It is interesting to me to find out what people like to collect when they travel.  All the tourist hot spots are filled with tchotchke shops peddling magnets, spoons, thimbles and snow globes.  Photos are always the best souvenir, and I also like to collect Christmas ornaments so that at the end of the year I can take a nice trip down memory lane reminiscing about all of the places I've been.

But my favorite travel collection has to be my recipes.  From bed and breakfasts to restaurants, I try and get a recipe from everywhere I go ... and sometimes even places that I've never been just so I can savor the flavor!  When ever I make these dishes at home, my senses trick me into thinking I've traveled someplace further than my kitchen.  This recipe is one of those.  Even after I run out of Kermit's Key Lime Marmalade and I just use regular orange flavored, I will still think of Key West each time I make it.

Recently I ran in the Key West Half Marathon, and afterward, no amount of post-race bagels, bananas or beer could satiate the hunger I worked up after trotting along 13 miles around the island.  We stopped by a local healthy eatery, Help Your Self, for some fresh machete cut coconut water.  And while that was an awesome island experience, my friends and I needed some calories.

That's where the Conch Republic comes in.  My Key West Islander friend, Vanessa, recommended them for their excellent sea food, gorgeous view of the water and ultimately their proximity to Kermit's Key Lime Shop for dessert.  We had had our heart set on beer and a burger at Sloppy Joes ... but I'm glad she convinced us otherwise!  The Conch Republic happens to have the best cracked conch on the island, something I've never tried before.

I had to ask, what is the difference between plain ole "conch" and "crack conch."  I've had conch fritters, which are a lot like meaty hush puppies.  But when the dish was brought to the table I quickly discovered this was the real deal.  Big chunks of tender meat deep fried to golden perfection.  I loved it.  This is a recipe I wanted.  But fresh conch is something I would be afraid to tackle at home.  Have you ever seen one?  It's like a big slimy snail that takes some major tenderizing to make it chewable.  Do you remember as a kid, those cheap toys that were water filled flexible rubber tubes (kind of like a big fat worm) and when you squeezed it would shoot out of your hands?  I imagine tenderizing conch would be something like that ... chasing a slimy snail-like sea creature around my kitchen counter with a tenderizing gavel and having it slip out of reach each time.  But when it's prepared the way these guys did, it's delish!  So instead of having a frustrating conch experience at home, I got the recipe for the "secret sauce."

At the Conch Republic, they serve their cracked conch with a simple Orange Horseradish Marmalade Sauce.  You can't get any more "Florida" flavor than with orange marmalade.  I asked our server if the chef would give me me recipe, and moments later the manager walked over with a bar coaster and four basic ingredients scribbled on the back.  PRICELESS!  That is exactly the feeling of Key West ... laid back and not fussy.

Don't believe me about the recipe on a coaster?  Well ... here it is! They always say the best ideas are the ones written on a bar or cafe napkin or coaster.

Later we walked across the street to indulge in some famous Kermit's Frozen Key Lime Pie Dipped In Chocolate On A Stick. Yes, you read that right ... dipped ... in chocolate ... on a stick.  It's divine.  While standing in line to pay for our coffee and pie, I noticed a big fat coffee table book on the counter ... National Geographic's Top 500 Food Journey's of a Lifetime, of which Kermit's was listed.  Bonus.  I now had a new bucket list to complete and only 499 more "food journey's" to go.  We took our coffee, afternoon indulgences along with the book and headed out to Kermit's patio to relax and take in some sunshine.

Want to bring some of that Florida sunshine into your kitchen?  Try this quick and easy sauce recipe below  ...

Orange Horseradish Marmalade Sauce

From the Conch Republic Seafood Company, Key West, FL

1/4 Cup Orange Juice

1/4 Cup Lime Juice

1/2 Cup Orange Marmalade

2 Tbsp Horseradish

Mix all ingredients together and use as a marinade or serve as a dipping sauce with fresh seafood or chicken.

