Bettina's Blog

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HELP! Google has kidnapped our web-site!

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:06:00 +0000

Google is going crazy with its world control.

What did I do? I didn't buy a domain name from Google so they could move my blog, I was happy with the domain-seller and server company with whom I do business. I didn't want to give up my server company to allow Google to be the server company and I didn't want to buy my domain name from Google. When I tried to navigate their new system for FTP published Google Blogs the Bettina web-site went away and Bettina's Blog took over the site.

What to do? There is no way to talk to anyone from Google. They have ignored my emails, which have been sent to everyone we could reach at Google - including the new addresses for those supposedly 'helping' in problems like this.

In the meantime, we have to find someone to pay a lot of money to so we can re-establish our web-site. In the meantime, our business is being negatively affected BIG TIME!

Take care people - Google came after us in the morning - they will come after you in the afternoon.

Grandmother's Wisdom

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:24:00 +0000

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We live in a society where there is much discussion about companies - especially banks - which are too big to fail.

Is that a deflection away from the fact that actually, we live in a society where a reigning truth is today businesses can be too small to succeed. If they look successful, the load put on their backs by large busiensses increases. No one or two people do this, it is in the structure!

That is sad because small businesses are the engines which create jobs.

Boston has a group formed - the inheritors of the old "Vault" - to talk about job creation. All huge businesses - no small business executives involved. Is that to discuss job creation and do something real about it or to blow smoke in our eyes so they can continue building the wall where large corporations are on one side - where the sun shines, buildings are beautiful, money plentiful, executives very wealthy, all owners of private jets - and small businesses are on the other - where the work is hard and never ending, the stress is high and getting higher, their resources are ripped and used by those on the other side of the wall and etc? Hmmmmmmmmm, where have we seen that model?

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An Update on Bread Baking - Bettina Style

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:13:00 +0000

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

We are unbelievably delighted with our bread baking. Finally, after many years, we have mastered the art of freshly baked bread every morning without getting up at 3am. We mastered this art not in the process of trying to accomplish what we thought was an unattainable feat, but in the process of trying to make great organic croissants.

Our latest breakfast experiment is organic croissants. So far, it has not been successful, but on our way to croissants, we've discovered other wonderful bread treats.

We are only willing to use organic stone ground whole wheat flour and everything else has to be real, whole, organic food. We've been given many "secrets" to a successful croissant, but they all have made us question even eating croissants. We've heard about using everything from a 'starter,' to very expensive kitchen equipment. The healthiest suggestion was a Yogurt starter, but when we read the ingredients we couldn't pronounce some so we dropped that possibility. When we checked out the kitchen equipment there was aluminum in crucial places, so we will continue the effort without those suggestions - and you know we won't give up.

Our 'accidental discoveries' on the way to a successful, organic, whole wheat croissant have been exciting and exceptionally delicious. Our latest discovery is a wonderful bun which can be used for hamburgers; a breakfast biscuit of any shape you desire; a wrap for 'pigs in the blanket' or beef hotdogs for those who won't eat pork; cinnamon buns, which are a little bit of heaven; the best monkey bread you can find and more. Our 'new' dough discovery has many applications, however, if you want a great slice of very tasty, nutritious, substantial bread, the original Bettina Bread recipe can't be beat - especially if you use organic apple juice for the liquid and molasses for a little sweetener.

As we experimented trying to make croissants we mixed half organic whole wheat flour with half organic whole wheat pastry flour. In addition we used one stick of organic butter for the fat in the Bettina Bread recipe. We used organic apple juice for liquid and organic maple syrup for a sweetener. Once we've been through the first steps of making bread and have reached the point where the dough is mixed and ready for its first rising, we roll out the bread dough with a rolling pin, cut a stick of organic butter into pats and put them on 1/2 the rolled out dough. We folded 1/2 dough without butter over the 1/2 dough with butter and continued to fold the dough in halves until it reached a small packet. We then rolled that out with a rolling pin - refolded the dough - rolled it out again, refolded it again and wrapped it tightly with a clean cotton towel and put the resulting packet in the refrigerator. We did this in the middle of the day. So at night, before bed, we re-rolled the dough, folded it into a small square packet again, covered it and put it in the refrigerator. If we were up to it we would re-roll and re-fold the dough a couple time before wrapping and putting it in the refrigerator. We found that the dough rises, even in the refrigerator, so it was always pushing hard against its cotton cover. Some people use Saran Wrap for this, but we weren't happy with that.

The next morning, we unwrapped the dough and cut off the amount of dough we wanted to use for breakfast rolls, rolled out the remainder with the rolling pin, folded it into a small square and put it back into the refrigerator.

Keeping this going - we re-rolled the dough at night before going to bed and the next morning, took off the piece we wanted to use for breakfast rolls, re-rolled the rest, covered it, put it in the refrigerator, etc. You get the picture. There is always dough in the refrigerator if you would like freshly baked bread, pizza, etc. with very little work and time spent. It would take anywhere from 1/2 hour to 2 hours for the dough to rise and that didn't depend upon the dough, but upon our time once we shaped the dough into its final form. If we didn't have much time, 1/2 hour gave us a beautifully risen sheet of breakfast biscuits which took about 15-20 minutes to bake. If we were busy and didn't get back to the rising dough for an hour or more it was still in great shape.

