Get Your Salt Water Boiling

What great news.

With much anticipation, Dungeness Crabs will finally start reaching local markets in Northern California.

Any day now, in fact.

And even better news? They'll be reaching my table any day now, too.

It's like the Thanksgiving feast that never ends. Literally.

The Path is Clear

Unfortunately in Europe's case, the road not taken was the right path all along.

And still is, if only folks will learn to look behind them to see what's coming.

Who knew? Oh, wait.

Still old habits die hard. And I'm afraid that's just the way Europe's dreadful experiment with common currency will end.

With a hard fall.

Standing close to the cliff ourselves, a lot of that debris is going to rain down on all of us.

Does your inn and your family have a backup plan? Now would be a good time to think about one.

And a good time to thank your lucky stars for the sneak preview the 2008 crash gave us all. The coming crash? Bigger. Much bigger.

So yes, get that backup plan in order. Now is the time for clear and steady thinking.

Still think this is not your problem? Oy vey. What work a life of denial must mean.

Of all the things I am grateful for in this season of joy, the blessing of a curious mind and a willingness to see the big picture would be right at the top.

Sure, having the world's best cookie recipe helps. But it only goes so far.

Some Final Thanks

As we approach the final stretch of this fabulous Thanksgiving weekend, we pause for one final round of thanks.

We have, it seems, so very much to be grateful for in these times, times that will only grow more turbulent in the weeks and months ahead.

So as you savor one last turkey sandwich - or as we do here, reach for one more bite of turkey pot pie - and you suddenly find yourself feeling waves of warmth wash over you, that will be me. The warm thoughts I am sending your way are no accident.

My thoughts tonight are with all those gentle spirits who have led me to this place, all those friends around the world whose lives of inspiration have brought me courage, and yes, even those persistent goblins who know no such peace in their hearts.

I learn from each of you.

And for that, my gratitude runs over. Well beyond Thanksgiving, into the winter days and nights ahead of us.

Whatever the future brings, my grateful heart is thinking of each of you. With only the very warmest of thoughts on this day and all to come.

No Good Karma Comes From Bad

If you want to convince folks who have become, how shall we say, a bit skeptical of the trustworthiness of your online review site, do you:

a. Work hard to weed fake reviews out of the system?

b. Create a verifiable system of accountability?

c. Refrain from cheap PR tricks like hyping extreme reviews that have not been verified and can cause lasting damage?

d. Or do you hire a PR firm known for creating fake blogs?

I think if the answer is d, well, that really says it all, doesn't it?

From The Forest To The Sea

Thanksgiving blessings to all.

As we take full measure of our blessings over the past year, we prepare the feast.

Every year it seems our perfect Thanksgiving changes just a wee bit and holds its own on time honored traditions.

This year's perfect menu:

Curried Pumpkin Seeds and Spiced Pecans

Savory Pumpkin Soup

Turkey Steamed in Wine and Leeks

Herb Gravy

Cranberry Lemon Rosemary Sauce

Scalloped Oysters

Sourdough Almond and Apple Dressing

Sauteed Garden Succatash

Haricots Vert with Chanterelles

Roasted Butternut Squash with Cardomom Brown Butter

Pecan Pie

I know we're supposed to be sad there are no Dungeness Crabs this year. But somehow our perfect menu seems, well, just about perfect already.

The bounty seems to grow and grow, in fact, with each moment.

Here's hoping your bounty, too, multiplies in full measure of your generosity in the winter ahead.

Bounty Love and Warmth

On this busy travel day and super-busy day of preparations for the big feast tomorrow, warm wishes go out to all of you.

Here the bird is brining, the oysters are all shucked and ready, sherry is at the ready, recipes are all planned out.

We'll survive, I think, without Dungeness Crab this year.

But we wouldn't have survived this far without the many blessings of friends around the world. Our hearts are full of gratitude for each and every one of them.

We won't be home ourselves this holiday but won't be far away. In fact, some might call our commute ridiculously short. No driving involved. How cool is that?

Wherever you'll be and whatever tasty delights are on your holiday table, my greatest hope this Thanksgiving is that you, too, will know bounty, love, and warmth this season.

With those three all gathered in one place, it's hard to imagine anything less than perfection.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Be safe, be warm, be happy.