It's actually pretty tastey with eggs in the morning too!

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BONUS:  Do you know all the names of Kermit's Koi?

It may just be on a #TravelTuesday Trivia sometime soon!

Last weekend my friend Beth and I went on a road tripin' adventure through a really long peninsula, navigating the treacherous turn pike, past four towering landfills with ominous vultures, wrestling an iPod that kept playing the same damn songs over and over again while speeding through sweaty gator infested swamplands to the tiny island Key West.

I know, I know, so out there and exotic you've never even heard of it!

I must be crazy to get into a car and drive 394 miles ... only to run 13!  And I'll have you know that once you hit the keys ... that last 100 miles ... it's near impossible to find a coffee shop.  Dreadful.  After 6 hours of driving we were in desperate need of a caffeine kick.  And all we could find is seafood and beer.  The road signs went some thing like this ...

bait shop ...

dive shop ...

boat shop ...

seafood ...

beer ...

Repeat.

FINALLY in Marathon (and funny that we were driving to a 1/2 marathon) there was a big giant pink coffee cup in the sky!  Hallelujah! Smack me upside the head, wake me up and call me Sally.

Was it a hallucination?  Were our heavy eyelids, stiff shoulders and cranky moods playing a trick on our brain?  It was real!  But just as our luck would have it, locked doors were what we found.  Closed 20 minutes before we got there.  Figures.  We found a  Mickey D's a couple miles later to fuel up our energy with a McLatte and then finished the journey.

The view was gorgeous.  Luckily our friend Vanessa led us to a relaxing local hangout on the beach for us to get into the Key West swing of things.  After watching the sunset and indulging in a plate of stone crab legs, we had completely forgotten about our long drive.

Key West is known for celebrating the sunset, but the next morning we were catching the sunrise to run in the Key West 1/2 Marathon.  My friend Beth got me back into running last year when we went for a jog while on a weekend getaway.  I thought, "heck, why not!  If I run, I'll be able to eat my breakfast scone without guilt." So we shlogged (that's a shuffle/jog) through 2.5 miles. I thought I was going to die.  And now 3 miles seems like an easy warm up.  Heh! Who would have thought?

If you are a runner, I highly recommend the Key West 1/2 Marathon.  It's a scenic run, hugging the coastline most of the way.  And it's a Bucket List worthy goal ... to say that you ran around the entire island of Key West.  Bonus points if you can follow it up with the Duval crawl afterward. I couldn't ... I'm a one-beer kinda girl.

The second highlight of the trip was visiting my Travel Channel Academy bud, Vanessa.  Having been a marathon runner and triathlete herself, Vanessa was quite the cheerleader for my first big race.    She zipped ahead in her SUV with the windows wide open blasting the theme from Rocky, video camera in one hand, her Cannon swinging from her shoulder and her fists pumping up and down in the air in a winning champion style.  She made me laugh.  I looked forward to seeing her every couple of miles.

The first part of the race included a zip through downtown, mile marker zero, and the Southernmost Point.  So, of course, I had to take some photos and upload them to Twitter via @TravelBlggr.  But taking the time out for social media put us dead last.  And I do mean, the final two.  But we caught up after the photo ops and finished in 2 hours and 35 minutes.  WOOT!

Here are my tips & confessions for this road trip:

ROAD TRIP TIPS

Stop at the Racetrack on US 1 right at the end of the turnpike.  It is the cheapest gas you'll find in Florida at an average of . 25 cents less per gallon. Also grab some coffee to go.

Card Sound Road is a great local tip Vanessa shared with us.  Right after the Racetrack Gas Station, look for this toll road on your left.  It's only a dollar and will and will zip you past the construction on US 1 and give you a glimpse of Florida swamp and gators.

On your way down, or your drive back up, stop for breakfast and coffee at Leigh Anns in Marathon.  You can't miss it with the big pink coffee cup in the sky.  Not only do they have great coffee, but their breakfast is to live for.  I ordered a mushroom and brie frittata to make up for the banana and Cliff block breakfast I had the day before.