We did find that organic yeast was the best to use if we didn't want bread dough which would smell like ammonia if we let it rise too long. The other stuff we had to watch carefully or we would have to throw out the half-made bread and start over again. One day we will try keeping the dough going using some of the old dough to serve as the rising agent for the dough being newly made, but that's another year and another blog. We are feeling good about all of this bread baking, but not that good!

As we saw that we would run out of dough the next morning, we started another recipe of dough so it would continue being available. We used the dough for three mornings before we ran out so we don't know what would happen to the dough if you kept it in the refrigerator longer than that.

The pizza we made from the dough adding tomatoes, parmesan cheese and whatever else we had in the refrigerator which fit, was unbelievably fantastic! It was so good a couple bed and breakfast guests who saw us make the pizza the night before and tasted it, requested pizza for lunch and came home from their all-day business meeting to eat pizza. That isn't something we normally do or encourage, but we loved every minute of preparing that pizza and enjoying lunch with guests.

That's our story! Let us know what happens if you try this, or some of your experiences making croissants. We are seeking information to make great organic croissants with whole wheat flour. We clearly don't know how to do that!

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L. A. Burdick's - A Restaurant Review

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

copyright The Bettina Network, inc.

52-D Bratle Street
Cambridge, MA. 02138
Phone: 617-491-4340
website: burdickchocolate.com

Hours: Sunday 9am-9pm, Monday-Thursday 8am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 8am-10pm

Visiting the newly renovated Burdick's was a bit of a disappointment. I passed many times, but didn't stop because I didn't have time to wait in the line which seemed to be perennially outside the door - to the point of having signs telling you not to block the neighboring store and how to stand in line to wait.

I passed with a friend about noon this week and was able to get in without waiting and to even get an empty table.

Given all the people in line, I expected an outstanding list of offerings and there was my first disappointment. The lines formed because there are only ten tables in the restaurant and those are tiny table which can barely accommodate two people. On one side there are six tables with seating for two - on the other side there are four table with seating for one at each table unless you want to scrunch in and squeeze next to the two people at the neighboring table trying to do the same thing.

People seemed to be there for the hot chocolate since that is what was on everyone's table. That was great, but I wanted something more. Friends have given me boxes of chocolate from Burdick's, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was like a teaser, which wasn't followed through on by what I found in the restaurant.

We had two chocolate pastries, which were good, but they took me back to when such pastries were introduced in the U. S. about 1980's. It was kind of ho-hum and not really spectacular.

Getting tired of being pushed into the people at the next table, I bypassed the hot chocolate and wanted to go home where I had organic chocolate waiting for me.

It is very hard to enjoy a restaurant when you have accumulated a bit of knowledge about real food and your taste buds have moved definitely way beyond your childhood tastes.

Bottom line for us - Burdick's is a nice place to go if you want to buy a gift for someone and you think a pretty box of chocolates would do. Beyond that I don't see the attraction.

I went to Burdick's before they renovated the store and I like the old store better. The tables were larger, you could sit with your friends and enjoy conversation with what you were eating. This is neither one thing nor the other.

The bare wood floor down the middle of the store which divides the tables - looks as though an aisle was made so those coming in to buy something would have room to wait in line while others eat on the sidelines. As a consequence, the light color of the wood may have been a nice idea on paper, but it has worn and looks as though it needs more stain to cover the wear which is not that appetizing as you sit and try to enjoy your dessert. Neither is it great to sit at those tiny tables, trying to balance yourself with people coming and going and sweeping past you. The concept of the store leaves a lot to be desired and is not the sophisticated place Burdick's marketing claims.

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Olive Oil for Cleaning - a Hot Topic

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:56:00 +0000

From a bed & breakfast guest:

Your posts on using olive oil have opened the doors and windows for me. I've had a grand time with it and you have answered many quesstions I've had for years.

When I read your post about cleaning furniture with lemon juice and olive oil, I pulled out my old wooden chopping board. It is dried out horribly and I haven't used it for a couple years because I didn't know how to treat it. All the literature says clean it with white vinegar, to get rid of the smell, and then rub mineral oil into the wood. Well, I eat what I chop on the board and I was not going to eat something which had been prepared on wood cleaned with white vinegar (acetic acid) - and mineral oil (petroleum). I wouldn't put mineral oil on my food, nor would I put it on my body - which means I don't get professional massages because that is basically what is contained in their massage oil.

When I read your post I thought - what do I have to lose - so I mixed up about 2/3 cups olive oil with 1/2 lemon and went to work on the old board. The next morning I was amazed. It was beautiful. I used the entire amount of olive oil and lemon juice because the board just soaked it up. It is now showing the squares the way it did when it was new. The oil has dried and it is not greasy. I had to wipe the dried lemon off, but that took a second and I am certain the brightness and cleanness of the board is due to the lemon addition, so the extra second was worth the effort.

Thank you! I have my chopping board back; I am not afraid to use it; It is once again a beautiful addition to my kitchen and all is right with the world.

Keep on keeping on. This has made me a loyal reader of your blog and I will also tell everyone I know about this experience.

Somehow, I think this was probably how my grandmother cleaned her chopping board, but I wasn't listening, watching, or learning from her when she was around. I guess I really missed a lot from being so absent from the older women in my family. They are who should have been my role models. Wish I could pass that bit of wisdom down to my own children and future grandchildren to help make their lives easier. Better to learn from them than from the marketing media, who I learned from and because of whom I must now relearn and try to make a better life for myself than they tried to do for me.

