Epicurean Classic-Stay at Songbird

     THE EPICUREAN CLASSIC Migrates to Southwest Michigan

After five successful years in northwest Michigan's Traverse City, the annual Epicurean Classic, a Celebration of Food & Wine Artisanship, is migrating south-- to St. Joseph--where, from August 28 to 30 some of the country's finest chefs, cheese, wine and beer experts, culinary authors and practitioners will join together on St. Joe's Bluff along the Lake Michigan shoreline for a three-day Epicurean bonanza of cooking, demonstrations, wine tastings, receptions, guest/chef restaurant dinners and more.

THE PRESENTERS

Aussie Curtis Stone, host of TLC's Take Home Chef, is author of the new Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone.

Chicago chef Jean Joho(Everest, Brasserie JO and Eiffel Tower Restaurant) was named Best American Chef: Midwest and nominated for Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation.  Joho has also been name Bon Appetit's Chef of the Year.

Giuliano Hazan, son of Marcella Hazan, runs a cooking school in Verona.  Hazan won the IACP award for Cooking Teacher of the Year in 2007, and is a contributor to Cooking Light magazine and author of many cookbooks including Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta.

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, long known as masters of technique, take it up a few notches in their latest effort, Cooking Know-How, one of NPR's 10 Best Summer Cookbooks of 2009.

David Leite is the author of The New Portuguese Table, in which he explores and explains, with recipes and historical anecdotes, the cuisine of Portugal.

Mary Karlin teaches wood-fired cooking at the Ramekins school in Sonoma, California.  In her new book, Wood-Fired cooking, she explores the diverse flavor characteristics of hardwoods and live-fire cooking methods.

Anna Thomas's Love Soup provides delicious recipes for vegetarian soups from the author of The Vegetarian Epicure.  Anna Thomas describes her love affair with the ultimate comfort food.  "From my kitchen to yours,"  Thomas says, "here are the best soups I've ever made."

Jennifer McLagan is the author of Fat, the 2009 James Beard Cookbook of the Year, and also author of the multi-award winning cookbook Bones.  Jennifer will try and win us back to a healthy relaionship with animal fats--fundamental to the flavor of our food.

Takashi Yagihashi gained his following at Chicago's Ambria and at Tribute (in Michigan), and was a James Beard and Food & Wine Best New Chef recipient.  Yagihashi is currently wowing Windy City diners at Takashi and Noodles.

Gale Gand is the executive pastry chef and partner of the renowned Chicago restaurant Tru.  Gand was named Outstanding Pastry Chef by the James Beard Foundation and Pastry Chef of the Year by Bon Appetit magazine.  In 1994 she was featured as one of Food & Wine magazine's Top Ten Best Chefs.

Friday, August 28 at 10 a.m. kicks off a full day of sixteen 60-minute cooking demonstrations augmented by the Tasting Pavilion (open noon to 4 p.m.) with a few hundred wines from around the world as well as plenty of regional wines.  Also in he planning stages for Friday evening are guest chef/local chef dinner at well-known area restaurants.

Saturday, August 29at 10 a.m. brings another day of sixteen cooking demonstrations and noon to 4 p.m. hours in the Tasting Pavilion.  The full day will be capped in the evening by the Grand Reception featuring twenty guest authors.  Over twenty wine tables will be hosted by prestigious wineries, augmented by an array of small plates, and joined by a selection of premium brews and spirits.

Sunday, August 30  at 10 a.m. brings almost a full day of cooking demonstrations (ten total); the Tasting Pavilion will be open from noon to 3 p.m.

Information for this event that is sure to please, can be found at epicureanclassic.com.

Article courtesy of Lake Michigan Shore Magazine.

My Favorite Songbirds Singing

En route, I listened to some of my favorite songbirds singing passionately to attract mates.  Scarlet tanagers belting out their rough, two-syllable "chip-burr" notes, and rose-breasted grosbeaks singing sweetly like robins that had taken voice lessons.  Black-throated green warblers sang a melodious five-syllable phrase that Beethoven would have copied, had he ever had the fortune to walk in an American forest.  The chorus of yellow warblers, redstarts, towhees, veeries and the incomparably beautiful and flute-like wood thrushes produced the music fitting an entry to a magical setting.  And so I entered chest-deep into my favorite pool as a yellow throat flittered out of the bushes to grab a mayfly.

     I took the shortcut, an overgrown trail now used only by deer.  Along the way, like a royal carpet welcoming me, were star flowers, bluet, gay wings, bird's-foot violets, jack-in-the-pulpits, azaleas, geraniums and lilies of the valley.  I realized, as I paused to enjoy fully the spectacle of these wild and temporal beauties, that I was no longer in a rush to pass them by as I used to be many years back.