ROAD TRIP CONFESSIONS

I eat all the round toasts out of a Chex Mix bag.

I'm completely addicted to running.  So much so that I'm going to tackle a Marathon next.  Another fun one I can't wait to try ... the ET.  It is another Bucket List worthy race as it goes around/near Area 51 on Extra Terrestrial Highway and starts at midnight.

We found some little heroes to help us on our road trip back home.  Meet Jaws in the picture to the right.  Rex is his alligator side kick. They were quite the entertainment on our trip back up the state through the rain.  Next time I think we'll just ask Beth's husband to fly us.

--Rachelle

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Want to learn more about where to stay in Key West?  Check out these videos Vanessa (Brock Media) produced for some of the local Inns:

Cypress House Inn

Grand Guest House

Wicker Guest House

Coming into the New Year marks a birthday for me, personally, as well as a 1st birthday for InnTheKitchen.com.  What started as a small category on InnsideStory.com grew into this wonderful collection of breakfast recipes that I've enjoyed creating, eating and sharing. I've compiled my favorites below.  Breakfast is the first meal of the day, start it off well!  Celebrate the day.  Happy New Years!

"People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas."  ~Author Unknown

#1 -- Cherry Almond Oatmeal Bake

Looking for a hot & steamy breakfast? I'm not talking about a romantic breakfast for two ... but instead a bowl of sweetness that fills your belly full and gives you the same comfort of a warm fuzzy blanket on a cold morning. Perfect for filling up before skiing or any other outdoor fall and winter activities where you have a houseful of cold and hungry folks to feed. (Read More ..)

#2 --  Autumn Sangria

I can't think of a better way to kick off the season than with a glass of spice infused Autumn Sangria.  My good friend, Maranda gave me this recipe and I always make a batch every Fall.  First I'm gonna show you how to make it.  Then we're gonna clink glasses and have a little toast.  Okay ... maybe just clink your glass to your computer monitor ... just be sure to not spill any on the keyboard.(Read More ...)

#3 -- Salsa & Eggs

This has to be the easiest and healthiest breakfast I've made in a long time.  Simple ingredients, fabulous flavor. It was given to me by the Grandison Inn located in Oklahoma City and it is their most requested breakfast dish among guests. Once you make it for the first time, it's the kind of recipe that stays in your head that you can whip up quickly without even thinking twice about it.  Don't ya just love those? (Read More ... )

#4 -- Blueberry Citrus Scones

Blueberries make a great low fat snack for munching while working on your computer or watching a movie.  But this recipe ... is definitely NOT of the low-fat-guilt-free diet variety.  But they're worth every calorie!  Besides, when you look at the ingredients ... some milk, some orange juice, some eggs ... you can convince yourself that this is a healthy breakfast.  Right?  Well ... at least believe me when I say that they're super delicious. (Read More ... )

#5 -- Rhubarb Jam

My grandmother's sister ... my great aunt ... came down to visit us from New Hampshire recently.  She still lives in the little teeny town they grew up in called Berlin.  I loved spending time with them and hearing about their stories of "the good ole days" which, ironically, were partially during the Great Depression.  Life was simple and much slower back then and everything they ate was grown in their yard and cooked from scratch.  (Read More ...)

#6 -- Marshmallow .. From Scratch!

Not really for breakfast, but could be!  My friend Eric always had some good treats baked up.  So when he told me he had a recipe for Marshmallow I begged him to share!   He had  me asking ... WTF is actually IN a marshmallow?  You mean they're not magically produced by Willy Wonka?  There are ingredients I can buy at the store to make these?  Awesome!  They're unbelievably easy! I'll walk  you through it step-by-step with photos and post the full recipe at the end.  (Read More ... )