The older women in my family had my best interest at heart, although I didn't think so at the time. They were not trying to pry all the money out of my pocketbook leaving me with health issues as a result of their wrong-headed advice. A friend of mine even bought "food grade" mineral oil as a present for me to help me with my chopping board. Food grade or not, it is still petroleum and I didn't use it, although she had all the right arguments to try to get me to use it. I sent her the link to your blog so she could see where she was really an air-head about buying the advice of those who are paid to sell bad stuff. I knew if I waited long enough something would come along to help with these little problems. One down, four hundred ninety- nine to go. Keep those posts coming! God bless you!

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In Addition to Cleaning Furniture the Bettina Way

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:45:00 +0000

I love your company. I wasn't really sold on traveling bed & breakfast, but after trying Bettina's I am a convert. May it and all of you live long and prosper.

I tried the olive oil and lemon juice and it was FANTASTIC!!!!! I had some left over and went about cleaning other things. Did you know the same mixture cleans brass? I hate to clean brass and we have tons of it from my just married days. We were given a lot and started collecting exquisite pieces, but they can be horrible to clean so we didn't. Some had turned quite dark. The only time any of our brass pieces were cleaned was when the woman who cleans for us had extra time and she would pick up a piece or two and rub forever. The stuff she used had a foul smell, which lingered in the house for hours.

I used the 0000 steel wool and what was left over from the olive oil and lemon juice mixture I used to clean a couple pieces of wood furniture. It is unbelievable how easy it was to clean my brass pieces - trays, statues, candles. They look beautiful - but best of all I didn't have to suit-up to spend half a day cleaning brass. I didn't even use rubber gloves and like you said, my hands are all the better for having done the work.

THANK YOU! And you know I won't ever stay anyplace else. By the time you help me get my house into a very "organic" state I won't be able to stay anyplace else. As it is, I am hooked on breakfast at Bettina's. However, I haven't turned my own kitchen organic as a result - my husband is a little unhappy paying the extra money for some organic foods, but we have gone completely organic with milk and butter. Eggs are next. Hopefully, he will relent, especially when he sees the money we are going to save on brass polish. The one we bought was VERY EXPENSIVE! I've tried to show him that you spend more on some things and less on others when you go organic - maybe this proves the case.

ed. Note: We added the bold type to this guests comments.

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Cleaning Furniture the Bettina Way

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:45:00 +0000

copyright the Bettina Network, inc. 2010

Several months ago, we received a telephone call from a host family in the Bettina Network whose home is open for bed & breakfast guests.

She had an exciting experience cleaning and polishing her furniture. Not many of us get excited over such things these days. It has taken a couple months for us to share this with you because we were afraid to try her suggestion to verify her results. We've done that now and it is actually, really exciting.

She cleans and polishes her wood furniture every six months. How she does it is what's at issue: she mixes olive oil with the juice from 1/2 lemon and rubs this into her wood furniture.

Having been conditioned by the petrochemical crowd and their fantastic marketing, we thought this would be a disaster. We asked a few people to try it before we set out on this project and their results were astounding - so, our turn.

We mixed one cup olive oil with the juice of 1/2 lemon, used 0000 steel wool and set about rubbing our furniture. Once we rubbed the furniture with the 0000 steel wool, (always in the direction of the grain), we wiped off the oil and the steel wool residue with a soft cloth and went back over the furniture with plain olive oil. We let the furniture dry overnight.

The next morning I fully expected to find little animals feasting on the oil residue and an oily ugly mess, but instead the excess oil soaked into the furniture and left a hard beautiful sheen. The results are phenomenal. The furniture is clean, bright, and has a shine that is real. Not greasy, nor slimy, nor anything like that, just a good, clean, hard, dry sheen.

The side benefits from this furniture cleaning and polishing expedition came when we looked at our hands. No rubber gloves were needed because we were using olive oil and lemon juice - neither of which would hurt us if it touched our skin. Our hands were beautifully soft because they had been nourished by the olive oil we used as furniture oil. Another benefit came from the house not smelling of petroleum distillates, a really foul smell. I sniffed around in the evening and couldn't smell anything. We asked bed & breakfast guests if they smelled anything when they came in, they said no - nothing. I was concerned because I didn't want the house to smell like a salad dressing, but that didn't happen. The house had a nice, clean, fresh, smell.

A variation on this came from trying a substitute of lemongrass essential oil for the lemon juice. That is an essential oil which we've found has side health benefits. The results were not as dramatic as when we used the olive oil and lemon juice combination, but still very good. The smell was a major difference - probably because of the lemongrass essential oil - the house had a fresh, light sort of lemony smell. We didn't pick that smell up with the olive oil and lemon juice but then lemongrass oil has an old wives tale with it which claims it is an excellent insecticide, so maybe that explains the smell.

Copying from an article on the internet "Lemongrass essential oil is analgesic, anti-microbial, antiseptic, astringent, bactericidal, carminative, deodorant, insecticidal, sedative, nervine and a tonic; in aromatherapy, lemongrass oil is used to treat acne, to repel insects such as fleas, lice, ticks and mosquitoes, to relieve muscle pain, indigestion, fever, disease, headaches, stress and nervous exhaustion."

Read more at Suite101: Lemongrass Essential Oil: The Properties and Uses of Lemongrass Oil in Aromatherapy http://aromatherapy.suite101.com/article.cfm/lemongrass_essential_oil#ixzz0fEJAqYes

We are going to ask all Bettina homes which offer bed & breakfast to use olive oil and either lemon juice or lemongrass essential oil to clean their furniture in the future. We can't see anyone objecting. The benefits are - less money spent on furniture polishers; no need for rubber gloves to clean your furniture; does not compromise your health; nice fresh, clean smell; beautiful furniture and possibly an insecticide side-affect; AND its benefits to the environment are immense.

