Brewster Bed and Breakfast Summer Check List

Has summer really come to Cape Cod? Let me get my check list out.

1. Whales arrived for summer whale watching. Check. A guest recently reported that they saw over a dozen whales during their trip out of P’Town.

2. Summer clothes brought down from the attic along with our flip flops. Check

3. Pool open and painted at Brewster by the Sea. Check

Fresh mulsh

4. Gardens all weeded and mulched (thanks Antonio) Check

5. Guest rooms spring cleaned. Check

6. All of our favorite restaurants and clam shacks open. Check

7. Most of the beaches repaired from the winter storms. Check

8. New menus and recipes in place for our summer dining. Check

9. Harrison has a summer haircut. Check

10. Tomatoes planted. Check

11. Beach towels brought down from the attic. Check

12. Donna and Byron are rested and ready for the summer season. Check

A dozen reason to come and stay at Brewster by the Sea or the Captain Freeman Inn. Summer is such a special season on Cape Cod!

Spring has sprung at Brewster by the Sea Inn and Spa

Last summer I wrote a blog about the beautiful gardens at Brewster by the Sea. In preparation, I went around with my trusty Sony camera and snapped many shots of the flowers around our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast. Several times during the winter, I found much solace looking at the pictures of our beautiful summer gardens in that blog. I decided to do the same thing with the spring gardens.  Just yesterday as I was driving down the Old Historic Highway, I could not help but notice that most of the trees are filled with green buds, and it seemed like it happened overnight! Again, I will let the pictures do all the talking of how beautiful our little slice of heaven is on Cape Cod.

Hibiscus soon to be moved outside

I have always loves Hibiscuses and have had them at both our inns by the pool each summer. They will  bloom all summer long if they are watered daily and fed with Miracle Grow once a week. This beauty was for sale at our local Stop and Shop, and I was a sight to be seen do my shopping with 2 of these plants in my cart:) They are tropical in nature so we will not transplant outside until after Memorial Day.

New green umbrellas for summer dining

Yeah, for having our guests being able to dine outside in the warm sun. We just purchased two new umbrellas in a lovely green color. (it’s my new favorite decorating color)

One of my favorite things in life is to be able to go into our flower or vegetable gardens first thing in the morning when everyone is sleeping and pick flowers for the breakfast tables or herbs and vegetables for our breakfast. This morning I was able to pick enough daffodils from our front yard for everyone to enjoy inside.

perennial gardens with tulips

Our perennial garden is now filled with tulips in many different colors. Many of our favorite perennial flowers are also beginning to sprout.

Cherry tree

Our cherry tree on the side of the main house is in full bloom. Love to open the windows in the Garden and Acorn room to let in the sweet smells.

Fresh paint on the pool

We just finished staining the deck and putting a fresh coat of paint on the pool. We also added some wonderful gravity chairs for guests to enjoy.

Fresh mulsh

Our wonderful handy man, Antonio just finished placing mulch all around the yard. One of my Mom’s favorite spring flower can be seen in this photo- an Almond bush. It blossoms first thing in the spring and does not last long, but boy are the flowers delicate and beautiful.

Chinese Andromeda

I have always loved the geese statues in front of the Orchard House. This year the Chinese Andromeda are really crowding them out.

Fresh mint along the pool

Mint is such a wonderful herb and while some don’t like it’s invasive nature in the gardens, I use it about every morning for our breakfasts and flavor in our filtered water and ice tea. This morning I cut slivers of mint on top of the strawberries and blueberries that our guests enjoyed this morning.

Vegetable garden at Brewster by the Sea

We have a small rhubarb patch in our garden that I reserve for one or two strawberry and rhubarb pies- that is our daughter Jenns favorite!

Hydrangeas around our pool

And last but not least are our lovely hydrangeas! I have grown to really admire and look forward to the summer season of beautiful blossoms. They grow here naturally so we do not even have to feed them..maybe just a little water on the hot days.

And so is the ending of today’s picture book of the spring gardens at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast, Brewster by the Sea Inn and Spa.

Wishing everyone lots of sunshine, flowers and health.

First Encounter Beach with Spring

First Encounter Beach

Spring is definitely in the air and how appropriate to visit the First Encounter Beach for a nice long walk  with my sweetheart.  First Encounter Beach  is actually the site of the first encounter between the Pilgrims and the Indians when the Pilgrims were at the end of their voyage. They landed in Eastham after leaving Provincetown and before Plymouth. Both parties were surprised, and left quickly.

During the quiet season we are always looking for a new adventure, and we had never been there since being innkeepers of our two Cape Cod Bed and Breakfasts, Brewster by the Sea and Captain Freeman Inn.

We had an incredible walk.  First Encounter is a beautiful, calm beach with warm gentle water sprinkled with small patches of grass. The sky was crystal blue and the beach so perfectly serene.  We only passed one person during our entire walk and admired her walking stick.

Walking on the beach

Byron was intrigued with this plant life that washed up ashore.

As we walked around the inlet we saw several hawks flying gracefully nearby.

Hawks on Cape Cod

We always include Harrison, our spoiled Labradoodle who lives with us at Brewster by the Sea, in our walks on the beach. He loves to swim and chase seagulls. What a perfect day on Cape Cod!

