Letter from Vermont

The recipe for the Churchill House pancakes?  Very simple (this serves 2 or 3 people):

1 cup cottage cheese; 4 organic eggs; 4 tablespoons butter; 1/2 cup flour.

Melt butter in glass bowl in microwave.  Stir in cottage cheese.  Break eggs into mixture and incorporate.  Add flour and mix; batter will be lumpy.  Cook on lightly greased 350F griddle until bubbles break on top; turn and cook until golden both sides.  Pancakes will be tangy and creamy inside and slightly crispy outside.  Serve at once with warm Vermont maple syrup.

This season, we have been given quite the feather in our cap:  the well-known touring company Bike Vermont has selected us to host nine of their weekend bike tours this summer and fall.  We had two wonderful trips here in June and are looking forward to a fun season with these guests.  When the inn has just one couple as guests, it is special and quiet, and so serene.  When 16 or 18 bicyclists are swapping stories around the dinner tables, it is more like a house party — what fun to be around so many folks with a shared interest.  The atmosphere is more excited than is usually the case, and it’s a neat change of pace for us.

Here is a photo I took of Olya at her naturalization ceremony in May. 

Who is that fine-looking soldier whispering in my wife’s ear?  Some other time, perhaps.