Afterthoughts: The 0000 steel wool for the initial cleaning was our idea and it is not something that is a necessary part of cleaning the furniture. We are the only ones who used the 0000 steel wool, everyone else rubbed the olive oil and lemon juice combination onto their furniture with a soft cloth and rubbed the furniture until it was clean. They also wiped off the olive oil and lemon juice combination and followed that with rubbing plain olive oil into their furniture as a second step. Everyone let the oil dry overnight for an added benefit instead of wiping off the excess oil immediately and went over the furniture the next morning with a soft dry cloth. We all also found that the oil was gone from the furniture the next morning and the hard, dry shine was in place.

TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email comments to info@bettina-network.com
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Fresh, Healthy-Looking Eyes

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:30:00 +0000

A tip from a guest - sent via mail to the Bettina Network, inc.

Thanks for Bettina's Blog. I enjoy reading it and followed your suggestion of saving it for Sunday morning. It is more fun than the newspapers I read on Sundays and informative in ways no one else tells us. My experience at breakfast in the Bettina Home where I stayed was fascinating. I learned an enormous amount and was very impressed with the intellectual level of your guests.

My tip doesn't begin to meet those lofty levels, but it was astounding to me and I would like to pass it along to others.

I read your post about keeping your skin beautiful with vitamins A, E and organic powdered milk and have been using it religiously. It has done wonders for my wrinkled skin, which is smoothing out and has taken on a fantastic sheen. My husband tells me I have taken on a "glow."

I've taken your post one step further to increase the good results I get. When I rinse my face with water from my cupped hands the ten splashes you suggest, I don't dry around the eyes. I dry the rest of my face because I don't like the feeling of water dripping off my face as I wait for the water to dry, but not wiping around the eyes has done wonders for me. The skin around my eyes was puffy and wrinkly. For several months now I have not touched around the eyes, only did the ten times water splashes to my face without drying my eyes and I can't believe the difference. Imagine dewey eyes at my age.

A nurse I know said it happens because whenever you dry around your eyes you are compressing the veins and the thin skin and that is what's happening. Don't know if that's true or not and don't know if I am remembering exactly what she said, but it was something like that.

I really don't care why, I care about the results from the ten splashes and not wiping the eye area - I look well rested. I send this tip to you in exchange for your tip about what clipping the vitamins has done for the rest of my face.

ed:Note - the Blog to which the reader refers is "Bettina's Premier Beauty Secret" published in March, 2008

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Your Credit Card and their 'Rewards"

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:26:00 +0000

copyright 2010 The Bettina Network, inc.

Let's take a look at those Credit Card "Rewards" offered by just about every bank. This came from several breakfast conversations. We put it all together and voila - for your information!

Who pays for those rewards? Are they really 'gifts' from the banks and credit card companies as payment for your loyalty to them or are they profit centers generating more money transferred from John and Mary Q. Public to the banks without John & Mary realizing the game plan?

Those rewards do not come from either the Credit Card companies or their underlying banks. They come from you, the consumer using those credit cards. You pay for the rewards you think are 'free' and you pay a substantial amount of money for those 'gifts.'

How? When you make a purchase via a merchant with your credit card, the credit card company takes a percentage of your charge from the merchant; and takes a monthly fee; a rental fee for the equipment the merchant uses; money for telephone calls the machine makes from the merchant to the processing company to approve and record your charges; PLUS - an extra amount for whatever credit card 'program' your card indicates. So, the merchant is left with a fairly heavy discount taken by the credit card companies. The 'reward' program discounts can be pretty substantial as an addition on top of everything else.

I am sure by now you get the picture. The merchant can not absorb those discounts and stay in business so they are passed along - TO YOU!

Merchants have contracts with their credit card processing companies - just as you have a contract with your credit card company. Those contracts are changed on a basis about as regular as your contract is changed. The only 'consent' the merchants can give to those changes is to either agree and go along or stop accepting credit cards from their consumers and we all know what that would do to that merchants' business. So the merchant is pretty well locked into allowing the discount percentages for the rewards to be taken from the money they receive from the credit card processing companies. Those discounts are taken and sent to the credit card banks whether you use your 'rewards' points or they just disappear!

Some quick calculations will point you in the direction of the 'rewards' system being a profit center for the credit card companies instead of 'gifts' to consumers.

The rewards discount is taken from each and every credit card purchase by the credit card processing companies - whether the reward is used or not and each bank has a way of limiting the amount of rewards actually used. There are rules as to when you can use your rewards and when you get stripped of them. The merchant does not receive a credit if your rewards are stripped from you, that goes to the bank's bottom line profit.

We believe some of the 'reward' offers are downright fraudulent. Take for example when you start with a credit card company and they offer special promotions giving you 'double points' sometimes 'triple points' for buying stuff using their credit card. After a time, those same special promotions are offered to all credit card holders. What has happened? The 'rewards' which previously took 100 points to get - now take 200 points or in the case of the triple point offers - 300 points. The number of points it takes to 'buy' the same reward has increased two or three times. That was most noticeable when the points it took for airline tickets doubled - particularly with American Express.

On settlement day with the merchant, there are various amounts showing on the merchants statement from their credit card processor.

