Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Anniversary

Today, Tuesday 26th, May 2009 was an exciting day at the Kismet Inn Bed and Breakfast Spa. Kimberly and Chris booked a room a while ago with massages and dinner. Chris asked for Shiatsu and Kimberly asked for Reflexotherapy which went very well. The massages were done in the yoga studio both of them enjoyed it and felt very relaxed. Kimberly who says has had many massages before thought Wendy Decker the massage therapist did an excellent job and Chris who doesn't often get massages thought Sarah Rhinelander the Shiatsu practitioner was very good so that went well.

I went to Brunswick Farmers Market in the morning to get some veggies for them, I got some salad greens, spring onions and radishes from 'Six River Farm' and salad greens from 'Patchwork Farm'. I also got them some pear for dessert but ended up serving them Goat Milk Gelato from Painted Pepper Farm... the flavors were honey almond, rhubarb strawberry and lemon zest, they loved it. I made the jewel rice with lamb served them sheep milk brie and goat milk torte with red French wine.. they loved every single bit of the dinner. Now they are off to bed and so am I. Have a wonderful night or day incase you are in a part of the world where it is day time.

Shadi Towfighi, the owner of the kismet Inn.

Memorial Weekend 2009

The Kismet Inn Bed and Breakfast, Spa was busy hosting parents for Bowdoin College. This past weekend was the graduation day so there was a lot of excitement going on. Parents were happy to see their children’s success as well as sad to see them leaving home seriously. Having a child graduate from college is always a bitter sweet time for the parents.

Kismet Inn bed and breakfast Spa has also been very busy with gardening. One of the garden beds has been completed, some seedlings such as tomatoes, egg plants, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, leek, cucumber, melon, beans, sweet pea, angelica and spicy greens have been planted. There is still quite a few more seedlings that need to be planted which should be done by the end of the month or the first week of June. The inn would like to finish it by June 7th, 2009 because there is going to be a fundraising for the ‘Brunswick Park and Gardens’ project.

The gardening has been fun. I have been doing it all manually which takes much longer than using any kind of machines such as tillers. It is hard work but it is gratifying specially to see the flowers in bloom and soon to harvest the vegetables.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

A great open house

The open house today, May 16th, 2009 at the Kismet Inn, a luxury Boutique, all Organic Bed and Breakfast Spa in the heart of Historic Bath, Midcoast, Maine was quite a success. To begin with it was a lovely day, the weather was very pleasant. Susan Lubner, the yoga teacher arrived around noon put out a sign for the open house on the lawn. Sarah Rhinlander, the Shiatsu Massage therapist followed her then Wendy Decker, the Reflexology therapist with Sue Redwine the Massage therapist. Each person set up chairs, mats to perform their work when requested.

I prepared Kismet Inn's special tea which is mixed black teas brewed with cardamom and the freshly picked lemon balm from the garden tea. People started coming in from 1 till 4:30. Everyone loved the tea and quite a few number of people booked for tea, dinner, one golden anniversary and one for a group of women's luncheon. Everyone loved, the colors of the inn so lively and bright yet, calming and soothing, they all marveled at how there was so much color but nothing clashed or jumped you in the face. It was a feast for the eye as many guests have often said.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Mother's Day Weekend

This year Mother's Day Weekend was very special. I had two mothers with their daughters. One was a local from Bath, Maine so they were here only for the day the other one was a mother with her two daughters from Boston. All were great people.

The local ones, had body exfoliation for both the mother and daughter. It was great, they came around 2 p.m. toured the inn followed by a good cup of Kismet Inn's tea on the red chair facing 'Spirit of the Sea' Afterwards, they started the soak in the Deep Japanese Soaking Tub, they filled the tub only a quarter way but because they kept the door closed the bathroom had become really steamy which is the way it should be. It was like being in a steam room.

The tub is a great one, it is custom made with tile based on both Deep Japanese Style soaking tub and Turkish Hamam so it has the good of both worlds. It even has radiant heat so during winter the tub can be filled with water soaked in couple of times in the same day so in a way it is environmentally conscious as well because the tub doesn't need to be emptied if the same person is going to soak again the same day.

Anyway, the mother and daughter soaked for about an hour then I went up and exfoliated/scrubbed each one of them for about 45 minutes. The mother wanted to be exfoliated first so I scrubbed off her dead skin first, neither one of them could believe their eyes to see so much dead skin rolling off in long and fat inches. After each scrub the body was rinsed off outside the tub so they would enter the tub all cleansed. When both were exfoliated and scrubbed, they showered and shampooed their hair to complete the cleansing. I left the bath area, cleaned off, started setting the table.

I prepared the Jewel Rice with lamb for them. Both the rice and the lamb came out very good. It is one the my guests favorite dishes. The aroma is simply intoxicating... cardamom, cinnamon, cumin infused with saffron over slivered pistachio, slivered almonds, julienne carrots, orange peel, barberries, raisins mixed with basmati rice ... brewed, steeped... it is simply divine.

As for lamb I never add water to my lamb/shanks. Right from the start I put it on very low heat, add onion, garlic, spices and let it cook on very low heat for sometime. The aroma starts spreading through room to room, upstairs and every where.

I started them with wine, sheep milk brie and goat milk torte and beets drizzled with olive oil...oh! goodness was it good. This was followed by spicy green leaves mixed with other salad greens both from 'Squire Tarbox Farm' .. a local MOFGA certified organic farm who have the best spicy green and salad greens. The salad dressing was fresh ginger, roasted seeds, fresh lemon, olive oil, just a bit of goat cheese, salt and pepper... every bit of it was finished. The entrees was followed after the salad and for desert I made my famous pear simmered in my strawberry syrup spiced with ginger powder and nutmeg. They enjoyed every bite of each food.

For the other mother and daughters I made the tamarind fish dish served with white basmati rice infused with lots of saffron. It was excellent too they also enjoyed and loved every bite of the food. In fact, they loved it so much that they said, they want to make a tradition of coming to the inn every Mother's Day Weekend.

It is always an honor and exciting to serve such a good people and see them enjoying my cooking.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mother's Day Weekend

It was a fabulous weekend. Kismet Inn hosted two mothers with their daughters both were great. A mother with two daughters from Boston who said they have already decided to come back next year for Mother's Day Weekend and the other was from Bath. The ones from Bath had the jewel rice and the ones from Boston had the fish with tamarind. I enjoyed and loved hosting both and becoming good friends with them.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Spring is here

The past couple of weeks have been quite busy for the Kismet Inn bed and breakfast. The gardens have been cleared, weeded, the seedlings have grown, some pansies and geraniums have been planted in pots that are hanging or are on the front lawn. More will be done soon.

The Kismet Inn has been preparing for an exciting open house which will take place May 16th from 1-4 introducing tea, reflexology, shiatsu, yoga and massages. So please come to the Open House May 16th from 1-4. I am very excited to be part of Tea & Spa services at the beautiful Kismet Inn! Tour the Inn, have tea and participate in free demonstrations of Yoga, Foot Reflexology, Massage and Shiatsu offered by local practitioners. Come and enjoy this beautiful space and get a 'glimpse' of all it has to offer.

I have also had several really interesting guests whose testimonials are already posted. It always delights me to see all of my guests leaving the inn happy, rested and willing to come back.

Maybe, you should try to come and stay at the beautiful Kismet Inn Bed and breakfast, Spa ........