Bernadine's Stillman Inn
Innkeeper(s):
Dave & Bernadine Andersons
Thanksgiving 2011 25 Nov 2011, 5:27 pm
Fresh Baked Apple Pie
served this weekend at
Bernadine's Stillman Inn!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Hope your Thanksgiving Holiday was GREAT!
A special Thanks to all of you who have stayed with us! We look forward to seeing you next year!
We are especially thankful this year for our two granddaughters, Cara and Liliana!
They keep us moving and laughing all the time!
Stop in and see us this winter. Returning guests receive a 10% discount and we always have great midweek deals during this time!
Blog Special
Mention you read this blog and receive a complimentary bottle of champagne with your two night midweek stay!
Bernadine and her Mom are back from their "Tampa Tour of Tea Rooms" vacation!
They had a great time and brought home lots of ideas!
2012
We will be adding:
Wine in the Parlor (every evening)
Afternoon Teas on Saturdays and by special request from our guests during your stay
(24 hour notice needed)
25 Sep 2011, 12:36 pm
Fall 2011 - It's here at the Stillman Inn located in Beautiful Galena, ILThere is just no denying it, we are into Fall and it is beautiful here! Fall Festivals are beginning, we just had a civil war encampment event here down our hill and I'm taking what will most likely be the last pictures of this years gardens. All that work....!
We've just spotted our second set of baby squirrels for the Spring/Summer. They are just too cute and cause quite a bit of mischief around...not as bad as racoons though. We've taken the bird feeders down and set them on the ground since the squirrels end up getting everything anyway. Fun to watch our granddaughter try to say squirrel at 2 years old!
We'll start making pumpkin and apple pies, cheesecake, hot apple cider and by the way, a lot more people are have a smores fire these days here at the inn! Yummy!
I love the random sunflowers that come up around the garden, particularly under the bird feeder. It's just a pleasant surprise that I didn't have to plant!
Once the sedum blooms you know it's time to get your warm clothes out!
Civil war encampments are a great thing for families to do. We used to go to them and was I happy when the guys told my son he couldn't use his phone or any other electronics while there. He loved it. He was usually a water boy during battle.
They regularly go through formations that were typical in the civil war encampments. Guests love to go down and ask questions, see how they make their food, look at antique artifacts from the time like uniforms, guns, old kettles, saddles, etc.
This is always my favorite. When they set up the little log cabin as it would have been in the 1800's. This particular weekend it was Set up especially nice with lots of knitting, quilts and sewing gadgets. I love the simpler arts. I won't say simpler life because it most certainly was not simple or air conditioned for that matter! There are a lot of artists in Galena that like to work with their hands especially in the area of fibers, mending and sewing, knitting, rug making...When I work on my projects I like to think what it would have been like for women in those days. It's kind of a touch stone for me like doing a family tree is to others.
I had the rare opportunity of being able to leave the inn for a walk Saturday. I sat in Grant Park trying to finish up a knitted scarf when the train came by. Next to the train tack is a bike path. Lots of people riding bikes! And next to that is the Galena River. I was able to watch several canoes and kayaks go by. What a perfect day!
Then I walked to the farmers market. Tried to find "Pink Lady" apples. I've been trying to find them for pies because the description of them is so luscious. I understand they are an Heirloom apple and hard to come by. If you see any, send one this way!
Have a great Fall and stop on in! The colors are going to be spectacular in the next couple of weeks. Next weekend is Oktoberfest complete with wiener dog races and then the following weekend is our busiest weekend - Country Fair Weekend.
Mention this Fall 2011 blog and receive a complimentary bottle of wine with your two night stay!
Bernadine & Dave
Ahhh, September 2011 16 Sep 2011, 1:00 pm
Like everyone else, we here at Bernadine's Stillman Inn in Galena Illinois, we are wondering where Summer went. We actually like the cooler evenings. Great for having a fire with the guests and making Smores!Mom was here this week helping me make more Strawberry Jam and Truffles. We have added the molded chocolates to our "Gift Armoire".
Just made Brownies and a Strawberry Pie for this weekends guests. Hope they love it!
Picked what will probably be the last of the tomatoes, green beans and green onions this year.
Also pictured here is some Pasta from Galena's new Pasta Store downtown. They have everything, even Chocolate Pasta.