For example: One merchant - selling widgets - pays the credit card processor 2.99% for allowing that merchant to accept credit cards. The discount percentage varies from one merchant to another or in the case of American Express, from one industry to another.

In addition to that 2.99%, that merchant pays a monthly fee for using the service. In addition, the merchant pays for telephone calls, at so much per call, (haven't they heard of Skype) generated to put the charge through from the merchant to the processor, in addition, the merchant pays either a rental or purchase fee for the equipment used - some as high as $80/month for a small company (our research shows that is Bank of America) and on up.

And then comes the 'reward' discount. The merchant is charged an extra amount, on top of all of the above discounts, depending upon which card was accepted with which program in effect. It is a place where banks can nickel and dime a merchant into capitalisms graveyard without the merchants being aware they are terminally ill because the amounts on an individual charge seem to be so little. Very few merchants are good at that kind of math - and even more don't believe they are being robbed so blatantly.

When you add up the money across the entire credit card industry it is an overwhelmingly large amount. Then - do the math - subtract from that the amount not used by credit card holders who die with points on their credit cards; credit card holders who are stripped of their points because they had late payments; credit card holders who are stripped of their points for innumerable other reasons; credit card holders who don't ever get enough points to use them, etc. etc. etc.

When added up, one realizes that much money is being made here and where is it going? Into the banks' pockets and then into the preferred bankers' pockets individually through those obscene bonuses! How is it being reported? Is there a stripped out set of numbers which accurately reports the profit banks are making from their credit card 'rewards' program and how much the general public is paying for 'gifts' that they think are free to them as a bonus for their loyalty to their credit card? That is the area where all are notoriously silent.

Don't speak of it until we find another service with which to replace this rewards boon-doggle and then it can be trashed out of existence, while we quietly move along taking even more money from John and Mary Q Public.

Elegant S'mores for Breakfast!

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:19:00 +0000

copyright Bettina Network, inc. 2010

It is a little decadent to have dessert for breakfast, but we rationalize it by advising you to go for a long walk after breakfast to use up all that extra food energy.

You will need:

Organic Graham Crackers
Bettina's Marshmaples (recipe under 'Bettina's Cookbook')
Bettina's chocolate sauce

Bettina's Chocolate Sauce
Make this sauce immediately before serving because it becomes less liquid and more solid the longer it sits and cools. A cooled sauce will not pour over the Marshmaples.

To make the sauce you will need:
organic semi-sweet chocolate chips (the amount depends upon the number of s'mores you're making.)
organic heavy cream - enough to cover the organic chocolate chips.

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler
pour in the heavy cream, once the chips have melted and stir.
If you would like to add flavor, organic oils in vanilla, almond, etc. will do nicely

Once the sauce is ready, use a very beautiful dessert plate (A saucer larger than a cup saucer)
Put an organic graham cracker on the saucer
Cut the Bettina Marshmaples to fit the graham cracker - with a scissors, dull knife, etc.
pour the chocolate sauce over the Marshmaples so it drips down the sides
Serve to lots of ooohs and aaahs and exclamations of joy!

These are best assembled and served one at a time so you can spoon Bettina's Chocolate Sauce from the pot while it is still over the double boiler!

We keep a glass dish of Marshmaples in the refrigerator because there are so many things you can do with them. We keep them in one piece and only cut as we need Bettina's Marshmaples for different dishes - or as someone would like one to go with their ginger or tulsi tea - or even at night with hot chocolate!

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Cayenne Pepper Stories

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:37:00 +0000

copyright 2010 Bettina Network, inc.

Stories about Cayenne Pepper and what it does for you have been floating around the breakfast table at a couple Bettina homes for several years.

The first time we heard about cayenne pepper - other than as a spice in your food - was from a Canadian Guest, in town to run a 26 mile Marathon. He was a serious runner who trained extensively. Before leaving for that particular Marathon, he asked his host family for cayenne pepper. They obliged and guests watched as he put liberal amounts of cayenne pepper in the inside of his running shoes. Of course, that generated much conversation. Before leaving to run the Marathon he had to answer many questions - how long had he done this; what affect did it have; how did he find out about cayenne pepper, etc.

At the end of the day, the only person who came back still walking and in pretty good shape was the Marathon runner who, that morning, liberally sprinkled cayenne pepper in his shoes.

We tried it for a couple months and it works. We don't run or train for the Marathon, but we do shop and shop and shop. Before leaving home we always sprinkle cayenne pepper in our shoes and it works amazingly well. What was once a tiring time has become a time which puts a spring in our step. We don't know what happens or why, but we do know sprinkling cayenne pepper in the bottom of our shoes seems to drop years and gives us much more energy to do our chores.

But for bed & breakfast, we would still be walking on tired legs and feet.

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A Change to Bettina's Coconut Cake

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:23:00 +0000

copyright 2010 Bettina Network, inc. by a guest

I made the Coconut Cake and it was just as great as I had hoped it would be. I did a few things a little different and wanted to share that with you.

For the icing, I used whole eggs instead of just the egg whites. I hate to waste and I knew I woulnd't be up to making Bettina's Chocolate Pudding or anything else after I finished this cake. I put four whole (organic free range) eggs in the mixer. I bought the Cuisinart stand mixer when you wrote that blog on your thoughts about mixers. I let the mixer beat for about 15 minutes. That is how long it took for the eggs to become fluffy the way I wanted them to.

In the meantime, I put the sugar and water on to boil. I used 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups water instead of the 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in your recipe because I wanted lots of icing.

