Within the past few days I have had two requests for this delicious oatmeal souffle' recipe so I thought I would post it on Dave's blog.  I like to make this soufflé when we only have a few guests because, as you might guess, it can be difficult for me to get the presentation correct if Dave is busy chatting and the oatmeal soufflé is deflating on the kitchen island.  Dave entertains and serves the guests each morning, while I do the preparation for breakfast.  This is an easy recipe and would be great even if it deflates.  I think it would be wonderful served to family / friends on Christmas morning. I have served this recipe with dried cranberries / pecans or Maine blueberries or raisins / walnuts.  I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as our guests do.

Oatmeal Souffle’

1 C whole milk


2 T butter


3/4 C oatmeal uncooked


1/3 C fresh ricotta


1/4 tsp salt


1/3 C brown sugar


1/4 tsp nutmeg


1/2 tsp cinnamon


3 eggs, separated


1/2 C raisins, optional


1/2 C walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 325ºF.  Butter a 1 1/2 cup soufflé dish / casserole or 4 small soufflé ramekins (I use ramekins at Timbercliffe) and sugar the sides with granulated sugar.

Place the milk and butter in a saucepan and heat until barely boiling.  Add the oatmeal, reducing heat to low and stirring often until oatmeal is thick.  Remove from heat and add the cream cheese or ricotta (I use fresh ricotta), salt, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Whisk until mixture is smooth.  Beat 3 egg yolks slightly, temper them with a small amount of the oatmeal mixture, and slowly stir them into the oatmeal. Mix in the raisins and walnuts, if using.

Beat 3 egg whites until stiff, but still moist.  Gently fold the egg whites into the oatmeal mixture, being careful not to deflate whites.  Fold only until no large lumps of whites remain.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish(s); run your thumb-tip around the edge of the dish to create a small channel around the souffle base, which will encourage it to rise straight. Bake for 30 minutes or until the soufflé is set but the center still trembles.  Serve immediately as the soufflé will deflate.  Enjoy!

Source: Adapted from Liv Life.

Today we finished rooms and with no new guest checkins we took Caffrey to her favorite lobster pound, Muscongus Bay Lobster http://mainefreshlobster.com in Round Pound Maine about a 50 minute drive from our B&B.  She enjoys the car ride and just being on the deck with us as we enjoy lobster, mussels, corn on the cob, fish chowder and of course a bottle of our favorite wine.

Inspired breakfast recipes from Karen

Recently, I have been asked to share a few of my breakfast recipes that I serve to our guests.  So here goes and I hope you will be inspired also to enjoy summer's bounty and create your own recipe.

As many of you know at around 11:00 a.m. each day I drive my little VW Jetta up and down the Mid Coast.  Why? well I like to see what is fresh at the various stores, farm stands and one of my favorite merchants in Belfast,  Chases Daily. This past weekend I decided to go left out of Timbercliffe Drive and head to Belfast to see if by some chance I could buy some squash blossoms.  You can find squash blossoms if you are lucky but you better get to Chases/farmer's market early and yes, I was fortunate to buy a bunch.  They also had summer squash and fresh, beautiful basil.   Here's my version of a recipe that I tweaked and I hope that you will be inspired to try it and perhaps create your own version of a summer Squash Blossom Frittata.

Squash Blossom Frittata

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Butter

10 Eggs (can use a combination of whole eggs and egg whites if you desire)

3 Tablespoons Milk

¼ Cup fresh ricotta cheese

2 Tablespoons for finely chopped fresh Basil

1 Leek (or 2 Green Onions) cleaned & chopped

2 Yellow Squash, chopped

1 Tablespoon Garlic, chopped

⅓ Cup of Shredded Italian Cheese Blend

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Teaspoon Pepper

9 Squash Blossoms (cleaned and cut in half)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Chop the yellow squash into small pieces, cut it in half length-wise, and then in half again and then cut into pieces.  Chop the leek or onions, and garlic. Finely chop the basil.

Clean the leek… Be sure to peel back the layers to get the soil that’s hiding down in there.  And to prepare the squash blossoms, remove the stems and outer green spiky leaves.  Remove the stamen inside the flower.  Carefully cut each squash blossom in half length wise and arrange on a paper towel.

In a large bowl crack the eggs, add the milk, ricotta cheese and basil and whisk together.

Melt the butter in a 11 inch non-stick skillet- med heat. Sauté the leek (or onions) until translucent – just a few minutes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then add the squash and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Now add your garlic, cook until fragrant about a  minute.  Stir the ingredients every now and then to avoid sticking to the pan.

Pour the egg mixture into the pan, and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients.  Now lay your squash blossoms on top in a pretty pattern.  Just let it cook until it looks about half set, so the bottom looks like an omelet but the top is still watery.  Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes.   Let sit 5 minutes before slicing.   Enjoy!

• I had some free time the other day and took a walk in a park next to the Post Office in downtown Camden ME.  After being here eight years I had never seen this stone tablet in the park.  The last name on the stone tablet is Chauncey Keep.  Chauncey Keep owned the house that is now our Timbercliffe Cottage B&B.  One of our bed chambers, the Chauncey Keep, is named after him.  Although we have never seen it, there is supposed to be a wing in a museum in Chicago named after him.  He was a Chicago resident at one time.

By the way, for those of you who follow our Golden Retriever Caffrey she is doing fine although the current hot weather is keeping her and I from our daily walks.

Springtime in the backyard at Timbercliffe Cottage B&B   www.timbercliffecottage.com

Waiting for guest checkins I took a walk around to the backyard and snapped this photo.  Maine is just beautiful this time of year.

We had wonderful guests this weekend.  After our guests checked out we decided to take a mothers day trip to one of our favorite lobster pounds, Shaws Fish and Lobster Wharf about an hour drive from our Bed and Breakfast.  The weather, which was foggy and rainy in Camden, turned out sunny and blue sky for our lobster, lobster pie, wine and blueberry pie a la mode.  Afterwards we took Caffrey for a walk near the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.

Another day exploring the Maine Peninsulas.  Today we drove with Caffrey to Ocean Point Maine about an hour drive from Timbercliffe Cottage B&B.  A beautiful drive and a favorite of ours in the early spring.  Caffrey loves it here and had a great mile walk.  She is getting stronger now after shorter walks during the week.

Yesterday we took a day off from our B&B in Camden, Maine and drove to the closest covered bridge to us, the Robeyville covered bridge on Cushman Road in Corinth, Maine.  
The trip was about two hours and took us northwest of Bangor, Maine.

A week ago we took a ride to Port Clyde, Maine.  Not far from our  B&B in Camden, Maine.  it is a nice scenic ride down one of the many peninsulas near by.  Beautiful little villages with harbor views.  Port Clyde is one of the places to take a ferry to Monhegan Island.  A nice day trip as the ferry leaves around 10:30 and departs Monhegan at 4:30.  There are hiking trails with beautiful ocean views and great spots for a picnic.  Around the bend from Port Clyde is the Marshall Point Lighthouse and museum.  This lighthouse was featured in the Forrest Gump movie.