20 Things Needed by an Innkeeper or Inn Sitter?

Individuals interested in our Aspiring Innkeeper or Interim Innkeeper (Inn Sitter) classes want to consider changing careers and becoming innkeepers who either own or take care of bed and breakfasts.  However, they sometimes will ask us if they have the "right stuff" to make that change. Here are some necessary character traits and abilities we feel are important for them to consider:


1.   Patience - lots of patience.
2.   Be willing to always have a smile on your face.
3.   Be flexible in reacting to people and situations.
4.   A sense of humor! You have to be able to laugh at yourself and at the circumstances no matter what may have happened.
5.   Generosity - you must share your space with strangers.
6.   Empathy - ability to listen to others.
7.   Ability to say no when necessary.
8.   Organizational skills.
9.   Be computer proficient.
10. Be able to follow through on projects you start.
11. Like to talk on the telephone.
12. A desire to work long hours - be up early and go to bed late.
13. Be able to cook and serve breakfast to people who may have a variety of dietary needs.
14. Desire to make sure that everything in the B&B is perfect and ready for guests when they arrive.
15. Enjoy being a concierge and tell the same stories or give directions over and over as well as share your knowledge of the surrounding area.
16. Be willing to clean rooms with a high standard of cleanliness and the ability to be meticulous on demand.
17. Ability to carve out a niche that is unique for you.
18. Ability to self-promote - You know best what works for your bed and breakfast or for you.
19. Willingness to not have a lot of private time or to have your private time interrupted by guests.
20. Be willing to sleep in quarters that aren't anything similar to what the guests will sleep in.

If the individuals have these abilities and traits, they most likely have the "Right Stuff" to succeed as Innkeepers or Inn Sitters (also called Interim Innkeepers).
 
Lynda and Howard Lerner
Inn Caring
www.inncaring.com

Chocolate Lovers Delight in Oregon

I am a confirmed chocolateholic.   When I realized that there were two chocolate factories close to the bed and breakfast we are innsitting at, I was thrilled.   I managed to find some time to visit both places.

Dagoba Chocolate is located in Ashland, OR, just a hop skip and a jump from the Country Willows Inn.   I enjoyed the variety of flavors, especially the Lavender Blueberry Chocolate Squares.    Of course, I also managed to purchase some Chocolate Hand Cream.   It is a perfect way to satisfy my craving for chocolate.  Just smell my hands and my taste buds are happy. 

The other Chocolate factory is LillieBelle Farms.  They are located in Central Point, OR, about twenty minutes or so from the bed and breakfast in Ashland.   You can stand behind the glass windows and watch their Chocolatiers make the different types of chocolates.  This is truly an art form.
 
My favorite was their Chocolate Lavender Caramels - Lavender infused caramels topped with Fleur du Sel salt. What a combination of tastes.  My other favorite was their handmade Smokey Blue Cheese Ganche.  This was made using the Blue Cheese from the Rogue Creamery just two doors away.   The Rogue Creamery also has windows where you can watch the cheese makers at work. 

For you wine enthusiasts, between these two stores is the Daisy Creek and Madrone Mountain Wineries tasting room.  What a perfect combination.  Cheese, Wine, and Chocolate.  Who could ask for anything more. 

Lynda and Howard Lerner
Inn Caring
www.inncaring.com

B and B's offer free stay for military for Veterans Day

It's not too late to join more than 400 other bed and breakfast innkeepers in the U.S. and Canada to offer free rooms on Nov. 10 to active and retired military and their families.

As innkeepers, we know the importance of rest and renewal. Participating in this program is one way to help give back to those that are or were there for us when our country needed them.

The date is one day before Veteran’s Day and the movement was sparked by one innkeeper in West Virginia. A valid military or Veterans Administration ID is required for each reservation.  To sign up, or for a complete list of participants go to http://www.bnbsforvets.org/ 
 
Lynda and Howard Lerner
Inn Caring
http://www.inncaring.com/  

Supermarket time savers for Innkeepers or anyone else who shops.

Innkeepers are always looking for ways to save time.  Grocery shopping is one of those necessary tasks that need to be accomplished at least once a week if not more often.  I came across this article on some time savers ideas  http://bit.ly/ce9478

I really like the how to load the car hint.  At the bed and breakfast we currently are working at, we have a cold storage room that is about 25 yards away from where we normally park close to the back door of the B and B.  We usually will drive our car up to the storage room door and unload the items which go in there first.   Now if I can just get Howard to load the car so that all the items that go in the storage room are at the back of the car so they can be taken out first. 