When the water and sugar reached the 240 degree stage I started to pour it, very slowly, into the eggs while letting the mixer keep going.

When I finished that, I started to put into the mixer the butter. I cut the butter into small pats and threw each pat into the mixer letting it mix for a few seconds. Altogether I used three sticks of butter.

I also put in about 1/3 cup organic virgin coconut oil - which was hardened since that is its natural state. I got the idea to do that from your suggestion of using coconut milk in the cake. If you use coconut milk in the cake, why not coconut oil in the icing. It is the consistency of butter, whips up into a very light confection like butter and sure enough, it worked.

I let the mixer beat the icing until it turned into a light buttery like creation. At the end, before stopping the mixer I put in the vanilla oil you suggested in another recipe - the organic oil, you remember? That was the ultimate.

I did not put shredded coconut on my cake, I put the icing on as it was. The coconut milk and oil carried the day and gave the taste so I didn't need the shredded stuff.

It was unbelievably good. Thanks for the recipe. In case you don't remember me, I am the one who asked for the recipe and I appreciate your putting it on the blog.

Enjoy this change - it is nice to have more than one way to do something.

A loyal guest!
Thanks for not using my name. We are all paranoid these days.

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Response to Disaster in Haiti

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:22:00 +0000

One response the Bettina Network, inc. made to the disaster in Haiti was to respond to a request from a bed & breakfast guest and now a friend, to give a one night stay at a Bettina home in Harvard Square for the silent auction being held by the town of Weston, VT.

We were delighted to respond and grateful that we were included and able to do a little more to help those in such shock and pain.

The event was held this past Saturday (January 23, 2010) and was, by all accounts, a very successful undertaking. Kudos to the town of Weston, Vermont for being involved and for moving so quickly to help address such an enormous need! Proceeds from the auction were sent to Partners in Health to further their work in Haiti.

What made it special to us were the number of people who gave a part of their work and talent: one woman gave cookies - to be baked at a time requested by the successful bidder. She had samples of the cookies at the event to encourage bids. Another gave her special carrot cake, also to be baked at a time requested by the successful bidder - and she also had samples. And there were more.

It is wonderful to give money - that is what's needed in the end - but to also involve yourself and give something which takes time out from busy lives is indeed special. It insures that you will think of the Haitians undergoing such trauma, after the fund-raising event and will put your hopes and wishes for them into whatever it is you have made.

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Ginger Pralines

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:56:00 +0000

copyright 2010 by Marceline Donaldson

Pralines generate memories that takes me back to a really great childhood. I shall always be grateful to those who sacrificed so much for me.

A neighbor and I (Troy Lynn), used to get in my grandmother's kitchen and experiment with pralines. Troy Lynn took her pralines home and ate them. I sold mine. My entrepreneurial spirit started early. I ran that enterprise the way some corporations are run today - which is probably why I understand those corporations.

My grandmother supplied the ingredients for the pralines, which was great, but I stuck my mouth out when she suggested I pay for the sugar out of my earnings. I was crushed. "Why do you want me to pay for sugar. You have lots of it in the cupboard." She tried to tell me about making sure you were making a profit. You also had to count your time in the equation so you would know if it was profitable or not. I was truly appalled at that point. If I did all of that I wouldn't make a profit and it wouldn't be worth making the pralines. "That's the point of doing the math," my grandmother said. My mouth continued to be stuck out and when she insisted, it started to quiver and she knew tears were next so she just gave up and I had a very successful business.

Thinking of those years and my grandmother and having been on the telephone with Troy Lynn talking about this venture, I decided to make pralines, just to connect to those times and those feelings and my grandmother.

She would have been amazed at the results of my efforts. I am in awe at what I have created. The pralines were sensational. I feel a little sick because I've eaten so many and goodness knows what the sugar is going to do to my aging body.

Those pralines brought so many memories rushing back I was crying by the time I finished making them. But, they were not a pure New Orleans creation. They connected Old New Orleans to the East. With these pralines I have managed to make cultural connections with New Orleans, Asia and India.

Ginger tea has become a staple in our kitchen. We always have a glass jar filled with Ginger Tea that we make, at least once a week. (ed.note - see Bettina's Blog for the recipe). We use it either as 'sweet tea' or regular tea - and it has a very strong kick.

This time, by Providence, the tea jar was empty and in the bottom were the slices of ginger root which we let steep to keep the ginger tea strong. That was the genesis of these fantastic pralines.

I used the ginger root slices in the pralines the way one would use pecans. I also used a little freshly ground nutmeg in some and cumin in others with the ginger root. The pralines were vaguely reminiscent of New Orleans pralines, but with a newness that made them a sensation. Pralines, for some, are the very essence of Creole New Orleans. The only food with a stronger connection to Creole New Orleans would be hot callas, but then that's another blog.

New Orleans today has a very large influx of Asians that call it home. These Ginger Pralines are a cultural amalgam which reflects today's reality of the city New Orleans has become.

We had just one guest in the house while I was making these pralines. She came into the kitchen while the pralines were cooling on the marble slab and between us we ate all except two of the pralines. Two seemed to be a decent amount to keep to see how they would taste when they were thoroughly cooled. She went to bed and after a respectable time, Robert and I split the last two pralines. They were even better cooled so I made more for tomorrow. They are now downstairs cooling. Maybe they will make it into tomorrow and maybe they won't. I haven't been up this late for months - my 7pm bedtime has been shot - my children would be proud!

