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Museum Hill Bed and Breakfast Newsletter

11/20/2006

Volume 1, Number 3

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is coming up this week. Time sure does fly. St. Joseph has gotten a lot of attention this month. The Missouri State Historical Preservation Conference was a huge success. This conference brought in a lot of people in from all over that are involved in historical preservation in one form or another and many were quite surprised about what they saw in St. Joe. What was good about the conference were many people from the state and city government who took an interest. Then the governor came down last week for a speech at one of the lofts to promote the DREAM (Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri) program. A lot of people attended and this again brought in more state and city attention. Last month’s newsletter I mentioned that St. Joseph got approval for this program, it was nice to see the governor come down to personally recognize the city for attaining acceptance into the program. I also noticed today that along Interstate 229 just as you are heading into town, there are real nice signs up designating St. Joseph as a DREAM city.

For those who might be interested in historical real estate here is the website link:

http://www.oldhouses.org/

The Visitors Center has just released a new video about St. Joseph. The video was made public domain, so I was able to upload it onto a hosting site and have created a new web page on the internet to view this.

http://www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/stjomovideo.html

We do also sell the video on a high quality DVD version, call us for more details. On this page is also a logo for the St. Joseph Originals. This group is an organization of businesses that originated in St. Joseph offering a variety of services. We highly recommended any one of these businesses to our guests depending on what services they may need while staying on the hill.

We have been getting out and about lately quite a bit and found many more things to see to and do. Kansas City only about an hour away from St. Joseph, has a lot of things going on. The American Royal www.americanroyal.com is a huge place that has all kinds of horse shows, rodeos, bbq competitions, etc. The marketplace in it is a neat place to shop and the food there from the vendors is good and hearty. We have also visited the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum www.nelson-atkins.org. This museum has some of the finest collections of art around. The outside lawn is full of unique art. One art project consists of several huge badminton birdie sculptures throughout the lawn. I thought this was kind of neat as it was a popular game "back in the day" when I was growing up. As time moves on, we are going to be touring a lot more places in Kansas City and I will be sharing them in future newsletters.

During one of my networking sessions, I met a wonderful person who operates a very personalized and special travel business. Her website is www.traveladyramie.com. Ramie knows the Kansas City area very well and her services are highly recommended for those who may want personalized tours or may want to sight see but not drive during their stay here. She knows the best restaurants and entertainment places in KC and can offer a variety of different packages through her services.

 Now I have found some real cool things going on in and around the area for the holidays. The city of Independence will begin a Heritage Homes Tour starting on Nov 24, and lasting through Dec. 30. This web link has more information http://www.ci.independence.mo.us/tourism/Story.aspx?id=563. Two of the three houses have websites www.bwestate.org and www.vailemansion.com. These are awesome houses to check out. In Kansas City, the Strawberry Hill Museum, www.strawberryhillmuseum.org is now hosting an Olde World Christmas tour from now till Jan. 28, 2007. This is a unique Queen Anne high Victorian Home. Leavenworth, KS will be hosting a Vintage Homes Tour on Dec. 10^th. More information at http://leavenworthhistory.org. Another Christmas Homes Tour in Weston, MO will be held on Dec 2 and 3. This link http://www.westonmo.com/entertainment/calendar.html

Provides more information. Kansas City will be hosting something very unique. The Kansas City Southern Holiday Express is a locomotive fully decked out in Christmas lights and will be touring 6 states in various cities. On Dec 17, it will stop at the Kansas City Railroad Station. Go to this website www.kcsi.com and than click on the Holiday Express link down on the right side for additional information and what cities the train will stop in.

The holiday season is especially vibrant in St. Joe. On Nov. 24, Thanksgiving Day, a Christmas lighting ceremony will be held at Krug and Hyde Parks. These parks are part of the Parkway System. More information is at this link :

www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/mainpages/holiday_park_2006.pdf

This web page tells more about the lighting of the parks and its history.

http://www.ci.st-joseph.mo.us/parks/holiday_park.cfm

The lights will be displayed from Nov.24 through Dec. 31. Downtown St. Joe is already lit beautifully in the Coleman Hawkins Park at Felix Street Square. There is a special ambience as the light glow hits the historical buildings downtown.

On Nov. 30^th, the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion will be conducting their annual Christmas Lighting Ceremony. This ceremony will have Christmas music by Our Lady of Guadalupe Choir and the Chord Time Barber Shop, carriage rides, refreshments, and elaborate Christmas decorations. On Dec. 17^th, a Christmas High Tea event will be held here at 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. Cost is $20 per person and the teas are catered by Main Street Mill Historic Tea Room out of Smithville. This is their website: www.themainstreetmill.com . I highly recommended this as a stop for lunch during a road trip in the area. The place is very elegant and the food very very good. Several menu items have won prestigious cooking awards.

