Breakfast in the House
Harrington House prides itself on its breakfasts. Our concept of a B&B is a home that while a business, is a home away from home for our guests. We want our guests to feel pampered and relaxed and we want them to fully enjoy their stay and to come back.
A key ingredient in any B&B is the food service. We offer a varied full breakfast each morning between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. If you have special dietary requirements, please let us know at time of booking so we may be prepared for your arrival. In the past we have accommodated low sodium, low fat, low cholesterol, vegetarian, diabetic, gluten free, lactose free and allergy restricted diets. Roberta has taken courses in food safety and we are meticulous about cleanliness. All this to make your stay with us memorable.
Our breakfasts generally follow this format:
..............Breakfast Menu................ Coffee and Tea with Cream or Milk or substitutes Juice Fresh baked scones with butter and home made jams (strawberry, raspberry), local honey or marmalade. We pick the fruit and make the jams ourselves. The honey comes from hives located in a local orchard. Fresh baked muffins (Lemon Poppy Seed, Orange, Banana, Apple are some favourites) Fruit salad using local fruits when each is available - we prepare a variety of combinations, some warm and some cold Cheese tray Hot and cold cereals, bacon and eggs, pancakes or waffles |
Sample Recipes
Biscuits
Plump ½ cup (approximately) currants in water overnight or in boiling water if in a hurry. Drain
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup of soured milk (made by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to milk) You could also use buttermilk if it is readily available in your area. It is not here, thus I just sour milk using method described earlier.
Blend dry ingredients with a whisk or sift with a sifter add margarene or butter with a pastry blender or sometimes I use a food processor, until the butter is the size of baby peas. Add drained currants at this point and mix lightly with a fork. Slowly add soured milk. Sometimes you will use all of the milk, sometimes not depending on the humidity of the day. Add enough sour milk to make a soft dough. Handle lightly - just enough to incorporate dry ingredients. Pat into a round shape and cut into rounds or triangles or whatever shape you like. Use a brush to paint cream on top and sprinkle with sugar. At this point, in the B&B I put them into the refrigerator until just before I want to bake them. They will hold for several hours which makes them a great convenience. No mixing or mess at the last minute if you have friends coming for tea. You can just pop them in the oven at 450 Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until nicely browned. ** If you have a cast iron baking pan or frying pan, the biscuits turn out best.***
Poppy Seed Orange Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup sour milk add vinegar to sour
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon poppy seed
Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to mix or combine well. Make a well in centre, and add all of wet ingredients at once. Use a spatula and gently mix until just combined. I make mini-muffins for the B&B and this recipe will make about 24 mini-muffins or 12 regular or larger sized muffins.