Preheat griddle to 375. In large bowl, combine dry ingredients; mix well. In separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add to flour mixture, stirring until just moistened (batter will be very thick).
For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Using a spatula, spread batter into a 4-inch circle before mixture sets. Cook until surface bubbles and appears dry. Turn; continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm with butter and syrup.
Yield: 16 pancakes
Easy enough to make for yourselves but we’ll be happy to do it here for you!
Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is rich in colorful history. From time to time, we will devote a blog to some of the more interesting aspects, a lot of which you can learn about first hand on a visit to Eureka. As you walk this beautiful town, you will come across historical plaques and photo placards that allow you to look at a site in person, to see how it has changed. Here is a photo of Mud St. (now known as Main St.), which is quite different from what you see today:
Verbiage that explains this photo: “Mud Street” is shown taking a rather deep grade downward. The building at right just past the City Drug Store shows its “pilings” that hold it in place. All the buildings on the right side are suspended across the Leatherwood (Creek) Branch which “Mud Street” runs parallel to. The buildings at left butt up to limestone walls that holds up Spring Street fronting the Basin Spring.
More than a dozen laborers and onlookers are in this Main Street scene.” This photo was reportedly taken between 1882 and 1884.
Today, folks find it hard to believe that there is a creek that runs the length of Main Street, under all those buildings (on the right), including the Courthouse and the Auditorium. You can go into the basement of the Auditorium and open trap doors that look down into the creek. “Mud St.” was built up a level in the late 1800′s, due to the flooding of that creek, which caused that street to be very, well… muddy! So there is a whole level of buildings down below street level, most of which are closed off to the public today (but we hope will be opened up in the future, as part of the Underground Tour). For a nice view of one of these buildings underground (and a fabulous lunch!), go eat at the Mud St. Cafe.
Remember, it’s a lovely walk from Bridgeford House Bed and Breakfast to the historical downtown, with many sights to see along the way, so come join us soon!
We send many of our guests to Eureka Van Tours, which is the best city tour in town for the money. $25 per person (adults) for a 2 1/2 hour tour, Michelle will take you to places in Eureka that you didn’t even know existed! She’ll fill you in on gossip, both current and historical, and take you to places you do know about, including Thorncrown Chapel, the haunted Crescent Hotel, St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, and Carrie Nation’s house, as well as some wonderful views of the Ozarks.
The proprietor, Michelle McDonald, also owns Celebrations and Traditions, which has a collection of historical garb that you would not believe. She dresses folks for weddings, plays, town events and our own murder mysteries!
It’s time for all chocolate lovers to unite! February is a great time to visit Eureka Springs and Saturday, February 9th, would be a great day to pick. The 9th Annual Chocolate Lovers Festival will take place at the Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Admission is $12 for adults and is well worth the price. Items for sampling (and taking home in your little box included in the price of the ticket) include cakes, cookies, ice cream, multiple dipping fountains, beverages and my personal favorite, chocolate covered strawberries! And much, much more.
There will be judging for the Best Decorated Cake, Best Dessert and Best Candy for professionals and other categories such as Best Decorated Cake and Most Creative Dessert for amateurs. There is even a Amateur Youth Division.
But…the best part of the whole thing is… yep, eating chocolate. Mounds and mounds of it. Take Tums with you.
For info on getting tickets, click here. Like them on Facebook for up-to-date info.
And, yes, technically you can walk to this one from our inn, but you may not be able to walk home. There is plenty of parking at the convention center, for free! And if you can’t make it to Eureka for that weekend but want to celebrate Valentine’s with your loved one, don’t forget we are running a 3-day special here at Bridgeford House: book the 14th, 15th, and 16th (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and receive the 3rd night free AND your own little box of local chocolates AND a free wine tasting at Keel’s Creek Winery. Either weekend is SWEET!
If you are here in Eureka looking for some great nightlife, look no further than the Voulez-Vous Lounge in the historic downtown. Directly below the New Orleans Hotel, this swanky and sexy bar provides a one-of-a-kind atmosphere, with a wide variety of musical events. It has lots of room, with some of the seating on cushy couches. There’s a huge bar with a lot of specialty cocktails and champagnes, cognacs, scotches, and wines, many that you would not find elsewhere. Their staff is always dressed up in burlesque-type clothes, so you feel like you’ve gone back to a much bawdier time.
French food – to die for! Crepes and croissants, hummus and cheese plates. What more could you ask for: good food, good drinks and good music, which all add up to a wonderful time! Check out the video below of their first night open – if you look hard enough, you can see a couple of clips of us in there! And, yep, easy to walk to from our place.
Instead of a breakfast recipe, how about a great dinner dish this time? Enjoy!
