Eat, Drink and Be Merry in June

It's June and we have lots of great food this month!

June Fine Wine & Dine: Bounty of the Pacific North West June 20, 2009

Rich farm lands and high peaks fed with rain from the Pacific bring us fruits, vetetables, fish and meats. The Japanese current warms the climate early in spring and late in fall. The northern latitude has long hours of sun in the growing season. Combined with the numerous seafood from the Pacific, we have a bounty of foods that Chef Katy has used to select a menu. Robin has another bounty of wines for pairing. Please join us for this early summer banquet. Thanks Jim Appetizers Cheese Fondue and/or Kasper’s Potato, Lobster and Arugula Martini Apple Mulligatawny Soup Fresh Greens with Tomato Basil Salad Dressing Sherried Pheasant Strawberry & Prosecco Fizz w/ Lemon Sorbet Roast Elk Tenderloin w/ Wasabi Garlic Cream Pear Crisps w/ Vanilla Brown Butter Pear or Apple, Blue Cheese, Fig Napoleans Fig Anise Bread Summer Tea Menu We are now serving our summer afternoon tea menu, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, by reservation. Peach Nutmeg Scones Lemon Curd Tarts Chocolate Marshmallow Fingers Chocolate Orange Tea Bread Raspberry Tea Cake with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Frosting Sun Dried Tomato Herb Muffins Pineapple Cream Cheese Tea Sandwich Cucumber Tea Sandwich Herb Butter Clotted Cream Marmalade Nagle Warren Mansion Special Blend Tea Other Beverage Options Available Specialty Teas White Wine Champagne Other Nagle Notes Jim and I have been tweaking the website in an effort to make it more user-friendly. We found some of the buttons were not as useful as others, so we have modified them. We've added Tea, History and Blog as new options to follow. We'll also be adding photos of floral arrangements that we have produced in-house. These will most likely be featured with the wedding planning section. We've also been working on the Nagle News and that will be coming out soon. We are waiting for some final information to arrive regarding the fall music festival that will occur in September. In the meantime, if you simply can't wait, you can take a quick peek on-line in the Press Room area.

Recipe: Raspberry Champagne Cream Cake

This cake is so good it was gone before I could get a picture of it. It is great paired with Codorn'iu Pinot Noir Brute Cava

Four parts: Vanilla Genoise Cake, cream filling, raspberry puree and whipped cream

Sabayon Filling:
6 eggs, yolk only
2/3 c. champagne
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream

Fill large mixing bowl to 1/3 with ice water. Fill a medium saucepan 1/3 full of water and bring to a boil.

In medium mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, champagne and sugar. Whisk until well blended. Set the bowl into the saucepan of water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until thick, about 3 minutes. Then place the bowl in the bowl of ice water to cool, whisking occasionally. In another bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form, then fold the cream into the cooled sabayon,

Raspberry Puree:
4 cups frozen raspberries
1 pinch kosher salt
6 tablespoons sugar

Thaw berries and using plastic blade in the food processor add the berries and pulse to knock the seeds out and get the juice from the pulp. Strain the seeds and juice and then add salt and sugar.

Vanilla Genoise Cake
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/4 cup HOT water
1/8 lb unsalted butter
1 cup all purpose flour

Mix together and pour into two round 9-10" cake pans, bake at 350 degrees from 25-35 min, depending upon your altitude. (This is stickier than a regular cake so I'd recommend parchment liner and spray coating in the pan for easier removal.) Cake should chill for at least one hour before assembly.

Whipped Cream
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Assemble by layering cake, puree, and sabayon. Continue layering process ending with a layer of raspberry puree on top.

This is my new favorite cake!!

Meet the Staff....Next Osterfoss

Meet Next Holstien Osterfoss. Next has seniority at the mansion He was a full-grown cat when Jim bought the property eleven years ago, so he is at least 14 years old. He was an alley guy who acquired his name when it was determined he was "Next" to be fixed.

While Next spent his early years on the streets of Cheyenne, he was born in a tuxedo and knew he was destined for better things. He is truly a self-made cat who has managed to climb the social ladder, and fences, to become a success.

Spring

Things are stirring in the yard. Early blossoms include bulbs, hellebores, bergenia, and of course the crab apples. Herbs were among the first things up and it's good to have those available for food preparation again.

This weekend we have our afternoon teas, a private shower and a private wine tasting party. Next weekend is our May Fine Wine and Dine. We plan eight to ten courses for these events. This month we are featuring Mediterranean foods with wines specifically paired to enhance the flavors of the foods. The "Wine Guy", Robin Day, will be on hand to tell about the wines he selected.