Happiness on First Encounter Beach

Saint Patrick’s Day blessings at Brewster by the Sea on Cape Cod

Romance at Brewster by the Sea

We have many small elopements and weddings at our two Cape Cod Bed and Breakfasts, Brewster by the Sea Inn and Spa and the Captain Freeman Inn. Each one is unique and special, and touches our hearts each time.

This past weekend we had the pleasure of hosting a true elopement at Brewster by the Sea where Melissa and John exchanged their vows  in front of our lovely fireplace on St.Patricks Day.

Justice of the Peace, Susan Marcus

We were so impressed with their matching outfits. Melissa had darling green high heels that matched John’s tie.

How cute!

Their touching ceremony was performed by Susan Marcus. Sue has a wonderful gift in making each ceremony very special and memorable.

Justice of the Peace, Susan Marcus

We send our best wishes to John and Melissa and wish them years of peace, happiness and good health.

New Banana Waffles at Brewster by the Sea

Banana Brown Butter Waffles

Our guests staying at Brewster by the Sea enjoyed a wonderful Banana -Brown Butter Waffle with Dulce De Leche for their breakfast today. My mission continues to test new recipes for our summer menus for our guests staying at our two Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast.
As I delivered the waffles this morning, all of our guests were raving about the unique flavors. The plates were coming back empty (which is always a good sign:), and I was hopeful there would be enough batter left for my husband and me to sample the recipe. Thankfully there was just enough for us to each have our own.

Oh my goodness…who would ever think of combining bananas in a waffle. The recipe suggests using Dulce De Leche which is a delicious carmel made from sweetened milk (found in the Latin section of your grocery store) as the syrup over the waffle. The browned butter adds a nutty flavor to the waffle and the bananas and carmel sauce are the final touch. I was surprised that the waffle was not over sweet and the fresh strawberries on the top complimented all of the other flavors.

Pure heaven!

Life is good at Brewster by the Sea on Cape Cod! As always, just e-mail if you would like a copy of any of the recipes talked about on this blog. info@brewsterbythesea.com

Happy ending at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfasts

by Donna Cain, innkeeper and owner

I  have been a busy bee these last few months testing and experimenting with new breakfast and tea recipes for our two Cape Cod Bed and Breakfasts, Brewster by the Sea Inn and  Spa and Captain Freeman Inn. We have always said that breakfasts at our two inns are a special time and this morning was extra sweet!

My weekend experiments included Blackberry Crumb cake that I served for tea on Saturday, Tomato Tart for the first course on Sunday, and last but not least the “Happy Ending” for our Sunday breakfast at Brewster by the Sea that included a spectacular Oatmeal Creme Brûlée.

All three were a huge success and definite keepers for our summer menus. The Blackberry Crumb Cake was moist and the blackberries added a unique sweetness. The Tomato Tart was out of this world. I could not help but notice how quickly all of our guests ate their savory treat.

Tomato Tart

As I was tasting a bite of the tart I could not help but think about my summer tomatoes and basil….this dish will be extra delicious when the tomatoes and herbs are fresh from our gardens in August.

And on to our “Happy Ending” at Brewster by the Sea, I have always loved Creme Brulee and frequently order it when we dine out. I have always been intrigued by Oatmeal Creme Brule but felt that is would be too sweet to serve at breakfast. I recently found a recipe that was printed in the New York Times. I have always enjoyed the recipes that they choose and thought I would give it a try…after all oatmeal is good for us, right? Since it was a sweet dish I decided to serve it at the end of our guest’s breakfast meal. I grew up with Friendly’s Ice Cream and have fond memories of their “Happy Endings” which of course included an ice cream sundae. It felt appropriate to call the Creme Brulee our “Happy Ending” at Brewster by the Sea. I was so tickled with our guest’s response.

Happy ending at Brewster by the Sea

They all loved it, and what I decided to do for future breakfasts was to serve one dish for each table to share. Just a few bites of this sweet dish is a perfect way to start your day and to have a happy ending to a great breakfast.

Brewster by the Sea Cookies are in Bacelona

Brewster by the Sea Cookies in Barcelona

We love our   Molasses cookie at our Cape Cod Bed and Breakfast, Brewster by the Sea. We have made thousands over the years and our guests always seem t0 enjoy the old fashion flavors. As we are checking in guests and showing them the cookie jar, I tell them that it is bottomless unless they raid the jar at night when I am sleeping:)

Our parting gift to our guests includes 2 cookies that we ask them to take home and place in the freezer. When they go someplace worldly or special we ask that they take a picture of the cookie and tell us about where they are. Our worldly cookies recently went to Barcelona…..how special!
Shown below are the details:

“We are writing to you from lovely Barcelona. We had big plans for our cookies, having stored them in the freezer since our wonderful stay at your inn in November.

We flew to Milan on Valentines Day, to spend 4 days. Unfortunately, our luggage didn’t arrive with us. By the time it was delivered to us 2.5 days later, the cookies were a little worse for wear. In fact, the pieces that broke seemed to have morphed and we couldn’t even assemble one whole cookie from what was left. Undaunted, we set out for the duomo de Milano so that we could capture this photo to send your way.

We wanted to do another picturesque photo here in Barcelona, as well as in our final stop, Amsterdam….but it became clear that the cookies would not survive such adventures. We will have to come back to visit again so that we can get more cookies for future travels. “

Thank you Jody and Tony. What a wonderful photo!