I know I am.

Scraping Party Ice from an Iceberg

Robert Cole of RockCheetah continues his series of guest posts on Tnooz with today's excellent post on combatting fake review optimization.

It's rare these days that I agree 100% with any hospitality consultant's advice as far too often that advice is short-sighted or self-interested.

Not so in Robert's case. I agree wholeheartedly with every word of today's post.

Longtime readers and longtime colleagues know that with a background in Organization Development, my approach is always one of getting to the root cause, seeking honest feedback, and training every member of the team to focus on providing exemplary service.

Robert, likewise, looks to the root of the problem and resolving that problem through changes in employee training and improvements in service delivery.

The money quote:

"By far the best strategy to avoid negative reviews is to obsessively focus on the guest experience. Every aspect of a hotel’s design and service delivery must be considered from the perspective of the guest.

The simple rule of thumb is that if something doesn’t positively impact a guest’s experience, stop doing it."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I can promise you that if you implement his LEARN plan for improvement, you'll get measurable results.

How can I be so sure? I've implemented very similar plans myself so many times it would make your head spin. Works every time. Every single time.

Don't think small inns can afford to implement employee training programs and guest focused policies? Think again. You can't afford not to.

But don't take my word for it. Go on over there and read the whole thing.

Turkey Steamed in Wine and Leeks

I've been steaming my turkey in wine and leeks for many years now, thanks to a lovely little Christmas cookbook, "Tis The Season" I received as a gift from my sister back in the eighties.

I've long since lost the book but the recipe is so simple that it's been embedded in my brain for years. I've adapted the original recipe somewhat over time but the method itself is still basically the same.

Turkey steamed from the inside out is incredibly moist, infused with herbs, and crispy golden brown on the outside. What more could anyone ask?

I made a perfect large turkey this way in my tiny tiny oven in Hungary that was so small the turkey literally took up the entire oven. Thanks to the kindness of my landlady - who was also a guest at dinner - I was able to cook all of the accompanying casseroles in the upstairs oven and comfortably feed 24 guests. What great memories we all share from that day.

I steamed 2 perfect little French turkeys in Kazakstan (thank you, US Embassy, for those delicious birds and thanks to my Bulgarian neighbors who loaned me oven number two) for a group of 24: expats from various countries as well as some native Kazaks. My secret in times like that is to always invite your neighbors for the feast and you'll have plenty of extra ovens to use. Besides, why wouldn't you invite your neighbors for Thanksgiving? That's the point, isn't it?

I steamed one gigantic turkey in a hostel kitchen in Venice and saw the entire bird stripped to the bone by first-time Thanksgiving guests right before my eyes. What a treat that was for all of us. No leftovers at all that year.

I've also steamed plenty of your run of the mill grocery store variety here in the states to the same oohs and ahhs.

Wherever and to whomever Turkey Steamed in Wine has been served, my guests have raved and come away shocked to find that turkey is not, in fact, dry if properly prepared. I am eternally grateful for being blessed with that original recipe and cookbook all those years ago.

And the best news of all, it's the quickest method I know of cooking a perfect turkey every time.

The recipe seems more complicated than it is because of the necessity of a particularly tight seal on the parchment/foil bag. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's pretty easy. For a small bird, a large parchment turkey bag could work. For a large bird, make your own bag following the instructions below.

So here it is. The secret recipe revealed.

Turkey Steamed in Wine

1 turkey, completely thawed
1 large or 2 small leeks, cleaned well and cut into 3-4 inch chunks
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 carrot, cut in pieces
1 very large bouquet garni
1 1/2 cups rich broth
1 1/2 cups white wine

Melted butter
Martha Wrap or Heavy Duty Foil
Parchment Paper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Prepare foil - or preferably Martha Wrap. Tear 3 strips 30-36 inches long and fold edges together and seal really really well. This is the most important step for keeping the steam inside the turkey cavity so take your time and pinch those edges very well.

Place the now super large sheet of connected wrap in the center of roasting pan with parchment side up. If using heavy duty foil instead, use a pastry brush to oil the foil.

Place turkey on wrap in roasting pan.

Rub turkey well with 1/2 tsp of the salt and the cracked pepper.

