Umbrellas block the scorching sun as the vendors prepare to sell their goods.

I’d like to introduce myself.  My name is Emily, and I am Ian and Yvonne’s assistant.  I am their “do whatever needs to be done” person.  I’ve been at The White Oak Inn for 3 1/2 years and have loved every minute of it. I thoroughly enjoy my job, whether it’s helping out in the kitchen, walking the Inn mascot, Dougal, conversing with the guests, or working on the computer in the Bat Cave (H.Q. in the basement).

During the summer time in and around Amish county, it seems as though a person is never far away from a farmers market. There are farm markets, which are essentially roadside produce stands, and then there are farmers markets, which are on public property and feature a variety of vendors and products. In a nearby village called Fredericktown, the farmers market is held every Thursday from 3-6, starting at the end of May and running until the middle of October.

The Fredericktown village square, with it’s community-built gazebo, antique cannon, and surrounding historic downtown, is the perfect stage for the weekly performance that is as American as apple pie, baseball, and hot dogs. On average in Fredericktown, there are 6-10 vendors who set up and proceed to sell their best goods.  This weeks’ offerings were tantalizing to any palate. There were fresh red skinned potatoes, naturally grown blueberries, baby beets, fresh baked breads, fruit pies, cakes, and cookies.

Kate and Christopher try to beat the heat at the Farmers Market

I have to boast a tad. Our daughter is the baker behind Katy’s Kakes. She’s an 11 year old girl with her eye on the prize. She has been baking with me (Emily) since she was 6. When she turned 8, she asked if she could make something on her own. We found a recipe for an Oatmeal Cake that has become her trademark cake. It’s a very moist cake that is the right blend of spice and sweet. When she tops it with her coconut pecan topping, it’s out of this world. Yes, it’s all from scratch. And yes, she’s got the recipe memorized!

She’s not the only entrepreneur in our family. Our son, Christopher, is a 10 year old boy who is slightly more cautious, but driven to do things his way, just the same. He created a stand out recipe for lemonade that is earning him rave reviews from his customers. With a little more confidence, he’ll be hard to beat!

The heartland of America is a wonderful place to get reconnected with the old-fashioned values and traditions of the past. A farmers market brings it all full circle from past to present.  Fresh produce, fresh fruit, homemade baked goods, neighborly conversation, and a knowledge that your food didn’t travel more than 15 miles to get into your hands is a great way to spend an afternoon. When you visit The White Oak Inn, check out our local farmers markets and farm stands. The difference in taste and quality will have you coming back for more!

The sign says it all!

No matter what day of the week you stay at The White Oak Inn, chances are there is a Farmers Market being held.  We’d love to point you in the right direction to help you get back in touch with a time-honored tradition.

The lovely reception area at Soothing Touch Massage

As many of our guests have experienced, we offer in-room massage services at The White Oak Inn.   These services have been provided by the excellent and professsional ladies from Soothing Touch Massage in Mount Vernon, Ohio.    Recently the business was purchased by one of its long-time employees, our very dear friend Kim Dean.    Kim has been coming to the inn to provide massages for our guests for a number of years.    She has relocated the business to a larger facility to allow more services and additional therapists.    All of Kim’s massage therapists are licenced and insured. 

Although most of our guests prefer to enjoy a massage in the comfort and privacy of their own room at The White Oak Inn, some of them enjoy it so much they decide to continue enjoying the services of Soothing Touch when they aren’t staying at the inn.    Ian and I recently went for a visit to see the new office.    Kim and her talented husband Greg have renovated and decorated the Victorian style building to reflect a calm and tranquil atmosphere, and provide comfort and privacy for their clients.   Soft music plays in the background.   Small water fountains trickle gently.   Live plants and flowers abound.     An eclectic collection of art graces the walls.     It’s soothing, comfortable and relaxing – exactly what the whole massage experience should be.

In addition to standard massage, Soothing Touch will be offering hot stone massages and body wraps.    A small gift area sells massage oils, lotions and essential oils.   Gift certificates are available.

