The Morning Star B&B Update

THE MORNING STAR B&B, LLC

617 Houston Street · Manhattan, KS 66502
info@morningstarbandb.com
www.morningstarbandb.com

Welcome to The Morning Star B&B Update!

Greetings!

Once again a new year is upon us. For us at The Morning Star, this means big things. In 2011, we will be celebrating our 15th year in business! (Four years on Fourteenth Street and 11 years here on Houston Street this coming Spring.) This is a long time in the Bed and Breakfast world. To celebrate, we will be offering a 15% discount on our rates for the 15th of every month all year long! Happy 2011!

Lilosa with a Twist

Probably everyone has heard of a Mimosa - a Champagne and Orange Juice Cocktail. But not everyone has heard of a Lilosa. It's just like a Mimosa, except made with grapefruit juice instead of orange juice. It's perfect for brunch celebrations any time of the year.
As with any cocktail, you can always vary it to create your own personalized drink. One of my favorite variations is to add 1/2 oz. fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice and garnish with a twist of the peel. (Meyer lemons are sweeter and less acidic than your typical lemon, so it is important that you use juice from a Meyer lemon.)
To make: Fill a flute glass almost half way with fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice. Add fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice. Then fill glass with chilled extra dry Champagne and garnish with lemon twist.

Hazelnut Bars

In December, Paul & Lee from Oregon sent us a box full of wonderful toasted hazelnuts from Hazelnut Hill, which gave me the idea to share with you one of my favorite hazelnut recipes. (Not only are these bars delicious, but they can be made several days ahead of time so they are perfect for events that require a lot of time management.)

For the crust:
1/2 c. butter, softened
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 c. all-purpose flour

To make the crust - Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and cream cheese on high speed until smooth. Beat in the brown sugar. Beat in the 2 c. flour until batter forms a crumbly mixture with no visible dry patches of flour. With lightly floured hands, pat the mixture onto the bottom and about 1 1/4" up the sides of an ungreased 9 x 13" baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Meanwhile, prepare filling.

For the filling:
2 c. granulated white sugar
1 1/2 c. butter milk
4 eggs
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. hazelnut or vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. toasted chopped hazelnuts*

To make the filling - In a medium bowl, beat together sugar, buttermilk, eggs, flour, extract and salt on low speed until well combined. Stir in the nuts. Pour filling over baked layer. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until rich golden brown in color and the filling shakes minimally when the pan is jiggled.

Completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Sprinkle with sifted Confectioner's Sugar. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before serving. Or, wrap individual bars in plastic and then place in a freezer bag and freeze up to one month. Thaw at room temperature.

* To toast hazelnuts, spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes, stirring once or twice during baking, until the nuts are lightly golden. Place warm nuts on a clean kitchen towel and rug vigorously to remove any loosened skins.

Well, I was a few days late getting the newsletter out and didn't manage to get a book review written. I guess that I just had too much on my plate over the holidays in more ways than one. Thank you for understanding. I did, however, manage to make a few changes to the specials on our website and have some gift shop changes in the works as well as a few changes around the house to tell you about in February. In the meantime, take care, and thank you for reading The Morning Star Update!

Sincerely,

Laurie Pieper
The Morning Star B&B

In This Issue

Lilosa with a Twist

Hazelnut Bars

Dates to Remember

Spring Graduation