Links
First and foremost, I want to tell ya'll about a little place LD and I discovered from a fortuitous search of the web for 'bed and breakfasts in Oklahoma'.
This place is SO WONDERFUL, I can't recommend it highly enough. Cindy Eckel, the innkeeper, is a treasure! She knows how to put you at ease and make you comfortable *instantly*. And you won't find a more relaxing place to stay - I don't care how much or how little you spend. The food was superb. The folks were friends in less than 10 seconds! The atmosphere was calm, peaceful, romantic, secluded, as private as you want to be while offering as much interaction as you like. Beautiful rooms, bed as comfortable as my new one right here at home, Jacuzzi tub for two, fresh flowers, Molly the dog... and NO PHONE! Huzzah! We got more out of our one weekend there than we've gotten out of any number of week-long vacations!
We were sad to leave when the weekend was done and have made many return trips, where we've hiked the trails, renewed our vows, visited with our new friends, petted dog, eaten like little piggies, learned how to do therapeutic massage for each other, gotten a facial, had a picnic... everything but FISHING! (I've heard Dad many a time holler at me that the fish were out there biting, however…)
Click on the picture below to visit Serenity Lake Bed and Breakfast here on the web...
Serenity
Lake Bed & Breakfast Retreat & Day Spa
PO Box 1955
Mannford, OK 74044
Telephone: (918)865-3783
Email : Reservations@lakesemperfi.com
... then pack up your 'jamas and head there in person. Tell Cindy we sent you!
Jen
UPDATE: September 15, 2003
The renewal of vows was last week at Serenity Lake and all I can say is this wonderful woman bent over backwards to make our special week - and especially our special day - the best it could be. There were surprises all around, wonderful food, massage!, hot tubbing, wine, walks, rainstorms, friendship and love. Out of a possible 100 points, I give Serenity Lake just a few over a million.
We also met another 'b&b' innkeeper friend and found another bed and breakfast run by a sassy woman who's been in the business long enough to know what it's all about... I swear, I believe she and I were separated at birth (scary thought, eh?)
Anyway, the name of her spot is Aunt Sadie's Garden Glade Bed and Breakfast. It's in Branson, Missouri - and one of these days really soon ('cause she threatened to come and get us if we don't!), we're going to gather what's left of the Robbins Clan and head over there - a meet in the middle kinda deal.
Here's a link!
Toll-Free: 1-800-944-4250
Email: info@auntsadies.com
Aunt Sadie's Bed & Breakfast
Dick and Linda Hovell
163 Fountain Street, Branson, MO 65616
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Now... Here are some of my personal favorites when I go hunting for recipes on the web:
(For Alton Brown recipes as well as those
from Barefoot Contessa and Paula Deen and all the wonderful cooks on Food
Network...)
and for those 'copycat' recipes... you know, like, for making an Enchirito in your own kitchen, or an Almond Joy...:
For Supplies:
(The BEST vanilla beans in the world...)
(For that wonderful Cincinnati Chili mix I told you about...)
(Not only will they sell you cheese, they'll also tell you all about the different kinds of cheese, how they taste, and what they're made of...)
For information and fun, I like to visit:
(Check out his list of necessities for the kitchen and buy his salt cellar and measuring cups online...)
(Has an alphabetical listing of all of Alton's recipes with links to the correct page on Food Network.)
Clarence Robbins Family
Memoirs
Stephen Alva Van Cleave
Memoirs
Tales of the Van
Cleave Elders