For those guests who book a massage at the inn, the therapist will arrive shortly before your appointment time and set up her table in your room.    She’ll start soft music, perhaps light a scented candle.   The tables are heated in the winter time.     You will undress to the degree of your own comfort and slide under the sheet on the table.     And then the bliss begins….

We love to see the faces of our guests after a session with Kim or one of the other therapists.   The best description would be that they ooze into the room.    Totally relaxed.   All stress gone.     Guests who have never experienced a professional massage before will rave about the experience.

I think I’ve just talked myself into booking a massage with Kim right now!

Your table awaits!

Even though it’s technically still spring, Memorial Day weekend just seems to be the launch of summer.    And what better way to celebrate than with ice cream?     Velvet Ice Cream in Utica (just 30 minutes away from the inn) has a great ice cream festival on the long weekend every year.   It features fun activities for all ages, with entertainment on the stages, a motorcycle show, music, magic, and what else but ICE CREAM.     Admission is free.   For more information and to see a schedule of events go to the festival website.

Guests enjoying the ice cream festival at Velvet Ice Cream

Velvet Ice Cream is open May to October, with an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, a viewing window to the factory where you can watch them make ice cream, and a milling and ice cream museum on the premises.   

There are lots of other fun activities to enjoy near to the inn on the long weekend and we still have a few rooms open,  so give us a call if you’d like to make a mini-vacation out of your trip.   740-599-6107

And if your path takes you to the ice cream festival this weekend, be sure to enjoy a Raspberry Fudge Cordial cone for me!

After a snowy February, March has been lovely here in Knox County.   Our brave little snowdrops were the first to poke their heads above ground, followed quickly by purple and white crocuses.   The first daffodils have just opened up, and we should have quite a show right in time for Easter.

Wedding fever struck early this year.    We had three elopements and one vow renewal at the inn  in March, and for each one the day was bright, sunny and warm, so the couples were able to use the gazebo for their ceremonies.

Our rhubarb is already a few inches high, our chives are greening up and tiny little lemon balm and mint leaves are bravely poking up in the herb garden.  We can’t wait to start planting the rest of the more tender culinary herbs.   I’m dreaming of salads with fresh basil….mmmm.

Elopement at The White Oak Inn

I know I haven’t posted in a while.   I feel like I just hibernated for the last couple of months.   But don’t worry, I’ve been a busy little bee while I’ve been in hiding.   I’ve been experimenting with some new breakfast and dinner recipes.   Would it be boasting to say the fresh tomato pie and chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake are to die for?   We’ve also been working on a new updated inn website that we hope to roll out in about 2 months time.   We had some great new photographs taken by our friend Ken Love,  of Ken Love Photography  and got a few nice pictures ourselves after the recent snow storms.       Attached is a montage of some of Ken’s pictures taken in and around the inn.   Hope you enjoy them.   

Pictures around the White Oak Inn

Images from White Oak Inn

Bald Eagle spotted on Kokosing River

As some of you know we have a bald eagle nest close to the inn, alongside the Kokosing River.     This particular nest replaced one about three miles upriver.   The two nests have been active for the last ten years or more, with one or two chicks surviving each year, so now we have quite the population of bald eagles in the area.

We were out with friends last week, driving home around 4 p.m. and I saw a large black bird with a white head and tail rise up from the ditch, not more than 30 feet from us.     I immediately knew what it was and stopped the car so we could get a better look.   The bird circled and landed again, about 75 feet away from the road.    He waited patiently for us to move on.   Apparently he was feasting on a dead deer in the ditch and we had interrupted dinner.      In the meantime an immature eagle also circled around us .

We often see the eagles flying over the inn or along the river.     They are simply majestic.    Every year during our Spring Nature weekend at the inn, local eagle expert Brad Perkins comes and shares his latest slides of the eagles, and stories about activities he and other volunteers have undertaken to ensure the survival of this magnificent species.     Then he takes all our guests to a spot where they can observe the nest and the parents feeding the young eaglets through a telescope.