Mom and I picked up the "Spinach Basil Garlic Fettuccine". It's a beautiful color and apparently all we have to do is add a little bit of oil or pesto to it for a great taste.
I also liked the pasta shaped like sombreros. You cook them and fill them up as an appetizer. Check it out next time you are in Galena!
Come See Us Soon! 815 777-0557
Dave & Bernadine
Lavender Frosted Cake 1 Sep 2011, 7:21 am
Need a quick and beautiful cake for an event? Here's an idea our guests love.Lavender Frosted Cake
Simply make two 8" round white cakes from a box mix (I know, but it is quicker)
Level them before stacking (important thing to do and you can find a leveler anywhere they have cake making supplies. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby)
Make your favorite frosting and add 2 teaspoons Lavender Extract (We get our extracts at www.kingarthurflour.com)
And add a touch of purple food coloring and mix well
Spread between layers and just on the top of the cake
Sprinkle with sparkly sprinkles and there you have it!
This weekend our guests will be delighting in our fabulous disappearing oatmeal cookies and a Pineapple upside down cake!
Plan your next visit to Bernadine's Stillman Inn in hitoric Galena and mention this Lavender Frosted Cake and receive a complimentary bottle of wine with your two night stay!
Have a great Labor Day Weekend!
| The Grand Romance Room |
This Weekend 28 Aug 2011, 7:19 pm
Guests enjoyed Fudge and a white cake with Laender Frosting this weekend.Lavender Frosting:
Simply make your favorite buttercream frosting recipe and add to it 2 teaspoons Lavender Extract and violet food coloring. After frosting the cake, sprinkle with decorative sprinkles and a pinch of lavendar.
Lavender Extract purchased at http://www.kingarthurflour.com/
Other than Almond or vanilla extract, you never hear about all of the other flavors available like orange, blueberry, banana, lavender. Check out King Arthur and be prepared to experiment. I've learned a little bit goes far in flavor, just like vanilla.
The Gardens are beautiful this year. All the hard work has paid off. This is our Zinnia bed and our granddaughter Cara, now 20 months old. She just loves following me around the gardens, watering and picking flowers apart.
We've been collecting rain water in a regular plastic garbage can. Does she love to put her little watering can in there and fill it up. Most of it ends up on her and not the plants but at this point that's okay! She is charming.
LAVENDER FROSTING: This weekend I made the guests chocolate fudge with walnuts AND a double layer white cake with Lavender Frosting! Yummy. All you need to do is add 2 teaspoons Lavender Extract to your favorite frosting along with a bit of lavender food coloring. Sprinkle on some pretty sparkles and edible lavender and you are all set! http://www.kingarthurflour.com/ for the extract and lavender.
We planted our own lavender this year. Thinking of having some garden tours next year. What do you think about that?
Thank you to all of our guests for staying with us!
2011 Flood 11 Aug 2011, 7:57 pm
A couple of weeks ago we had heavy rains for about 12 hours. Galena received 20" of rain in this amount of time. The Stillman Inn faired well with just a bit of water in the restaurant and in the cellar. No complaints here.Some downtown restaurants were flooded with up to 6' of water in their kitchens. Guests parked in the lower level of the parking lot at the Desoto Hotel found their cars covered in water. The water did not come from the river. It was all run off water that caused the damage.
The flood gates were closed to downtown and as you can see a couple of the houses entering Main street ended up with water filled garages. It was quite exiciting for about a day. The waters receeded quickly.
East Dubuque was hit the hardest. You can drive around and see the repaired roads that were washed out and railroad tracks. What a mess!
Corn Relish 28 Jul 2011, 12:56 pm
This just in...Mom is in town for a visit - Yay!Carol and Bernadine have been busy making and preserving "Corn Relish" and it is fabulous. Next they're making a strawberry pie for the weekend AND fudge!
More flooding on the Galena River. We had 14" of rain in the past 24 hours and the river has swelled further than we have seen in the 11 years we've been here. Photo ops everywhere! Pictures coming soon!
Did you know that "relish" is the French word for "salsa" which translates to "sauce". That was free!
These are some of the flowers from the Stillman Inn Gardens. Teddy Bear Sunflower and Zinnia's. They are really beautiful - come see!
