This has been a pretty good week at Historic Maplethorpe Inn and café.

Milestone #1: I no longer have any children.

Celebrating Adulthood!

My last reached age 19 yesterday, legal adult age in Canada. Now all my offspring are adults. Doesn’t necessarily mean that they are off the payroll, but it does mean that Mommie can’t easily bail them out when they do something stupid. I bought her a drink, which she said tasted like Kool Aid mixed with gasoline. Good so far.

Milestone #2: Maplethorpe Café recommended in “Where to Eat in Canada 2011”

Great news! You can’t buy your way into this club—it is a mystery shopper sort-of thing. It is always nice to be recognized. We’re still spending most of our free time sourcing real food, grown right here on Prince Edward Island, and cooking it up in innovative and healthful ways. We work hard to price our meals reasonably so that working folks, groups of friends and extended families can actually eat out at Maplethorpe. It is a tough way to make a living but we are still having fun trying. We’ve got some changes coming in the near future, including a new chef (!) to help me out, but that will have to wait for another post.

Miilestone #3: My spices from Steenbergs arrived!

Steenbergs is a UK seller of spices, teas and bakery ingredients, all organic and top quality. It is hard to find good organic ingredients, so I was thrilled to view their product line at www.steenbergs.co.uk The Steenbergs site provides lots of information on the product sourcing, offers interesting recipes, andhave great blog posts—a totally class act.

Problem is, they don’t ship to Canada. Last December my pal Tina was on her way to visit family in England and happily she agreed to bring a shipment back for me. My plan was defeated by the rotten weather that gripped England and the package arrived at her daughter’s house a few days after Tina returned home to PEI. Lucky for me, she and her hubby are frequent fliers and her daughter held on to my treasure trove until they could retrieve it last week. Now that I have them, I can’t wait to start cooking so exotic dishes.

So, those are my milestones for the week. The weather is still cold and wet here on the Island. I am going to bundle up tomorrow morning and go looking for fiddleheads in my secret spot.

2011 Winter in Prince Edward Island

It turned out to be  a great time to be away from Prince Edward Island and its ‘Snowmegeddon’ winter. My poor husband and daughter have been home battling the snow, day after day. Shoveling it. Blowing it. Cursing it.

I just read Mark Bittman’s rant on McDonald’s new oatmeal product.

McDonald's Oatmeal

Mark recently ranted on McDonald’s new oatmeal product, which the fast-food giant has turned into a highly-processed  nightmare of a breakfast.  More sugar than a Snickers bar, “cream” that actually contains 7 ingredients, only 2 of which are dairy. As Mark Bittman observes, McDonald’s has done everything it can to turn oatmeal into just another bad choice.

The answer is, of course, so don’t eat there.

Pick up a cheap sack or round tub sporting the happy Quaker guy at any grocery, then spend 90 seconds of your morning making breakfast at home. Period. Are we so pathetic that we can’t even feed ourselves any more? Do we really need a national discussion on this? Evidently so.

Okay, so I recently drove from Prince Edward Island, Canada to Billings, Montana. Yes, I know, it is sounds crazy, but it had to be done. Being winter, I was dodging blizzards and trying to move fast, but I had to cover over 2,800 miles—4573 km for my Canadian friends. And with a distance this great, eventually you have to spend the night someplace.

And therein the dilemma…how much to spend on a basic, no-frills, just-a-bed-and-a-shower motel?

It takes about 3 days to drive from Prince Edward Island to Montana if you are highly motivated. (Read ‘highly motivated’ as maniac road warrior.) So here’s how my trip went down.

Which way do we go? Which way do we go?

DAY 1: I left in the afternoon on a Thursday, waiting to be sure the highway in New Brunswick and further south in Maine had been cleared of snow. I drove until about 2am and stopped outside of Albany, New York. (1247km/774 miles)

Didn’t bother with a motel that first night—instead, pulled out the sleeping bag and had a nap in the car. Yes, I know, it sounds crazy, but it was already 2am and I just really needed a nap. And it was so cold that a nap is about all I got—woke up at 4:00 am freezing and warmed the car, then slept until 6:30 am when the cold woke me again. After a bathroom break in the rest area and a walk around, I was good to go for the day.

DAY 2: Drove. The nice thing about heading west in the USA is that you can get on the highway and never get off. In my case, I got on Highway 90 and stayed on it through New York, Ohio and into Indiana. Nothing noteworthy scenery-wise to report. Just drove. At 6:00 pm I decided to stop and found a Super 8 in Elkhart (1146 km/712 miles from Albany.) Indiana is still in the midst of a recession and the motel room was a major bargain–$39.95 for the night. They even mentioned free coffee and donuts in the morning, but I knew I would be gone before the doors were open. Decent, no frills room.