Of course, we will also need to re-educate the baggers at Costco who put our items into boxes.  While you can carefully separate your items into groups, it seems that they will fill the boxes in a random order to get the most in each box. 

As for keeping an inventory list, we keep a pre-printed market list of everything we normally use in the B&B posted on the refrigerator.  Our housekeepers are pretty good about highlighting the items on the list when they break into the last of the back stock.   Same goes for those working in the kitchen.  Finally, we take the time to review what we have on hand before we leave for the store.  

We always take our cell phone with us when we are shopping.  It helps if the shopper sees some item on special that wasn't marked and wants to check and see just how much back stock is left of that item.  Or, if someone at the B&B remembers, at the last minute, that they forgot to put an item on the list. 

The only hint that I take exception with is the timing of the shopping.  Being in the Bed and Breakfast business an innkeeper is occupied with putting breakfast on the table in the early mornings.  Late in the evenings, I don't know about other innkeepers, but all I want to do is put my feet up and relax.  Shopping isn't on the agenda. 

Lynda and Howard Lerner
Inn Caring
www.inncaring.com

Poached Egg Pods - Innkeepers Friend

We came across this new product called Poach Pods at the bed and breakfast we currently are working at.  They may have been out for some time, but they are new to us.  They are a modern silicon egg cooking tool which you can use to cook poached eggs.  They actually float in about an inch and a half of water. 

All you do is bring your water to a boil in a sauce pan, crack your egg into a pod which has been sprayed with an aerosol pan coating and gently lower the pod into the boiling water which you have reduced to a simmer.  You cover and cook for 4 minutes.  Remove the pod with a slotted spoon and the eggs pop right out of the little cups onto the serving plate.

No more messy white floating in the water and uneven looking poached eggs.

They were a snap to make, easy clean up, and they looked great. 

We have added these little gems to our traveling cooking box which we take to all of our interim innkeeping assignments.  You can find them at most kitchen stores. 

Lynda and Howard Lerner Inn Caring www.inncaring.com

Vegetarian things you never knew

We have had some interesting guests these past few months many of which are vegetarian or variations thereof.  Here are some of the things that we learned about these guests and their food choices..

Flexitarian's avoid but occasionally eat meat. 

Pollotarians eat chicken and other poultry, but not mammalian meat, fish or seafood.

Pescetarians eat fish and seafood, but not mammalian meat or poultry.

Then there is the woman who is a vegetarian when she comes with her husband, but isn't a vegetarian when she comes with her girlfriend.  -  I'm not sure which category she would fall in.

Howard is a cross between a carnivarian, a pollatarian, and a pescetarian depending on how the mood strikes him. 

Lynda and Howard Lerner Inn Caring www.inncaring.com

Gentle Summer Breezes in Ashland, Oregon

I never understood the words gentle summer evening until we came to Ashland, Oregon.  We are currently sitting out on the lawn of the B and B we are consulting to, listening to the owner play his guitar and singing to our guests.  We are all enjoying a glass of wine and some cheese, crackers and fruit.  The guests heads are bobbing and their feet are tapping keeping time to the music.


There is a gentle summer breeze as we sit under the shade of a giant weeping willow tree.  The geese are even cooperating tonight and are not making noise.  Their pond is behind where we are sitting.  We are on an old fashion guider chair, looking up at the mountains that surround the city.  Since we are at the top of a hill, we overlook some of the city.  Being on five acres, we are very much in a country atmosphere.  The butterflies and hummingbirds abound.

We are very much enjoying  our time here in Ashland.  We have hit the half way point of our consulting/innkeeping assignment at the Country Willows Bed and Breakfast Inn.  This is the longest that we have ever been away from our home base of Manitou Springs, CO.  Things are progressing nicely.  We have installed the new reservation system.  Thank heavens for RezOvation GT.  It has really made things easier.  Of course, having a new computer and then its replacement both have blue screens of death did challenge  us and the owner's son (who is an comp sci person).  We have gotten that resolved but thank heavens for back up manual books and hard copies of paperwork as we were without computer access for a day and a half.

One of the more unusual things for this B and B is the number of repeat returning guests which they have.  This is mostly due to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival her in Ashland.  We actually have had guests who have been coming to the B and B for over 20 years through all 4 sets of owners. 

Many of the guests book for the following year right before they leave.  We have some weekends where we already are fully booked a year in advance.  Some of the guests come year after year the same week each year and have become friends with others who also come at the same time.   It is fun to see them greet each other when they return and see familiar faces.