Where do hummingbirds winter?

Jim Williams, Special to the Star Tribune

Ruby-throated hummingbird, juvenile male, at geranium flower

As ruby-throated hummingbirds are returning to the state, researchers are learning more about where they spend the other half of the year.

By VAL CUNNINGHAM, Contributing Writer

Last update: April 21, 2009 - 12:53 PM

Around the first of May each year, ruby-throated hummingbirds begin returning to Minnesota.

Wonder where they've been all winter?

So do the scientists.

At the end of each summer, some 7 million ruby-throats from across the eastern United States and Canada essentially disappear.

There are indications that they travel to the tropics, going as far south as Panama. But hummingbirds are so common in Central America that few people even notice them, much less track them. These little mountain birds also disperse widely, making it even less likely they'd draw attention. So, much of what we know about ruby-throats outside the United States is based on assumptions.

A South Carolina naturalist and educator is working to change that.

Bill Hilton Jr. has been banding U.S. ruby-throats for decades. Over the years, Hilton and others have slipped tiny aluminum rings on more than 200,000 hummingbirds. Still, none of the banded birds have been reported in Central America.

And the value of banding birds lies in them being reported after being caught by another bander or found dead. It's only when a banded bird is rediscovered that researchers can learn where its band was attached. That, in turn, tells a great deal about a bird's itinerary.

But Hilton isn't giving up. For the past several years, he's been leading groups of volunteers to the other end of the migratory trail. In winter, they head to Costa Rica to study and band hummingbirds there.

The banders found an aloe vera plantation popular with ruby-throats. By banding a few dozen of these birds over several years, Hilton could tell that the same ruby-throats were returning from year to year, a practice called "site fidelity" in ornithological circles.

To date, an estimated 400 ruby-throats have been banded on their tropical wintering grounds. That's a small percentage of the estimated population. But the banding work has already proved its worth: The birds that return each year to the aloe plantation send a strong message about conserving such sites.

"Site fidelity like this gives us pretty powerful evidence when we talk about the need to protect the birds' habitat," said Hilton.

And, in the summer of 2008, Hilton got some exciting news. A bird he'd banded in Costa Rica had turned up in the United States.

This hummingbird, encountered in Georgia, was the first-ever ruby-throat banded in Central America to be captured in the United States. That makes it the first hard evidence that ruby-throats migrate back and forth.

You can help

If you're a hummingbird fan, you can help learn more about these birds. Here's how: If you come across a ruby-throat with a band on its leg, contact the federal Bird Banding Laboratory. Either fill out a form on its web page (www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/) or call 1-800-327-BAND. They'll ask for the band number and where the bird was found, and report this information to the original bander.

If you'd like to join one of those winter bird-banding trips to the tropics, go to www.hiltonpond.org and click on hummingbirds.

Val Cunningham, a St. Paul resident, writes about nature for local and regional newspapers. She's also the author of "The Gardener's Hummingbird Book." She can be reached at valwrites@comcast.net.

The Review Lady visits Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast

The Review Lady

Opinions on food and travel from the life of a perfectionist

The Review Lady's Rating Scale:

 

1 - Abysmal
2 - Needs Improvement
3 - Average
4 - Exceeds Expectations
5 - Perfection!

 

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 

 

Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast: Valparaiso, Indiana

 

Last month I decided to break up a Wisconsin-to-Kentucky drive by staying at Songbird Prairie in Valparaiso, Indiana for one night. It is only 10-12 minutes off I-65 and provided a welcome retreat from bad weather and a boring drive.

 

 

Tucked in a rural area with large residential lots, the inn’s landscaping looked well-kept even in the dead of winter. I assume the terrain and trees in the backyard are beautiful in the spring and summer.

 

 

Entering the inn feels more like entering a friend’s home than a commercial lodging property. There is a living room past the foyer where guests can relax. A snack and beverage center is off the living room just past the stairs.

 

  

A snack and beverage center is off the living room just past the stairs.