#7 -- New Mexico Souffle

Want to add some color to your breakfast?  Then then read on because the blend of lavender, dry mustard, cayenne and green chilies makes this a rainbow of flavor.  But it's not sweet like Skittles. This New Mexico Souffle fills your senses with calm floral lavender and leaves you with a zippy heat from the chilies.  Get ready to have a party in your mouth, New Mexico style. (Read More ... )

#8 -- Cinnamon Rolls

Flour ... Butter ... Eggs ... Milk ... Sugar ... Oh, how I love thee ... let me count the ways.  It never ceases to amaze me how many different things can be baked from just tweaking a combination of the above ingredients.  I'll have to have a marathon-list-making post of all the different creations. For this morning, I'm going to make a traditional chilly-morning-gooey-cozy-comfort-food favorite ... cinnamon rolls.  (Read More ... )

#9 -- Beer with Breakfast

Inspired by a visit from Tom and Gayle, I paired breakfast with beer.  It was a late breakfast ... I promise ... after noon.  This was a little outside of my box as it was not an "inn" that gave me the recipe. I found the recipe on Tom's website, BrooklynBrewery.com . Having beer with breakfast intrigued me. While I have to confess that I'm not normally a beer drinker ... this was an AMAZING flavor pairing.  (Read More ...)

#10 -- Croissant Bread Pudding

We recently enjoyed a whirlwind weekend in San Francisco. It's a lot to see in only four days, but I'm really happy that we squeezed in drive out to Napa Valley where we met with the innkeepers at the Glass Mountain Inn, a gorgeous inn located in St. Helena.  How about a little Grand Marnier with your breakfast?   (Read More ... )

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.  ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

A second helping (follow up) to the recent pumpkin cheesecake post. (To see the full recipe, click here.)

A little explanation before you watch the video.  First ... cheesecake takes longer than 4 minutes.  Second ... if you have never been in a television studio ... it is FAAH-REEEZ-ZING!  That being said, "room temperature" in the studio was not exactly warm enough to soften up the cream cheese so in the end you'll see it looks a little lumpy.  It's not supposed to be.  (wink).   As long as your kitchen isn't as cold as a TV studio ... or ... let's say ... Antarctica for that matter ... and you follow the recipe, you'll have a smooth and creamy cheesecake!  Check out the Daytime clip below ...

DAAANG!  iPhone takes a good photo.  Thanks to my friend Beth for snapping a shot during the shoot.

And here's how my at-home cheesecake turned out.  Yum.

I'll be modifying the Autumn Sangria recipe for the holidays on Daytime next week ... so stay tuned!

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Just got back from takin a bite outta the big apple with my friend@SteamyKitchen.  New York City is really magical this time of year ... the glittering lights, the holiday decorations

It was a quick trip, but we really covered a lot of ground ... LITERALLY!

Let's see ...

we played ChopSticks on the huge floor piano at FAO Schwartz ...

survived the subway thanks to the kindness and navigation skills of a true New Yorker, @ChefMark ...

had dinner at trendy Nooch in Chelsea ...

almost died crossing 4 lanes of traffic in the back of a pedicab...

took a carriage ride and went ice skating in Central Park ...

walked down to Bryant Park for a festive dinner and village-like shopping (big Thank You to @morganbreadwine for the suggestion) ...

stood in awe at the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center...

marveled at the window displays on 5th Avenue...

shared a giant nutcracker flavored doughnut from Doughnut Planet (found it at Dean & Deluca, never made it to the lower East side) ...

soared high on sugar at Dylan's Candy Bar...

got to hang out on set and in the green room (that's not green at all) at CBS Morning Show where @SteamyKitchen cooked up some holiday treats.  My favorite ... the chocolate wontons.  But that's just my sweet tooth talkin.

and on our last day Jaden even waved her arm high in the air and successfully hailed a taxi.  Pretty impressive for a Florida girl!

And one quick check mark off my "bucket" list ... Breakfast at Tiffany's ...

Doesn't my croissant look like it's glowing?  It was probably basking in all the attention it was receiving at we passed it around to take photos.  It must have thought it was the star.   Or ... it could just be the crappy exposure on my phone's camera.  LOL!