And now for what we having going on the hill. Check out this link for some information on our special options: http://www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/hometourandspecialoptions.htm

The house is being decorated this week and when it is finished, we will be conducting our own Christmas tours. There will be lights outside of the entire house and fence that will light up the hill very elegantly. If anyone remembers Chevy Chase and "Christmas Vacation", it will be somewhat like that, but with class and grace. And no power drain on the city grid, we hope!J

Now for some holiday cooking ideas. I would like to share a very simple and easy way to cook a turkey and insure it is tender and not dry. This bird does not have to be complicated to cook and although I love watching the cooking shows with the different and unique ways of cooking a turkey, many of those methods are complicated and create a lot of work. Here is how I do it.

Several years ago we won one of those big electric GE roaster ovens  at a raffle somewhere. Prior to that, I never owned one and never saw a need to have one. Since we got this one, I swear by them now for roasting turkeys and chickens.

In preparing the turkey first of course is cleaning out the giblets. I always rinse my turkey in cold water after cleaning out the insides, even though the packaging may say washed, it is still a good idea to give it a cold water rinse. Than I take the roasting oven insert and spray the rack inside with a nonstick cooking spray. I place the bird breast side down (this is the main secret to tenderness when done) on the rack and put the insert back in the oven. The oven is set at 350. I than take a stick of butter and baste the outside of the turkey. Usually a 10 to 14 lb. turkey will fit well in this type of oven. Close lid and I allow about 15 to 20 minutes for each lb. of turkey to calculate my total cooking time. I baste the bird about every 30 minutes with the butter. As time progresses, the turkey will become golden brown. This is pretty much it, nothing complicated. I do not even stuff it, while it is the traditional way and also makes a very good stuffing; I use a method that is simple and works just as well. To test if turkey is done, insert thermometer in breast area. If it is 165, it is done. The beauty of a roaster oven is I do not have to pull the turkey out to set for cutting, I can leave it right in the pan and continue to let the juices drip down. I want all that for the gravy and stuffing. After about 20 to 30 minutes the turkey should be ready to take out and cut down. If you do not have a roaster oven, I used to use one of those oven proof-cooking bags. I would simply just put the bird in the bag, put it on a roasting pan, punch pinholes in the bag for air and bake it in the oven at the same temperature. I would still baste it with butter. The minute per lb. can be cut down on this method, usually to 12-15 minutes per lb.

There are plenty of recipes out there for stuffing so I will not re-invent the wheel on this, but I will let you in a simple and easy secret. When you are mixing the liquid in while preparing the stuffing, use the turkey drippings. Use at least a cup and a half. This will give your stuffing the flavor of the bird without having to stuff it. If you are doing basic bread stuffing, here are some more tips, add some sautéed onion and celery, a little melted butter, crumbled corn bread, and some dehydrated cranberries. After everything is mixed, bake it at 350 for a good hour in a casserole pan, stirring occasionally

Here is a very good glaze for the ham. Mix together some honey and apple juice or a good cider (cider is better) and brush on ham before putting in oven. Bake your ham at 325, the lower temperature keeps it from drying. Re-glaze about every 20 minutes. This works for any ham whether it is pre-cooked or not.

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During my aircraft carrier days, the Thanksgiving meal was not complete without one thing. We always added a prime rib. This complimented everything and made the meal unique and special for the crew. If this sounds like a good idea to anyone, here is how to cook it. Set your oven at 300, place rib in roasting pan, fat side up. Season the fat side with a little salt and pepper. Place in oven and let slow roast for about 30 minutes. Take it out and pour a little beer (Fosters is the best!!) over it, place back in the oven. Do the beer thing about 3 times at 20-minute intervals. The rib should take about 2 hours but keep checking internal temp. Rare is 140, medium is 160, and well is 180. After you get your desired doneness pull out and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with a good horseradish sauce; just mix a little horseradish and mayonnaise to taste with a little sour cream and a dash of vinegar.

 A cup of Southern Comfort to a quart of Egg Nog in a punch bowl and occasionally ladle over top a quart of good vanilla ice cream (not the imitation flavor, the real stuff!!) After about ten minutes, enjoy!!!!!!

Hope these ideas help enhance your meals along with the pumpkin recipes in my last newsletter. And if you are looking for a holiday getaway, the Christmas spirit is here on the hill at Museum Hill Bed and Breakfast!!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Sincerely,

John Courter

Newsletter archive:

www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/newsletter-07-20-2006

www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/newsletter-08-14-2006

www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/newsletter-09-14-2006

www.geocities.com/museumhillbandb/newsletter-10-14-2006