815 777-0557 Dave & Berandine
Liliana Reyes Anderson 23 Jul 2011, 9:12 am
Well, she is finally here....Introducing our newest granddaughter "Liliana Rae", excuse me that would be "Princess Liliana Rae"! Born 7/14/11 at 7lbs14oz, isn't that cool!
Thank you to all of our guests who so graciously accommodated our weird schedule during this time. We may have been late for a couple of check-ins but we never missed a breakfast!
To Celebrate her arrival we made Oatmeal Cookies! Enjoy!
Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup raisins (or use butterscotch or chocolate chips instead)
1 cup black walnuts, coarsely ground or pecans
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 cups rolled oats
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Sift and add to the egg mixture above. Stir well
Grind the raisins up with 1 tsp of sugar until they are small pieces. Stir in oats, nuts, raising and mix well, drop by tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown. Cool and remove to wire rack.
When cool, store in airtight container!
White Peach Lavender Jam 12 Jul 2011, 9:30 am
We here at the Stillman Inn have mastered "White Peach Leavender Jam". We put this on everything from toast to pancakes and oatmeal. We've also discovered the huge and great Farmers Market in Dubuque on Saturday Mornings. Lots of great produce, flowers and crafts but nothing can beat the Amish made Pumpkin Bread.We also dabbled in fudge again this weekend for the guests. It was gone in no time!
White Peach Lavender Jam
2 Tbsp Dried lavender flowers or lavender extract
1/2 cup boiling water
4 cups fine chopped white peaches (8-9 medium)
2 Tbsp Lemon juice
6 cups granulated sugar
1 Pack liquid fruit pectin
- Place lavendar flowers in a small bowl. Pour boiling water over flowers and steep 20 minutes. Strain and discard flowers. OR use 1 tsp lavender extract in 1/2 cup water.
- Combine lavender water, peaches, lemon juice and sugar in very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil hard for 2 minutes. Stir in liquid pectin and boil 1 more minute. Remove from heat, skim off foam.
- Ladle into prepared jars and process for 10 minutes.
- Prepared jars means they have been boiled/sterilized. Check out a book on canning for details.
Enjoyed two great Garden Tours this weekend. Saturday was in Galena and Sunday was in Dubuque. Both were fabulous. If you have a GPS it's even more fun!!! Don't miss it next year. Sunday night we enjoyed the Drum & Bugle Corps Competition in Dubuque as well. What a busy weekend!
Two July Specials:
- Purchase a 1/2 pint of White Peach Lavender Jam and receive a complimentary hand knit cotton dish cloth
- Stay three midweek nights at regular price and receive a bottle of wine for each night you stay!
Fall is coming so make your reservations soon. This is our busiest time so if you want to stay and in a specific room you can't book too soon now! The colors are wonderful around here and the big Craft Fair is the second weekend in October. This, and all weekends in October require a three night stay. I'm tellin' you it's busy and fun!
Bernadine & Dave
It's Time For Dessert 7 Jun 2011, 2:18 pm
We have done so many new projects this Spring!Look...freshly painted benches!
We have a new "Garden Loom" guests can be creative with. Go for a walk, bring back some special finds and weave them in!
A Cloth Cabana will be going up between the Inn and Wedding Chapel! This is going to be great!
And we have three bird feeding stations on the property. Just spotted a Baltimore Oriole the other day! Lots of yellow finches too! And don't forget the cardinals.
The Square Foot Gardens are Fabulous. Well, let's say one of them is doing really well. The second one, my new baby squirrels are chewing all up. I wonder why they are choosing just that box. Anyway, they are cute as the dickens so it's okay. I just keep replanting!
The Guests enjoyed the following last week:
Homemade Strawberry Jam
Homemade Fudge
and Homemade Lavender Infused Pound Cake
Oh my...I'm so glad they ate as much as they did or I would have eaten it all up myself!
Thinking this week will be Angel Food Cake with mixed fruit topping and perhaps some individual Fritattas for breakfast....yum!
Come join us at the Fabulous, Romantic and Historic Stillman Inn located across from General Grant's home and three blocks from Main Street. The gardens are the best they've ever been, downtwon shopping is great and the Weddings here at the Galena Wedding Chapel are divine! Just had an outdoor wedding in the front courtyards. Simply beautiful.