Pralines aux Ginger - a very recherche dessert
(to be served on heavily gold encrusted dessert plates and eaten with your fingers)

Organic Turbinado Sugar how much you use depends upon how many pralines you want to produce.
for a first timer - two cups should suffice so if you ruin the pralines you can try again without knashing your teeth over your loss of ingredients.
for the experienced candy maker who wants a good number of pralines - one pound

Sliced Organic Ginger Root which has been boiled in a large pot of water for several hours to make tea. The Ginger Root you use for these pralines are what's left over after the ginger tea is gone.

Water - freshly ground Nutmeg - Cumin

1. Put the sugar in a PORCELAIN POT.

2. Add water to moisten and cover the sugar. Don't mix the two together. Pour the water over the sugar being careful not to let it splash, etc.

3. Bring the water and sugar to a boil to make a, sort of, simple syrup, but not that liquid.

4. When this mixture reaches about 200 degrees, add the ginger root and let it boil until the mixture begins to bubble and has almost, but not quite, turned to sugar. Stir constantly without stopping.

5. Quickly add any spices you want to incorporate into these pralines - ground nutmeg, cumin, whatever. Given the fact that you are using Ginger Root - even Root that has been previously boiled for several hours, I would not add anything with heat. These will have plenty heat on their own.

6. Take the pot off the fire and drop by the spoonfuls onto a buttered marble slab so you form what looks like small pancakes. Spread these with the spoon and round them with a fork until they form neat, round cakes - the size and thickness depends upon you. I like them about 1/4 inch thick and about 4-5" in diameter.

Let them dry. Pick them up with a knife or spatula, very gently. You will have the memory of a New Orleans Creole Praline changed into an East meets West confection. Someone have a name for this?

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Creole Breakfast Cake

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:57:00 +0000

copyright by The Bettina Network, inc. 2010

"Creole" is New Orleans Creole.
This is a quick and simple breakfast cake which can be made in less than 20 minutes. Very good if you want a nice ending to breakfast and don't want to spend hours baking. If you want to dress it up, whip a little heavy cream, add organic turbinado sugar to the heavy cream and drop a dollop on top of a slice of this cake. Rumor has it the recipe was created in a convent in New Orleans when the nuns were cleaning out the refrigerator and baked this with what they had.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Organic Turbinado Sugar
1/2 cup Organic, Stone-Ground, Whole Wheat Flour

   for this cake you can use either Pastry or Regular Flour, depending upon your taste at the time
   Use Pastry Flour when you want a more refined cake, Regular Flour when you want
   something a little heartier - just make sure whatever you use is not only Organic and Whole Wheat
   but it is also Stone Ground - a very important distinction - otherwise the flour is milled with heat
   which destroys all of the nutrition and it becomes a flour which has a very long shelf life. It has
   that long shelf life because bugs won't touch it - there is no nutrition in it. Even bugs know you
   don't bother eating what doesn't contribute to your life and health. What bugs won't eat, neither
   should you. A long shelf life benefits the seller, and ruins the health of the buyer.

1 Tablespoon baking power
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Organic milk (preferably raw)
1 organic egg
4 Tablespoons Organic butter (melted)
Extra Organic Turbinado Sugar and Cinnamon to mix and sprinkle over top of cake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the sugar, flour, baking powder and sale. Add the egg, milk and melted butter. Mix well. Place the mixture in a round or square baking dish, depending upon your taste. Make the baking dish either stainless steel or glass, please. Sprinkle the top with the sugar and cinnamon mix.

Bake about 15 minutes.

Couldn't be quicker or simpler for a nice treat to sooth that sweet tooth.

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A Tribute to Mary Daly

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:19:00 +0000

by: Marceline Donaldson

A friend of mine died on Sunday. The world is changing much too fast. Old friends are leaving, quietly. You hear nothing for a couple years and then the news comes that they have died. Keep your friends and family close. Before you know it, they will be gone.

Mary Daly died on Sunday. I first met Mary when I was at Harvard Business School. On a Sunday, I went to Memorial Church. No particular reason, that was what I did on Sundays. The preacher was Mary Daly. She preached a sermon I will never forget and at the end of it led a walk out to protest the patriarchy. - Almost everybody in Harvard Memorial Church that Sunday, walked out with her - me included. It was kind of like being in a shocked, unreal, dreamlike place. It was 1971 and the world was just waking up to what feminism and the women's movement was all about.

I saw the picture of Mary Daly that the Boston Globe used over her obituary. It was probably the worst picture of her they could find. Choosing that picture said more about the Boston Globe than it did about Mary Daly. When I met Mary that Sunday, so many years ago, she was a young, very beautiful woman. I read Mary's obituary in the Boston Globe. It said nothing about the Memorial Church walkout. It read as though what she did in life was to refuse to admit men to her classes at Boston College.

I spent the 1970's protesting, reading Mary's books, along with many more and waking up from my southern, feminine, shy self. I turned the 'ne at the end of feminine into 'st and have been doing my little bit to change a patriarchy that sometimes seems intransigent. Those who fought as hard as Mary Daly did, suffer the slings and arrows; the harsh judgments of their peers; the jealousy of those fighting alongside them; the rage of the patriarchy and more, but they have the freedom, the total internal freedom that comes with knowing who you are, of defining yourself; of not allowing this world and its institutional structures to dictate your sense of self-worth. That freedom is worth all the pain and agony which goes along with claiming it.

To Mary Daly - my deepest thanks for the incredible way you gave of yourself to bring about change from a baser way of living in this world to one in which me, my children and grandchildren can begin to heal from the burdens and abuses of the patriarchal system into which we were born.