Insert 1/2 of the leeks and 1 tsp of the kosher salt in the neck cavity and fold the skin flap over to close the cavity.

Place remaining ingredients into the large cavity fold the skin flap over to close.

Tie legs.

Baste turkey with butter.

Place a sheet of parchment paper over top of turkey, like a tent.

Keeping Martha Wrap from touching the turkey, pinch edges of wrap together, sealing well. The wrap must be sealed very, very tightly to ensure no steam escapes; this is how the turkey cooks so quickly from the inside out.

Place on the lowest shelf of oven.

Bake at 400 degrees (preheated) 5 minutes per pound + 15 minutes covered.

Carefully open wrap, remove inner tent, baste and cook for an additional 5 minutes per pound + 15 minutes uncovered.

The remaining broth and wine make an excellent base for herbed gravy.



Some important tips:

Bouquet Garni is not a spice that comes in a bottle already dried and chopped. It's a small bouquet of fresh herbs and not really all that hard to make. Just take a large bay leaf and into that place a few sprigs of parsley and a few sprigs of thyme. Sometimes I also add a sprig of fresh sage. Be creative and make your bouquet garni your own. Tie the bouquet quickly and tightly together and place the whole bouquet into the cavity of the turkey. For this recipe, be generous with the herbs and make a fairly large bouquet so that the fragrance fully permeates the meat while steaming. For a large turkey, I've been known to use 2 bouquets.

Use a decent white wine. A Riesling is especially good for this recipe. But so is Two-Buck-Chuck Chardonnay. As a general rule, whichever white wine the cook will enjoy while working will work.

When opening the foil seal halfway through the cooking cycle, use extreme caution. If you've done a good job of sealing the edges, steam will now quickly escape.

Martha Wrap is a combination parchment paper and foil in one. It can be difficult to work with (the edges tend to curl up when cooking) but I much prefer it to plain foil as it keeps the aluminum from leaching into the turkey.

If you can't find Martha Wrap, you can create a double seal for the turkey by creating a foil sheet (tightly pinching 3 large sheets together) and then creating a parchment paper sheet by following the same process and placing that whole large sheet on top of the foil. Whichever method you use, the key to successfully steaming a turkey is the tightness of the seal. Take your time to get that right.

Eternally Optimistic

It's a rainy day on the coast of Northern California today. So the crabbers aren't in any hurry to reach an agreement on their selling price just yet.

I'm hopeful that will change by Monday and we'll, in fact, have some of this year's plump sweet crabs on the Thanksgiving menu.

The delay leaves a bit of time, though, to decide on just how to prepare them. And truthfully, I can't think of a bad way to serve crabs.

I love them in their most basic form: cracked right from the steamer.

I also adore She-Crab Soup and may very well serve up a batch later in the holiday season. But not yet. Not for Thanksgiving.

Then there are always crabcakes. I spent a year living on Maryland's Eastern Shore and had one mission while I was there: to learn how to make a perfect Maryland crabcake.

And after working through just about every recipe I could find, I'm pleased to say that I think I did, in fact, find perfection.

While the taste of crabcakes made from Dungeness Crab is not the same as those super sweet Maryland Blue Crabs, I have to say that I can still make a mean crabcake with them all the same. But crabcakes are more work than I want to add to the holiday planning, so no. Not this holiday.

One of the other things I learned in Maryland while researching all those crabcake recipes was just how much George Washington loved the delicate crabmeat. And when I learned that his favorite dish was Hot Buttered Crab, I knew I had to try it.

I'm so glad I did. It's so simple a child could perfect it. Just crabmeat, butter, and freshly ground nutmeg. That's it. Warmed in a pan, it's probably the greatest invention in food history.

Hey, I think I just made a decision. After all, George was a pretty smart guy. With impeccable taste.

And besides all that, it's the simple things in life that bring us all joy. Simple recipes included.

Have a great weekend! And best of luck in finding the perfect American recipes for your holiday table.

Fair Bounty

Just one week to go til the grandest of all grand American holidays.

The day we give thanks for our bounty by trying to eat as much of that bounty in one day as is humanly possible.

Here we will most definitely be serving my famous Turkey Steamed in Wine and Leeks alongside Scalloped Oysters and other traditional fare. We'll have a soup course, we'll have Pecan Pie. We'll have, as always, quite a bounty of delights.