Lynda and Howard Lerner Inn Caring www.inncaring.com

We are alive and well in Ashland, OR

It seems like it has been forever since we last blogged.  Our intentions were to blog right from the beginning of our new assignment.  Things just didn't work out that way.

So, to all of you who have been waiting for a new post, We'll try to catch you up as best as we can. 

We have been in Ashland, OR for two months now at the Country Willows Inn Bed and Breakfast    Kara and Dan are new owners and have taken to innkeeping like a duck takes to water.   We are acting as consultants and innkeepers for them during this very busy summer season.  This is a 9 room B&B on 5 acres.   There is a pool, spa, geese, goats, lots of lawn and grounds, including a grape arbor, and a huge herb and flower garden.   Every morning Lynda goes outside and chooses the herbs and flowers that Howard then adds as garnish for the fruit and entree plates. 

Lynda has always loved to garden and is definitely getting her share of experiences.   So far she has helped harvest and then pit cherries, and harvest, strip, and bundle lavender.  Did you know that it takes about 2 hours to get 2 cups of lavender blossoms.   Lynda has planted tomatoes and Howard is patiently waiting for them to get ripe so he can use them in our dishes.

Of course with all the fresh food around, Howard has come up with some new sauce recipes - we now have Sauce D (Mint Sauce)  & E (Lavender Sauce) to add to our other sauces A (Port Wine) , B (Sour Cream Coffee Liquor) , & C (Orange Ginger).   Send us an e-mail if you would like one of the recipes

Lynda and Howard Lerner Inn Caring www.inncaring.com

Password Protection Hints

I don't know about you, but there are so many places where I have to enter a password on a website. My mind goes crazy trying to remember them all. Here are some tips which I received in a Max Secure Software Team newsletter which I had signed up for at  http://www.maxpcsecure.com/

1.  Create random passwords.  A password should not be all letters, or all numbers.   The password should be a random mix of letters, numbers and even characters; anything on the keyboard is fair game.   Sometimes it is difficult to remember random passwords, so try to use a sentence you can remember. For example, I Like To Spend My Weekend Shopping and use first letter of each word and replace S with $ sign. So your password will be ILT$MW$

2.  Keep your password secret.   Since your password allows access to extremely valuable data, guard it carefully. Don’t share it with others or enter it in front of those you can’t trust. Don’t write your password down and carry it around in your purse or wallet.

3.  Don’t store it on your computer in an unencrypted file. Beware of sharing passwords over email, instant messenger, or the phone.

4. Change your password frequently, at least once in every 3 months.  Frequent password change can also reduce the risk caused by accidental exposure of a password.

Lynda and Howard Lerner
Inn Caring
www.inncaring.com

The Innkeeper's Kitchen Helpers

Many an innkeeper or inn sitter working in a bed and breakfast kitchen has looked at a piece of equipment and thought "what else can I use this for?". Here are some of my favorite items and their alternate use

Rolling Pin - Place food items in a heavy-duty self-sealing plastic bag and then use the pin to do one of the following:
- Flatten skinless chicken breast halves to a uniform thickness for even cooking
- Grind nuts without using a food processor to use in dips or for crumb toppings
- Crush spices for the freshest flavor to add to your dishes.

Pastry Blender: works best with soft foods.
- Egg or Tuna - use it to slice up eggs and flake tuna more quickly for use in salads or sandwiches.
- Avacados for Guacamole - the avocados are soft enough to mash with the pastry blender. It will add body and chunks to the dip.
- Mashed Potatoes - use to break up cooked potatoes. Then you can add some butter and warm milk for a smooth creamy side dish.

Paper Towel Roll - flatten this tube when all the paper towels have been used up and insert a knife that won't fit in a butcher block. It sheathes the blade safely when stashed in a drawer.

Bamboo Steamer - since these items have holes in them to let air in and out, they are also well suited to storing onions, garlic, and shallots. All these items require ventilation and should not be refrigerated. Set on the counter for quick access.

Seam ripper - while not usually found in the kitchen, this handy sewing item makes fast work of removing plastic packaging from around bottles.  Slip the sharp pointed edge under the wrapping to break the seal.

Chopstick - use a chopstick to measure the height of liquid in a pan when you are reducing it.

And, last but not least, use large coffee filters between two sauce pans or frying pans to keep them from scratching each other.

Lynda and Howard Lerner
Inn Caring
www.inncaring.com