 

The entry to the breakfast room/sunroom is just before the snack area. Too full from dinner, I passed on snacks or drinks and headed up the stairs to my room. There are a total of 5 rooms/suites. With the solo midweek traveler rate, I was booked in the well-appointed Purplefinch Suite. Be sure to check photos online before booking a stay if decor is important to you, since each room has a different style. (Based on what I have seen on their website; I didn’t see any of the other rooms in person.) The Purplefinch Suite is very feminine and if my husband is my traveling companion on a future trip, I'll ask about some of their more masculine rooms. The innkeepers did their homework when designing the property as the lighting is some of the best I have ever experienced. Whenever I needed something like a hook, light, or towel, it was right there in the perfect place. There were even spot reading lights in the ceiling and most (if not all) switches had a dimmer.
The bathroom was very spacious, with a huge two-person air jet tub - my favorite kind. (Air jet tubs are known for being more hygienic than their whirlpool counterparts and I wish more lodging accommodations with whirlpools featured them.)

 

One of the best features of the bathroom was the heated tile floors - talk about being spoiled! I have only seen them on HGTV and they were a pampering touch on a cold night.

 

 

Other notable aspects of the room included your own thermostat controls, satellite television, a reading chair, fireplace, sound machine for sleeping (loved this - first time I have seen one at an inn), and a bedside candy truffle (almost too pretty to eat). Since the inn seems best suited for couples, there was not a work desk in the room. Not a problem since I was passing through, but worth noting if you are a business traveler. You may want to ask about one of the other suites or take your work downstairs to the sunroom since it has plenty of tables and chairs. If you snack while working, you may also want to go downstairs since the in-room information advised not to eat in the room. The only other thing to mention, in case it is important to you, is that there were two scent diffusers in the room - one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. If you are sensitive to smells you might want to ask the innkeeper to remove them during your stay. They were fine for me, I just moved the bedroom one to the bathroom overnight.

 

The comfortable atmosphere continued the next morning when I went downstairs for breakfast served in their sunroom. The room overlooks the landscape on the back of the property and includes windows on three sides. Thanks to their sound system (piping in sounds from just outside the windows) and a plethora of bird feeders, there is quite a show while you enjoy breakfast. I saw bird species that I had never seen or heard of before that morning. It was a relaxing way to start the day. 

Breakfast was amazing. Barbara, the co-owner/innkeeper, creates fare that is not only delicious but also artistically presented. Ice water is waiting when guests arrive with juice, coffee and hot tea available once you take a seat. The room features individual tables so guests have plenty of privacy while dining if there are other people present. The highlight of the morning was the cranberry-glazed poached pear with fresh fruit on the side. I do not normally like pears, but I would eat this every morning if I could. There was also a sweet bread pastry coated with orange icing on the plate. An omelet stuffed with fresh produce and cheese followed; it was filling and flavorful with a biscuit and bacon on the side. There is normally a third course, which likely would have been equally as delicious as the preceding two, but my stomach was much too full to keep up. I apologized to the expert chef in the kitchen, but let her know so that she did not plate it and waste any food since I was already one satisfied guest.

Unfortunately, after breakfast I had to get back on the road and leave such a lovely sanctuary. Barbara was very kind and I enjoyed chatting with her for a few minutes while I checked out.

I definitely recommend this inn to other travelers. Not only is it clean and comfortable, but breakfast is worth the trip alone if you are in the area. I am actually surprised that it is not included in Select Registry Distinguished Inns of North America. It is on par with other member properties that we have visited and certainly goes above and beyond standard bed and breakfasts. I hope to be back if we are in the area again.
Rating: 4
Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast
174 North 600 West

Valparaiso, Indiana 46385
(219) 759-4274
www.songbirdprairie.com

 

Posted by The Review Lady at 11:50 AM

 

 

 

Birdlife: Spring hummingbird happenings at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast in Valparaiso, IN

Birdlife: Spring hummingbird happenings

By Marcia Davis
Sunday, March 29, 2009

If you're an April fool for hummingbirds, it's easy to remember April 1 as a humdinger of a day - the day to hang the hummingbird feeders every year.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds keep to their schedules. Spring's first migrant hummers usually arrive in East Tennessee in early April. Be ready.

The same individual hummers that visited your yard last year may come back this year. They'll be looking for the feeder in the same place where it hung last year. Don't let them find an empty space.

Nectar-bearing flowers can be in short supply this early in spring.

Hummers need high-energy sugar-rich fuel for migration.

The formula for homemade nectar is 1 cup white cane sugar dissolved in 4 cups of water. Boil gently two or three minutes to retard spoilage and to fully dissolve sugar. Store in refrigerator up to a week. Don't use honey or artificial sweeteners. It is not necessary to use red food coloring.

After the feeders are up a few days, most of you will probably start wondering why you haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. Check the hummingbird migration map at www.hummingbirds.net to see just how far along the ruby-throats are on their journey to nesting sites as far north as Canada.