Right this moment, though, our focus is on the first course that is a tradition here in Northern California: Dungeness Crab.

And by focus, I mean hoping that we'll indeed have that as an option. Right now, crabbers aren't crabbing and that's not good for any of us.

Personally, I agree with the crabbers that the price they're seeking is an extremely fair one. And I'm fairly certain that there's still plenty of profit to be made by giving those crabbers a fair price.

I'm also fairly certain that I'll have plenty to eat without Dungeness Crabs on the menu.

But that's not really the point of Thanksgiving, is it?

Virtual Game of Whack-a-Mole

The good folks at Tnooz are hosting a series of guest posts this week by Robert Cole of RockCheetah, all related to the nasty game of fake online reviews.

Today's post discussing just how the whole game of online review cheating really works is a lengthy one but well worth taking the time to read.

Regular readers won't be surprised that I think exposing the game to the light of day would be a very good thing.

Or to hear that I believe that one of these days the game being played by the ethically challenged will catch up with them. It always does. Eventually.

For those among us who remain committed to the truth, do go on over and read Robert's post.

And chin up. In the end, the truth wins out. Even if that takes a bit of time.

Fresher More Recent Secrets

Google spills the beans on 10 of its most recent changes in algorithm.

But it also comes with the reminder that hundreds, yes hundreds, of algorithm changes go on every year.

In other words, the real secrets are still just that. Secret.

That said, it's still worth taking a glimpse at a tiny bit of what Google sees and how that's interpreted for the rest of us.

What should innkeepers do with the information? As always, live and learn.

The Great Well of Relationships Between People

At the end of the day, that's what it all comes down to.

Isn't it?

And Crown Thy Good With Brotherhood

Happy Veteran's Day.

To all the military out there, both active and retired, and their families, thank you.

You have my undying gratitude for your service, commitment, and sacrifice.

Sorry To Have To Say So

But I am afraid that I am in complete agreement that we will, indeed, see a huge increase in hotel foreclosures in 2012.

We will also see a huge increase in B&B foreclosures and small inn foreclosures.

Many folks have been hanging on hoping for a speedy recovery. It's not going to happen.

If that sounds like a broken record, sorry for that, too. But, sadly, someone has to speak the truth.

A hard day's reckoning is coming. Ready or not, here it comes.

It's True What They Say

Responsible tourism really does change lives.

Hearty congratulations to the winners of this year's Responsible Tourism Awards.

And to everyone else, a very happy World Responsible Tourism Day to you.

Future Planning

Contingency planning or a less-than-subtle insult?

A German tour operator asks hotels in Greece to sign a new contract that stipulates how they'll be paid when Greece defaults and leaves the euro behind. Financial Times registration required to access story; it's free.

What's the reaction of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises? Simple denial that the problem even exists with a statement that no hoteliers will sign the contract.

Personally I would not be so sure.

As much as the Greeks will not respond well to any pressure from Germany, who benefits most from the inherent imbalance the euro has wrought, I think Greek hoteliers know as well as anyone that the eurozone is finished.

Not that the issue of how German tour operators will be paid is the biggest issue facing Greece today.

After all, is anyone traveling to Greece these days? Is seeing the dying embers of the cradle of democracy really all that entertaining?

The country is at a standstill. Transportation is such a mess that just getting around is next to impossible. Garbage isn't being picked up. Strikes are closing offices everywhere all the time.

If you want to know what austerity will do to Europe and America if it stays on the track it's on, take a look at Greece.

If that's not the future you think will bring tourists calling to your inn, you might just want to mention that to your elected officials.

Dear Guests

Please don't get swallowed by any whales over the weekend.

Thank you.

If a Potato Can Do It, Why Not You?

Great article up over at Smithsonian on how the humble potato changed the world.

Alleviated poverty, provided a reliable food staple for peasants everywhere.

And, sadly, spurred the growth of the use of pesticides, a battle we fight still today.

If a potato can change the world, it sure seems that innkeepers can have a powerful impact, too.

After all, few professions bring together such a bounty of skills. And the never-ending opportunity to forge lasting changes in opinion with only the warmth of a smile or the power of a word gently applied.

Hold all of that toxic stuff, please.