfect scrambled eggs. They explain the temperatures, how long to beat them and how to beat them. How hot the pan should be. How do you minimize the chance that the eggs will stick. How to season them, and when. How a heat-tolerant spatula makes the best utensil to stir the eggs. When you add cheese and what kind of cheese at what temperature. When do you remove them from the heat so they don't overcook. Same with bacon. Same with hashbrowns. Same with everything.

If you want to be a better cook, strive to be one. Take everything one step at a time ... you might try learning to cook a new dish every day, or a new dish every week. Cook things multiple times and strive to get better each time. Taste as you go, and if what you are making needs something to enhance the palette of flavor, figure out what that is.  Flavors are much like scents and the way we perceive them is similar. We can taste multiple things at one time ... top notes, bottom notes ... after tastes. Pay attention to those subtle differences and learn to manipulate them to achieve blends that are more satisfying.

For all we know for sure, we live once. There is no reason to live a life eating substandard food. Food is important. Food is sustenance, but a good diet can add ten years to your life, while a bad diet can cut 30 years off your life.  We are creatures with limited means to interpret the world around us ... and Food is a sensory experience ... Striving to be a better cook is a noble and worthwhile goal that pays off with a lifetime of rewards ... every time you eat. And it can be as much an expression of love... It can be a gift to yourself and those around you.

-posted by intoto, on the website reddit.com 

Tim Cabell
Innkeeper
The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com

Go Local!

Charlottesville's Downtown Historic Pedestrian Mall

As innkeepers, we are always thinking about what kinds of experiences are attracting our guests to our area. There are so many good reasons to visit this region, that for us, it almost seems to go without mentioning that for anyone who needs a few days away from their life, there is no better place than these mountains!

A growing number of guests are taking advantage of a chance to just "go local", as I like to call it. This is especially true during their second or third visits, after they have checked the mandatory attractions such as Monticello and The Rotunda off of their lists. To experience the region on a deeper level, you can just set off in any direction, slow down, and discover. You may chance upon one of the many successful wineries that encircle the Inn. Stop in a local gourmet grocer and grab a fresh sandwich or salad to enjoy on an overlook or at a picnic table in a vineyard. Visit a local antique shop, artisan studio,  or art gallery. Avoid the Charlottesville crowds and check out a local bookshop in Crozet or a meal at a famous family run pizzeria. Check out one of the local apple and peach orchards to sample local flavor. The quintiessential local experience for you may be to try a sampling of beer at one of many of the craft breweries in the area, many of which are also serving some very interesting dishes from their kitchens. If you have been out and about all day you may need an afternoon nap before tackling the local music scene, and there is always a local selection for your ears available.

All of your senses will be engaged here. Slow down and breath it all in, and we'll see you soon!

Tim Cabell
Innkeeper
The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com

Staff Announcement

Today we are announcing a new staff member! Our son, Tim, is joining our team as an assistant innkeeper. We are very excited to be able to share our success with family and we know Tim will be a great addition. Many of you have already had an opportunity to meet him during your stay but if you don't see him here, he is probably back at home in Raleigh, NC with his family and four children.

Tim is an alumnus of Penn State University, a former high school teacher and I.T. professional. He is leaving the cube farm of his former career to join us here in a whole different kind of farm. :)


Back in the early 90's, Tim helped us design The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm and is now coming back to bring some youthful energy to the family business. We'll see if he can keep up with Hayden.

We know that in this day and age, it is important for us to be engaged with our guests through social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, this blog, and GooglePlus.When Tim isn't cooking, gardening, landscaping, hauling firewood, repairing, and cleaning, he'll be updating our status, tweeting, and blogging, and emailing for us in the background.

The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm has been around for almost 20 years now, and with Tim's help we think we can go at least another 20 years or more. Please help us welcome him to The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm family!

Dick and Hayden Cabell
Owners/Innkeepers
The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com

Book Lovers - Our Goodreads Group

We recently discovered this website called Goodreads, I am sure already known to many of you! So many of our guests are reading something during their stay with us, we thought it would be fun to be able to share what everyone is reading and help make recommendations to each other. Here is link to a group we have created called "Friends of The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm" for you to join and let us know what you are reading, add a book to our bookshelf, start or join a discussion, and help us foster interest in something we all hold precious... great books!

If you are an author, please feel free to add your own books to our bookshelf! We have no problem with shameless self-promotion.

Dick and Hayden Cabell
Owners/Innkeepers
The Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm (Near Charlottesville, VA )
6051 Sugar Hollow Road Crozet, VA 22932
Web: www.sugarhollow.com
Email: theinn@sugarhollow.com
Phone Toll Free: 866-566-7388

Awarded the Certificate of Excellence and Selected for Travelers' Choice Award Top B&B Inns in America by TripAdvisor.com