This gallery contains 1 photo.
Although we host several weddings a year, we rarely work with couples relative to their wedding resistry. But here’s a tip: consider registering at independent retailers for your wedding registry. Many small businesses offer this service and it’s a lovely … Continue reading
Here’s a picture of one of my Jack-O-Lanterns from last year. I also make quite a few
pies for Thanksgiving, but why stop there? How about a nice warm pumpkin soup for a cold autumn night? One of the inn’s guests favorites is my Mapled Harvest Bisque. Now, I usually make it with butternut squash, but why not use a pie pumpkin instead? Here’s a simple soup recipe that will warm you belly as well as your soul as the frost starts to creep in and the days get shorter.
HARVEST BISQUE
2 Each Acorn Squash
2 Each Pumpkin
1 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Med Onion, diced
2 Cups Half and Half
2 Cups Chicken Stock
Butter (for sauté)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Peel, seed and dice squash. Sauté onion in butter in a heavy stock pot until translucent. Add squash, reduce heat and cover. Let squash cook until tender.
Puree onion and pumpkin until smooth. Return to the stock pot and add syrup, cream and stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Serves 10.
Rather someone else make it? Call ahead at the inn and see if we can make it for you the night of your reservation. Remember….one of the best things to make for dinner is reservations!
Eat well,
Kevin
Photo: Chef Kevin
This gallery contains 1 photo.
Last week, at check out, one of our guests told me about the last time he and his wife had stayed at the inn. This is amazing: Zafir’s Ghost Sighting Winter 1991 3rd floor. Room 33 next to room 31. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 1 photo.
Autumn brings magical changes to the Echo Lake Inn and fills the senses with romance and warmth. The fiery colors of Fall have now surrounded the grounds of the Inn and these changes also signify changes within the Inn itself. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 2 photos.
Paul and Meghan, our bride & groom this past weekend enjoyed amazing weather during their wedding weekend. We’ve been lucky as we’ve had wonderful weather this summer so guests have been able to take full advantage of our pool and Echo Lake. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
In my last blog, I promised you some information on how the Vermont Fresh Network works. Since we are a member, and have been for some time, I want you to know why I think it’s important to Echo Lake … Continue reading
The Echo Lake Inn is a historic Inn and, as a result, many guests (young and old) often ask if there are any spirits in the Inn. Rumors swirl and many a tall tale has been told regarding these mysterious and elusive beings.
This, however, is the one true story of a ghost at the Inn as related to me by 5 different sets of people stretching over a period of 22 years. In the coming weeks I will give you the full and factual story as relayed to me concerning this ghost at the Echo Lake Inn.
My first awareness of this presence was on a Saturday night in January of 1998. There were four young people having dinner at table 8 and, as I normally do, I went over to their table and asked them if they were enjoying their dinner. They said they were having a wonderful dinner and it reminded them of the days when, they were children years ago, their dad owned the inn. It was fun to hear their stories, however, one story was different.
They told me that one day, years earlier, their grandmother came rushing down the stairs from the 3 floor yelling about a ghost, a spirit, a something that had knocked her off her ladder. She had been in a room on the 3rd floor replacing the wall paper with a rich dark blue wall paper when she was knock off her ladder by something. She thought “well, maybe I just lost my balance”. A few moments later the same thing happened and now she was a little nervous. When this happened a third time she ran out of the room very scared and headed down the stairs yelling “there’s a ghost in room 31 and it knocked me off my ladder”.
The kids were laughing as they told me this. One of them chimed in “She’s so old, no wonder she fell off the ladder”, another said “she’d probably been drinking” and they all laughed. Given their age at the time of this story, their grandmother was probably only in her early fifties; far too young to be falling off a ladder!
Their father finished the wall paper job. Grandma never went back into that room!
When I first saw this room there was a beautiful little yellow chair in the corner. I always wondered why there would be a yellow chair in a dark blue room? Anyway, that’s part of next month’s story.
Until then ~
Laurence
Photo: Beltrami Studios
This gallery contains 1 photo.
We frequently receive thank-you notes from guests. Here’s one we received last week: Have a great week! ~ Laurence
The other day the kitchen phone rang and on the other end was a gentleman wanting to interview me for his new book, Best Chefs in America; The Ultimate Chef’s Guide to Chefs. I said sure and proceeded to answer more questions in one call than I can ever remember.
He wanted to know who influenced me most, where do I like to eat, what’s my favorite food…etc. But the question that resonated most with me was “What is your style of cooking?” I had to think for a moment….what IS my style called? The best I could come up with was “Fresh, flavorful food with classic influences utilizing as many local ingredients as possible”. I know, I know…everyone says they use local ingredients…but I don’t use an ingredient just because it’s local; it has to be because it is the best quality for the dish. If I want great seafood, chances are it’s not from Vermont (sorry Vermont). We are a member of the Vermont Fresh Network, but I’ll explain how that works in another post.
Let’s just say we have great relationships with many local farmers and local distributors that make putting together a menu, to match my style, a lot easier. Here’s an example: I buy a great porterhouse veal chop from Jersey Girl Farm in Chester, VT where it is raised naturally and humanely. I then grill that to order on our char grill. Do a pan sauce with some mushrooms from Black River Produce that I sautée in clarified VT Cabot butter, flame it with Marsala, finish with cream from Thomas Dairy and demiglace that I made earlier with Jersey Girl veal bones. Season to taste and undersauce this chop. Voila! A local spin on a classic veal Marsala.
~ Chef Kevin
This gallery contains 2 photos.
Every summer for the past 15 years, the Moorzitz family has come to the Inn for their 3 generations family reunion. Their days are filled lounging at the poolside and taking in a different local attraction each day. In the … Continue reading
EchoLakeInn - Ludlow Vermont 