The photograph at the top of this post was actually snapped by one of our guests.   He and his wife were driving along our road, and as the came close to the river spotted a mature eagle perched on a rock in the river.   They were able to take several photographs before the bird flew off.

For more information about the Spring Nature Weekend, give us a call or visit our website.   The date for 2010 is April 30 to May 2.

This coming Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11 & 12 will be the only dates this year we are offering the Dickens Christmas Carol package.   Our very talented actor Brent has been signed to a contract with a theater in Cincinnati, and this could be the last year he’s available to perform at The White Oak Inn.

We still have a few seats available for each performance.   The package includes a traditional afternoon tea and Mandy and Yvonne spent Tuesday afternoon making sweet treats for the tea.    They’ve made lemon curd, fruit and nut loaf, almond macaroons, mint brownies, raspberry almond tassies, chocolate apricot bars, Scottish shortbread, walnut crescents, turtle squares, lemon creme bars, and peanut honey crisps.

Tickets are available for the play and tea for $45 a person or overnight packages including the play, tea, light buffet supper, overnight stay and breakfast start at $259 a couple.

Here’s one of the recipes from yesterday’s bake-fest:

Almond Macaroons

1 – 14 oz. package sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup sliced almonds

3/4 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

1/4 teaspoon of salt

4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.   Mix all the ingredients in a medium size bowl.    Drop mounds (1 or 2 tablespoons in size, depending on how large you want your macaroons to be)  onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing an inch apart.   Bake about 20 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.      Let cool slightly, then remove from parchment and finish cooling on wire racks.   (Do not allow to completely cool on parchment, as they will stick).

The holiday season is on its way.     And for us at the inn, that means a lot of extra baking.    So last week Ian and I took a short drive to pick up supplies from our favorite bulk food store in Holmes County, Ohio’s Amish area.   Along the way we also popped in to the Holmes County Flea Market just outside of Berlin.

To sum up the experience in one sentence:    It certainly lives up to the adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

We did come out of there with a pair of work gloves for Ian and some fudge for me, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.      And from there we enjoyed the scenic drive up country road 77 throught Mount Hope and on to the Ashery.

Bulk food stores abound throughout the Amish area.    They are the equivalent of convenience stores for the Amish people themselves.    Keep in mind that the Amish a) don’t generally have refrigerators and freezers, b) Have large families to feed and c)are thrifty and don’t use many convenience foods.     So these stores sell all the basics needed for cooking from scratch, including flour, sugar, nuts and dried fruit, herbs and spices and much more.     And the prices are considerably more reasonable than the same products from a supermarket.

We like the Ashery because it has a large selection, is clean and well organized, and is always very busy, meaning the inventory turns over quickly.    Obviously other people agree with us – the store recently expanded and they had to build a larger parking lot across the road.

So with our treasure of fruits, nuts, baking chips and other goodies put away it’s time to start planning the menus for our holiday events.

Here’s a sneak preview of one of the recipes we’ll be making for our Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol event in December:

Raspberry Coconut Squares

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup raspberry preserves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups shredded coconut

Combine 1 1/4 cups flour with 1/4 cup of sugar.   Cut in the butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch square pan.   Spread the preserves over this base.  Beat the eggs with the sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter and the vanilla.  Mix in the coconut.   Spread this over the preserves.    Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until light gold.   Cool and cut into 36 squares.

Josie the Satellite Kitty

Our poor little kitty, Josie, at the ripe old age of 4 1/2 months was found to have a tumor.   Fortunately our wonderful vet, Dr. Geoff Gregg, removed it and deemed it to be benign.   Unfortunately convincing a kitten to leave a big boo-boo on their belly  alone is not the easiest thing in the world, so for the last two weeks Josie has been known as the Satellite Kitty.   Stitches came out today.   The dish has to stay on for another week to make sure the incision is well healed.    In the meantime Ian claims to be getting two new TV stations.