I was up in the wee hours this morning so I spent the time researching old Wyoming newspapers for information on the Warren family. Senator Warren was a fabulous character and I'll be talking about him a lot because there is much so very much to tell! He had a huge influence on Wyoming as well as the U.S. and his son-in-law, General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, was no slouch either! F.E.'s daughter Frances "Frankie", was an incredibly bright active young woman who was encouraged by her father to develop her talents. One can only speculate as to what she might have accomplished had she not perished in a fire at the Presidio, along with her three young daughters. Only her six year old son, Warren, survived. No matter how much I learn about this family I continue to be intrigued.

Florals prepared for a Baby Shower Tea.

Monday at the Nagle

Weather has improved...sunny and warm. The herbs are coming up nicely in the garden so we can start using those in the kitchen. Bulbs, bergenia, vinca and hellebores are blooming. Trees are ready to pop. Time to transplant some perennials this week. Cant wait for more flowers.

Heading out with a friend to do some hunting and gathering at the flea markets this afternoon. That will be a good time. It's one of those good relationships where we have lots of laughs per minute.

I read in "themes" and I always have several books going at the same time. Books are located everywhere so I can pick one up if I get caught waiting for something...then of course there is the bedside book. I have reached the age where I have to place a pair of reading glasses in each of those spots too! Am currently reading several books on women who were living in the west just as it was developing. One is the first woman governor in the U.S.; one is diaries and memories of women who moved west to the mining camps and homesteads; one is more general -- about women's inpact on the development of food and food preparation methods; and one is letters and diaries of a Wellesley-educated schoolmarm who taught in the area near Muddy Creek, Wyoming during the early 1900s.

I have a large floral project due later this month and need to start working on that tomorrow. Attaching a photo of one I used with our baby shower tea setup recently.

TA...DA...The Big House

More photos to come, but a start.

We have a soft day today...cool, grey and misty. Good day to bake cookies and do something cozy.

Intro to the Big House

The Nagle Warren Mansion is a wonderful luxury inn in located in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The home's history
The home/inn was built by Erasmus Nagle. He was a grocer from Chicago who took advantage of opportunities supplying miners in the Colorado gold fields and then came to Cheyenne just as the Union Pacific Railroad construction crews got to Cheyenne. Erasmus was quite the businessman and opportunist. He expanded his empire by becoming involved in just about every opportunity there was to be had at that time...supplying the Black Hills when gold was discovered there, having the major liquor distribution (something all miners need), stage line, telegraph, etc. He had one of the first brick homes in Cheyenne and was serving on the building commission for the capitol building when he decided to erect the mansion (the big house). Some of the stone for the capitol building was rejected and he decided that he would build the big house with it. This involved buying the lot next door to his brick house. The U.S. Marshall's office, which had been located on the lot, was moved off and attached to F.E. Warren's home as an annex (Incidentally, F.E. a territorial governor of Wyoming and first governor of the State. He lived next door to Mr. Nagle).

Mr. Nagle located his home on a street that was known as Cattle Baron's Row and his home was screaming, "I'm the richest person in the West."

Note: Most people don't realize that at that time Cheyenne was one of the richest cities, per capita, of anywhere in the world. It was developing during the height of western expansion and industrialization, so all the latest amenities: electricity, indoor plumbing, telephones, etc. were available. English and Scottish lords were cattle barons in the area and Cheyenne had all the accoutrements that they required...imported finery for the ladies and gents, fine wines, Parisian chefs, opera, theatre, men's clubs, golf, hunting, horses, etc.

When Mr. Nagle's house was complete it had six full baths, leather ceilings, imported English tiles, cast brass fireplaces, a Moroccan chandelier, stained glass and crystal windows, and all the most luxurious finishings. Mr. Nagle left his mother in the brick house next door, possibly a wise move, and moved into the big house. Upon moving in, the Nagles opened the house for a gala celebration in true Victorian style with a band on the front porch, and all the trimmings. This was all covered by the local paper and we have heard that he had a painting a belly-dancer in the Parlour... which only goes to show that being rich didn't necessarily give him good taste in art.

Alas, Mr. Nagle died of peritonitis only two years after the house was completed. His son traveled in Europe extensively, his wife remarried a scoundrel who assisted her in dissipating the fortune and she had to sell the home and move into something more modest. A real estate company owned it for a short while, during which a General rented it (remember the fort here -- another story).

Meanwhile neighbor, F.E. Warren's political career had skyrocketed and he was a very powerful U.S. Senator. Note: F.E. Warren is another interesting story! His first wife had died, his daughter had married General Black Jack Pershing, and he'd remarried. His second wife was Clara LaBaron Morgan from New York. They needed a larger home because they were then entertaining Presidents and other dignitaries who were crossing the country on the railroad...so they bought the big house, made another $10,000 worth of improvements (nothing to sneeze at during those days) and moved two doors down.

You'll see where all this is leading when I explain that, what I call the Big House, is actually known as the Nagle Warren Mansion (www. naglewarrenmansion.com). It all makes sense now, doesn't it?

I do a little of everything here and it actually time for me to do a little of something else, so I will check back later.

With any luck I'll soon figure out how to attach photos and that will make life more interesting.