Ruby-throat enthusiasts across eastern North America report their earliest hummer sightings. Different-colored dots on this year's 2009 migration map show early arrival dates so far. Look at prior years' maps for the complete picture. Over 5,000 people reported their first hummer sightings in 2008. Report yours in 2009. This year ruby-throats were sighted in Middle and West Tennessee by March 20. They usually arrive later in East Tennessee.

Between now and late April - when courtship and nesting activities begin - plant some flowering perennial hummingbird plants. Select some plants that bloom in April, when large numbers of hummers pass through on migration every year. Next April your yard will be even more attractive to migrating hummers.

April-blooming, nectar-rich hummer plants include wildflowers like wild columbine (with drooping pendants of orange-red and yellow tubular flowers) and blue woodland phlox. Dwarf red buckeye is a small native tree with red tubular flowers. Early-blooming crossvines, coral honeysuckle and yellow Carolina jessamine are April-blooming vines.

Flowering quince shrubs with red flowers start blooming in late March.

Piedmont and flame azaleas are native shrubs that attract hummers.

Offer water in a way that helps migrating hummers take a bath. Hummers wet and preen their feathers to keep them in top shape for flying. They don't bathe by splashing around in bird baths. They shower.

Hummingbirds prefer to hover as they shower in a fine mist. Special leaf-misters for hummingbirds and other small birds connect to outdoor faucets. About 50 feet of small plastic tubing connects to a low-flow nozzle that creates a mist. Attach the nozzle to a tree branch to provide mist for hummers and to wet leaves for small birds that bathe in water held on leaves. Hummers will fly through the mist. You can also use a garden hose with the nozzle set to make a fine mist. Attach the nozzle to a tree limb or a stake in the ground.

Many people position a mister or garden hose nozzle to wet foliage above a ground-level bird bath. The sound of water dripping into the bird bath attracts more birds.

If you find baby wildlife, go to www.vbspcawildlife.com.Click on "The first thing to do...if you've found a baby bird" or "if you've found a baby mammal or duckling."

Make your reservation today call 877-766-4273 877 SONG_BRD

www.songbirdprairie.com

Buy Cheap Aspects Hummingbird Hummzinger Ultra Feeder (4 feeding ports - 12-oz feeder - 10” diameter)

    

[caption id="attachment_76" align="alignright" width="150" caption="male ruby-throated hummingbird"][/caption]

 

 We use these feeders as well as glass tubular feeders made from the coppersmiths at Holland Hill. 

 Bed and Breakfasts, Indiana is what to google to find the award winning Songbird Prairie, or www.songbirdprairie.com 877-766-4273

 

Features

• Combines patented nectar-guard tips with a built-in ant moat.


• Which prohibit entry from flying and crawling insects while allowing unrestricted feeding by


• The ultimate in insect protection while you enjoy the hummingbirds.


• The bright red cover attracts hummers from a distance and removes easily so the bowl can be cleaned


• All hummzinger feeders include a built-in nectar scale. 4 feeding ports.

 

Editorial Review

Product Description: Our newest hummingbird feeder the HummZinger Ultra combines patented Nectar-guard tips with a built-in ant moat. Nectar-Guard tips are flexible membranes attached to the HummZinger Ultra's feed ports. These unique tips prohibit entry from flying insects while allowing unrestricted feeding by hummingbirds. Also, the built-in ant moat stops crawling insects in their tracks before they can reach the nectar. These two patented features combine to give our HummZinger Ultra the ultimate in protection from both flying and crawling insects while you can enjoy the hummingbirds. Lifetime Guarantee

Report: U.S. bird species declining See songbirds at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast

Report: U.S. bird species declining

Last update: 9:30 p.m. EDT March 19, 2009

WASHINGTON, Mar 19, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- From Atlantic beaches to Midwestern prairies and Hawaiian forests, one-third of the 800 U.S. bird species are in danger, a report released Thursday said.

"The U.S. State of the Birds" is based on data from three bird censuses, including the annual Christmas bird count organized by the Audubon Society, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

"Just as they were when Rachel Carson published Silent Spring nearly 50 years ago, birds today are a bellwether of the health of land, water and ecosystems," Salazar said. "From shorebirds in New England to warblers in Michigan to songbirds in Hawaii, we are seeing disturbing downward population trends that should set off environmental alarm bells."

Hawaii, where species found nowhere else evolved on the island chain, has more endangered species than anywhere else in the country, the report said. But it also found 40 percent declines in grassland species in the past 40 years, a 30 percent drop in desert birds and a 39 percent decline in ocean species.

There was one note of hope. Many wetlands species like herons and ducks have rebounded because of restoration programs.

 www.upi.com