3 cups chopped or shredded chicken*
1 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup crumbled Feta Cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp white pepper
8 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2 cups Spaghetti sauce (I make my own but you can use store-bought)
In medium bowl, combine chicken, cheese, milk and pepper. Spread 1/2 cup mixture on each lasagna noodle; roll jelly-roll fashion. In a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce. Arrange lasagna rolls, seam-side down in sauce in baking dish. Top with remaining sauce. Cover and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until hot.
*Shredded chicken ahead of time:
Put 3-4 chicken breasts in crock pot with 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and a 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Cook on low at least 3-4 hours, until tender and falling apart. Fork apart – can divide into freezer bags and keep for future use.
Many of you know that we have great shopping in downtown Eureka Springs. It’s a rare person that doesn’t buy something when they visit our beautiful downtown historic area. But one of our favorite stores is Gourmet Eureka which has such a variety of kitchen items that you’ll spend hours in there. They have an assortment of coffees, teas and jams and jellies.
They’ve got marinades, sauces and dips and wonderful regional cookbooks. They’ve got spices, sauces, soups and dip mixes. They even have gourmet items for dogs! Sophie loves their stuff – and often guests will buy treats for her and bring them back to the B&B. Once she’s gotten a taste, she always wants us to take her shopping down there.
If you can’t make it to Eureka, you can also shop online. But, of course, you know it’s much more fun to come, stay and play while you’re here. We are within walking distance of Gourmet Eureka, so if you do end up buying any of their candies and cookies, you’ll walk the calories off!
Well, it’s finally starting to wind down, the hustle and bustle, the concerts and car weekends, Bikes, Blues and BBQ – you name it, Eureka Springs has it. But there’s a special season not many folks know about – the “secret season”. That’s the one where there aren’t tons of people here and lots of noise from the many visitors. It’s the one where you can just enjoy some down time, reading a book, working a jigsaw puzzle, playing games with your best friend, watching a movie while chowing down on some popcorn, but you get somebody else to cook for you and clean up after you – it’s the off season! Eureka is still very much open in the off-season, which is mid-December through mid-March. There are a few restaurants that do close for an extended period, but those are few. We have so many restaurants here for a town of 2200 that there is always somewhere good to eat. Shops are open and the town is still one of the loveliest to walk around in. Our winter’s are mild, so the chance of getting stuck here due to snow is unlikely (and ice even less likely!) so there’s no excuse -
we’re offering a great winter discount this year! Book one night with us Sunday through Thursday and you get one night free! If you want to come over the weekend, book one night and you can get the second night for 50% off! That does include all our amenities and our usual full-size breakfast and afternoon treats, so there’s really no reason to look elsewhere, we’ve got it all! (Not good for New Year’s or Valentine’s – see those specials below!)
Yes, we do have special deals for New Year’s and Valentine’s this year, since they both fall mid-week. For New Year’s, stay three nights, including New Year’s Eve, and receive one of those three nights for free! Plus we are providing a complimentary bottle of champagne in each room on New Year’s to ring in 2013.
For Valentine’s Day, stay 3 nights (2/14, 2/15 & 2/16) and receive the 3rd night free! A complimentary box of locally-made chocolates will be waiting for you in your room as well.
So come join us – soak in a Jacuzzi, have a picnic in front of the fire with your loved one or just nap – all the things you wish you had time for during the summer months but never seem to happen you can make time for now, you just have to get away from all those obligations. Come stay at the Bridgeford House and enjoy some peace.
You can’t find a better MardiGras celebration north of New Orleans than what we produce right here in Eureka Springs! Organized by tried and true New Orleans transplants, EurekaGras is the real thing, with an activity-packed schedule, from January 5th to February 12th, 2013.
This is truly a New Orleans style Mardi Gras setting in the beautiful Ozarks within the Downtown area of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This event, in its seventh year, has grown phenomenally and is now deep rooted in the Victorian Town with up and down curly-Q streets. The Krewe of Krazo, OZARK spelled backwards, welcomes visitors and locals -” Laissez les bon temps Rouler”, Let the Good Times Roll!
If you like to party, love to watch people, and just generally love to have a good time, plan a visit to Eureka Springs during one of these MardiGras events. You can walk to almost everything from our place!
Okay, it’s definitely sneaking up on us, so you know you’re going to have to start buying your Christmas presents soon, for all your loved ones. Why not make it easy on yourself and buy something you know they will love and will remember fondly for a very long time? Buy them a gift certificate to the Bridgeford House! We have them available in just about every denomination, so it’s an easy fit for any budget.
Just give us a call – or buy them online, but do it soon, so that’s one more thing that’s crossed off your list!