Ever get lost in a corn maze? In my last little ode to fall, I went on a little day trip with fellow Innkeepers Jim & Ana with the Mount Dora Historic Inn to a local corn maze. A maize maze. I thought getting lost in 6 acres of corn would be a great way to get outdoors, enjoy the weather and walk off all the tasty holiday indulgences.

Check it out in the video below and test out the crazy recipe for corn cupcakes that we came up with while trying to find our way out of the maze!

I do love mornings.  Really I do.  The sun breaking over the horizon.  The crisp fresh air.  Birds tweeting their first little happy chirps.  The quiet stillness and excitement of having the whole day ahead.

I just wish it wasn't so painful to get out of bed!  All snuggled up warm under the covers.

Caffeine is what makes my mornings possible.  And afternoons for that matter.  But I'm no addict.  Ah em.

Coffee isn't just a beverage.  It's an experience.  The nutty smell of fresh grounds, the bubbling sound of it percolating in a coffee pot, and that first sip.  I'm even one of those weirdos that takes a picture of her coffee when she's traveling so I'll remember the moment.  (Pictured above ... cafe 3 blocks from the Vatican in Rome.  It was cold and raining.  I was wearing short sleaves and a skirt.  So that little cup was the warm highlight of my day.  As was the cute Italian guy that made my foam into a heart-shape. )

So here is an Ode to Coffee ...

My Top 10 Favorite Coffee Quotes

#10 "I make serious coffee - so strong it wakes up the neighbors."  ~Author Unknown

Got to love coffee that strong! Just like Europe.

#9 "Man does not live by coffee alone.  Have a danish."  ~Author Unknown

I must confess.  I'm a dunker. I like a little cookie with my coffee.

#8 "Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee."  ~Stephanie Piro

How else would I get everything done?

#7 "In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running."  ~Jeff Bezos

Or type a 100 words a minute.  Go. Go. Go.

#6    "I could smell myself awake with that coffee."  ~Jaesse Tyler

I think the scent of coffee wakes me up more so than the actual brew.

#5    "I like my coffee like my men:  hot, strong, steamy."  ~Author Unknown

Amen.

#4    "My blood type is Folgers."  ~Author Unknown

Mine is Eight O'Clock.  I get excited by that little red bag!

#3    "I'd stop drinking coffee, but I'm no quitter. " ~Author Unknown

Quit? Who said anything about quitting coffee?

#2    "Coffee in styrofoam is against my religion."  ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

Oh the irony.  I actually had the most expensive coffee in the world ... Kopi Luwak ... a.k.a. "monkey butt coffee" in a Styrofoam cup.  In a library. I swear.  But it was with good friends who also love to travel ... which brings me to my #1 favorite quote ...

#1  "Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after."  ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Pair the two together ... and you won't get any sleep at all!

--Rachelle

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We hosted Kyle & Stacey from Orlando's 67 Days of Smiles and showed them around our small town of Mount Dora. Take a peak of our off-roadin' Segway tour, boat cruise in the Dora Canal, and find out what made them smile! :o)

Okay. I know this has nothing to do with breakfast or inns ... but more of a day in the life of a small town. Our home base is in Mount Dora and we have a very very cool ghost walk. But for Halloween, they make it "extra special" with more creepy things lurking in corners ... more bloody goop ... more suspense ... and of course more to make the hair on the back of your neck stick up. To get everyone in the mood for hauntings, they led a "zombie crawl" though our Craft Festival last weekend. Whoa.

Good thing I didn't have to voice over this one! Between the Zombie Crawl, Jeepers Creepers and generally just getting jumpy and freaked out over nothing this Halloween week ... I think I've popped a lung and scrubbed my vocal chords with a brillo pad! If you're around town this evening ... you may just be scared the be-ge-sus out of by yours truly. Though, I doubt you'll recognize me in my zombie-wear! Muwahhahahah ...