Red Wing Area B&B Treats

[I originally wrote this articled in 2006. I am only changing the date to make it coincide with this years Tour.]


It’s time for the annual tour of the bed and breakfasts of Red Wing. This year our tour will be Sunday, December 5, from 1-5 pm and the inns are all getting ready for the big day. We open our houses once a year for the public to tour and give the proceeds to the Goodhue County Habitat for Humanity. The inns outdo themselves to deck the halls and since hospitality is our business, we open our doors to everyone.

Food? Of course. Since our guests on this day number in the hundreds, and it is Christmastime, most of us serve cookies, a treat manageable in large numbers.

Since we aren’t able to take the tour, I’ve always missed out on the cookies served by the other inns—so decided to see if they would share their recipes and give me a peek at their decorations. I set out on a dreary and rainy afternoon (in November?) and was welcomed warmly, as I expected. Here are the recipes, along with a little pre-tour information for your pleasure:

We started the farthest away at the Round Barn Farm Bed and Breakfast and Bread. It is 4 miles south on Hwy 61. Robin and Elaine Kleffman own and operate this 1800’s replica farmhouse on the site of an original round barn. Elaine greeted us and we stepped into the inviting inn. Elaine has been busy for the month of November baking cookies of every description—I was in awe. Not only do they taste delicious—but they are beautiful. The whole main floor is beautifully decorated, but we settled in the large dining room where an open-hearth stone fireplace presides. The long dining table held some giant-sized nutcrackers and at one end stood a magnificent tree. When it was time to leave, the rain had picked up to a downpour. Elaine graciously assisted us with umbrellas to our car—a true innkeeper.

Next stop, The Golden Lantern Inn on East Avenue. From the parking area to the front door the path was Christmassy. Our hosts, Pat and Gary McKenna ushered us into their beautiful 1930’s Tudor-style home. The living room of this Sweazy mansion is large and comfortable-looking any time of year but the room was transformed for the season. The beautiful tree dominates the window expanse and is all done up in tiny white lights and white and gold decorations. Preparations for a wedding to take place there soon made the fireplace and mantel area extra special. Our host was kind enough to give us the (up-to-now) secret recipe for his famous chocolate chip cookies which are served year round but so popular that they are on the menu for tour night as well.  [Sioux Christensen is the new owner]

Many of you are familiar with the purple-trimmed stone foursquare on Fourth Street—The Moondance Inn. Both the exterior of this inn and the name are apropos of what awaits you inside. My impression has always been of eclectic, somewhat avant-garde styling with jewel colors and rich, heavy fabrics such as brocade and velvet, with an almost whimsical touch here and there that denotes the individuality of the owners, Chris Brown-Mahoney and Mike Waulk. Their Christmas decorating is in the same style. Every year they get a live tree to fit into one of the window niches in the front room. It is enormous and this year’s is really the best yet, I think. Their wood-burning fireplace was waiting anxiously for Santa and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Chris was running out to her “other job” so Mike showed us around. He dutifully remembered to give us the recipe that Chris left for us—and as she is really a renowned cook, I am anxious to try it.

Home again! Coming in the door, I looked with new eyes at our inn’s decorating. I am often somewhat critical after visiting the beautiful inns in Red Wing, but this time I am quite satisfied. Our house lends itself well to Christmas, both because of the Victorian feel of the furnishings and interior and the colors—predominantly red and green. The Eastlake parlor set is upholstered in red velvet and the carpets throughout the main floor are red. Decorating for Christmas was lavish in Victorian days, so that the fussiness that is typical and feels like “too much” much of the time can be indulged once a year. I have a great system for decorating. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, all our young staff and any brothers, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, or strays they want to bring in come to decorate. The men bring the boxes down from our attic and the ladies begin to decorate. Me? I am in the kitchen making my famous white pizza as fast as I can to hand out for all the helpers. By three o’clock the deed is done—magnificently—I might add. So, just to be different, I am contributing the pizza recipe!

Elaine Kleffman’s Christmas Poinsettia Almond Cookies

Two and three-fourths cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. soda
1 cup butter
1 slightly beaten egg
1 tsp. almond extract

Combine flour, soda, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal (I do this quickly in the Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment). Add egg and almond extract. Mix with paddle attachment until smooth.

Measure 1 Tbsp. of dough per cookie. Hand-shape into a round ball. Place round balls of dough on cookie sheet; flatten slightly. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool. Decorate. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies

Decorator Frosting

1 egg white
1 and One-fourth cups confectioner’s sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Beat egg whites until they hold a soft peak. Add sugar gradually and beat until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add syrup and beat one minute.

Spread a thin layer of frosting on a cookie. Take 5 perfect almond slices and press them on top in a circular flower pattern. Decors may be added in the middle of your “flower” to give it a center. I used yellow sprinkles and small red ball decors to give it a poinsettia-like look. Allow frosting to harden before storing cookies.

Golden Lantern Inn Chocolate Chip Cookies

The trick to this recipe is the technique. If you don’t use a heavy-duty mixer (to cream the butter, sugar and eggs, as directed) and don’t let the cookie dough rest in the refrigerator overnight, these are just regular chocolate chip cookies.

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
Three-fourths cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ cups flour
1 and one-fourth tsp. baking soda
3 cups chocolate chips (18 oz)

Measure all ingredients. Let butter warm to room temperature. Sift the dry ingredients together a few times.
Beat butter in mixing bowl of a heavy-duty mixer at medium speed until it is lighter and clings to bowl (30-45 seconds). Keeping beater at medium speed, add both sugars in a steady stream. Continue to cream butter and sugars for 4-5 minutes, scraping down bowl twice. Whisk eggs with vanilla in small bowl and add to butter and sugar mixture, keeping beater on medium speed. Be careful to pour in the eggs very slowly. It should take 3-4 minutes to add the eggs. The mixture then appears fluffy, looking like whipped cream cheese. Put beater on slowest speed and add dry ingredients. As soon as the dry ingredients are incorporated, add chocolate chips. Leave beater on lowest speed for a few seconds to mix it all together

Make into golf ball-sized balls and place on cookie sheet right next to each other. Put in fridge overnight or for at least 6 hours, covered. Remove and let warm to room temperature (30 min.) Put cookie balls on clean baking sheet to bake. Flatten a little to resemble a hockey puck, about three-fourths inch high. Make edges go straight up and down. Make a slight depression in center with finger. Bake at 400 degrees, 8-10 minutes. Edges should be golden brown but center 1-inch pale. Let sit at room temperature 5 minutes before taking off baking pan.

Moondance Yummies
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten egg and vanilla. Press into cookie sheet with sides (jelly roll pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Melt 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spread on top of dough. Cut while warm.

Candlelight Inn White Pizza

1 loaf Rhodes brand (no substitutes, except homemade) frozen white bread dough
1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
1 large garlic clove
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 ounce finely grated Pecorino-Romano cheese (can substitute freshly grated Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thaw bread dough and let partially rise. Roll out on a 12” pizza stone or pizza pan (stone is preferable), making a slightly raised edge. Pour oil on dough, spread evenly with a brush. Press garlic clove through garlic press onto pizza; spread with brush. Spread mozzarella onto pizza evenly, leaving edges bare. Grate Pecorino cheese over all. Put into oven for 15 minutes.

The Pratt Taber Inn was not open in 2006 but is open this year.  We’re looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!