Driving through Wisconsin

DAY 3: Up and out of Elkhart at 6:00 am after cleaning a few inches of new snow off the car.

 Finished off Indiana, rolled through Illinois. (Why is Chicago always under construction?) I could tell when I passed into Wisconsin because of the trees and the cheese. Still on Interstate 90, but hardwood trees covered with a frosty costing lined the highway. Every town had a cheesecurd stand.

Wisconsin Cheesecurd Stand

By the time I crossed the Minnesota State line I could feel the gravitational pull of my people, maybe something like how my dog must feel when we he can smell the fresh salt air of the beach and starts jumping and scratching at the car window. Amidst the religious radio stations I found a countdown of the best songs from the winter of 1972. And you know I could sing along with every single one! Bread, Neal Sedaka, Chicago, The Temptations and the Carpenters.

It was late when I crossed the North Dakota State Line. I love the towns on the prairies, with names like Flaxville and Wheatland. Long, long trains transporting grain. I found the Public Radio Station and caught a live variety show called Dakota Air. Things were going so well that I thought about driving straight through to Billings, but it started to snow around Fargo. It was coming down heavier by the time I hit Bismark and by Dickinson I was ready to give up. North Dakota in a snowstorm is no place for a Honda Civic. (1673 km/1040 miles for the day.)

Evidently there is no recession in North Dakota.

 I drove into the Super 8 advertising the lowest price in town. It was $96 plus tax. I asked about wireless Internet and the kid behind the counter said I could steal wireless reception from a nearby business whose system was not secure. Nice. I was too tired to check my e-mail anyway. The room was cinderblock walls with a loud heater and a dripping faucet. By the time I woke up in the morning and cleaned the snow off the car, the free lobby coffee was over.

Medora, North Dakota

DAY 4: Blew past Medora, home of great outdoor musical theater with the badlands as the magnificent backdrop. Not in such a hurry now through Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana, beautiful and desolate ‘painted canyon’ country. A family of ringneck pheasants ran across the road in front of the car. Lots of coal trains, methane gas wells and pumpjacks. Turn-offs marked ‘NO SERVICE’ headed to places like ‘Bad Route Road.’ Got to Billings in mid-afternoon, 500 km /312 miles on the home stretch.

Being in the overnight accommodations business, I am always interested in the price of a good night’s sleep.

At our bed and breakfast on Prince Edward Island in the ‘low season’ a traveler can have a beautiful room with a gourmet breakfast for $80. That same room in mid-summer tops out at $120. Attentive hosts, travel assistance and a package of amenities are included with each room. We think that is a great value, but once in awhile we get a guest that feels our prices are too high. I know how they feel. On my recent trip, one night I slept in the car, one night I found a good ‘no frills’ bargain and one night I think I got ripped off, especially when I think about what we offer to travelers for less money.

Maplethorpe B&B/Cafe Today

I’ll be doing the trip in reverse soon, but this time I am going to do a bit more research on bargain sleeps and hope for better weather. The sleeping bag will be handy, just in case.

We started last week with Prom–always a big deal. There was some extra drama because the dress that was purchased many, many months ago no longer quite fit. Because it had been altered by the previous owner, there were no seam allowances available to expand the narrow spots. Our options included some kind of spa wrap guaranteed to temporarily squeeze all the liquid out of the offending body tissue or perhaps wearing a big sweater all night to hide the unzipped back zipper. Hmmm…

Mayor of Bedeque Karen McLenithan to the rescue! Her expert and swift tailoring skills saved the day and Caitlin looked beautiful. No sweater or torso shrinking necessary.

Dressed for Prom!

Last week of school for the graduating class included a Grad Breakfast at Maplethorpe for the 44 students and a dozen staff.

The weather cooperated and we were able to set up outside and host a lovely final morning for the kids and their teachers. Thanks to the many volunteer moms, the kids feasted (quickly) on pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and some awesome fresh fruit salad. Then they all sped away to graduation practice leaving us parents to tidy up the mess.

Been doing that for 18 years…why stop now?

Kinkora High Grad Breakfast 2010

Graduation was excellent!

Gym not too hot, speeches not too long, no one streaked the stage naked and all the grads were shined up and smiling. Parents were visibly relieved. Can’t really ask for more than that. Our little graduate is looking forward to a lazy summer before heading off to Halifax in September.

Got the diploma...NOW RUN!

Our herd of relatives visiting for the graduation are on the move back to the States. It was great to have so many of the people we care about visit and enjoy Prince Edward Island. We took in 2 shows in the Small Halls festival, fed everyone lobsters, fresh scallops and mussels and took everyone to the beach. Everyone went home (I hope) feeling like they really experienced Island life.

I have to go get ready to serve lunch! More to come…