Out of the depths of my despair, my frustration, my confusion, my feelings of being an alien where I live every day, breaks forth my realization of the incredible joy of being me - of understanding who that is - of not compromising my equality for anything or anyone - of becoming fierce and strong and proud of my femaleness. Stereotypes fall away, they lose their grip and I see through all the games being played against me. Games to diminish me; to bind me; to keep me from being all that i was born to be, all that my talents push me to be - how glorious is that freedom. May it keep its hold on me forever.

Amazingly, many of the things Mary Daly talked about I heard from my grandmother. She didn't phrase them the same way and my grandmother would be appalled if anyone called her a feminist, but there she was. She talked about sin - if you are going to sin, sin boldly, she said. Always make your own living. You are a free, whole person - always remember that. There is nothing you can't do. If one door closes, another door opens - only you have to be able to see the opening door and if you are crying over the door that closed in your face, you will surely miss the better one opening just a few feet away - and it isn't going to sit there open for long, waiting until you arise from your self-pity, missy.

The world will miss a beautiful soul. God bless you Mary Daly. May your soul and the souls of the departed do glorious things together and be joyous in your new life in ways that were not possible on earth.

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Darwin's Ltd. (A Review)

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:25:00 +0000

2010 copyright The Bettina Network, inc.

148 Mount Auburn St.
Cambridge, MA. 02138
617 354 5233
www.darwinsltd.com

hours: 6:30am - 9pm six days/week
sundays: 7am - 9pm

A really Cambridge-style grocery, deli, wine-cheese-beer store, with tables for those who want to visit and eat and enjoy this neighborhood gathering place. It is a magnet for those who want a Harvard Square experience they can go home and talk about.

Darwin's on Mount Auburn Street, while being Cambridge, has an underlying New York tone, which makes it a little more upscale.

What we liked best about Darwin's was the picnic basket you could order and take with you wherever you wanted to go. Not many of us can find such when traveling, especially a picnic with good food.

Second were the sandwiches! They are incredible. Buy one and have lunch and dinner, just ask them to cut it in half and wrap the second half for take-out.

The ambiance drew us in - it is great - would the food keep us there and make us want to return. Well, we were at Darwin's two or three times in so many days. Whenever we were there, someone always came in who we knew and we wound up with a table for four instead of the two of us who first wandered in wondering if the food would live up to the promise of the environment.

Our table mates bought a very nice bottle of wine, shared it and took what was left home with them.

There are enough teas at Darwin's to satisfy anyone and you can order a pot to just sit and savor. And as for Bettina's, they would approve because a full third of the teas are organic.

If you want lunch, you have to go early. Darwin's is a popular place. At lunchtime you will find a line which curls around, sometimes going outside as people come in for lunch from all around the area. That tells you about Darwin's reputation.

We particularly liked the soup. It was a cold day and we weren't sure what we wanted, but when we saw the soups, we knew that would be our late lunch. We also liked the pastries and brought some back with us for another day.

Darwin's had several kinds of beer, but not being connoisseurs, we can't comment pro or con.

There were people reading newspapers, visiting with friends, some were sitting on the bench outside Darwin's eating - because smoking is not allowed inside - and it was cold outside, but they didn't seem to even notice as they gestured-laughed-and generally enjoyed themselves on a cold Cambridge day eating on Mount Auburn Street.

We very much recommend Darwin's and hope you enjoy whatever you eat there.

Editor's Note: Steve and Isabel Darwin's parents stayed at one of the Bettina homes in Harvard Square when they visited Cambridge to help their children get the store ready for its opening. Their parents are in the same business so the Darwin children had good consulting experience, which they used for the opening and beyond.

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Breakfast at Bettina's - By a Guest!

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:47:00 +0000

This is great! I've had this secret wish to be a journalist for a long time. I do a lot of writing, but all scientific and publishing for scientific journals so you can guess I am an astrophysicist, and those who stay at Bettina's a lot and recommended this house to me - you know where I am - with my family this time, not on business. i had to show my wife and children this house. They love the doll houses and all the toys. The kids slipped out of the room very early in the morning. At first I panicked, how do I keep them reined in here - and I almost lost it when I thought of all those antiques in every room of the house, then I heard .......... offering them a cup of hot chocolate and I knew I could go back to sleep.

Since they were playing right outside the door - one into the doll houses, the other hauling toys up to the landing from the toy room downstairs, I felt ok to sleep without worrying about them. The place was a grand mess when we finally got up and dressed. No one seemed to mind so we just left the mess because we knew it would only recur. We did clean it up before we left for home - for those of you who don't want me to ruin a good thing for you!

Breakfast was really special. Having read the Blog, I wondered about those 'stock tips'. Maybe I would be at breakfast the morning a great investor dropped a huge tip which would make us a fortune. Well I was at breakfast with a fairly heated discussion about a couple stocks. Much heat, not enough light, but I am going home to buy the one which won the battle - Ford Motor Company. A couple, who are in the stock market on a regular basis, talked about their 'investments' and they just bought Ford Motor Company. My first thought was - WHY? It just didn't sound very exciting and given all the trouble with the automobile companies who would jump in and buy one. By the end of breakfast I was quietly convinced I should put nice money into Ford. It is selling today at about $11, according to my breakfast mates. They bought Ford at about $8. I am going to buy around $11-12. Hopefully, I will make enough to pay for this trip.

Because it is a holiday - although not my holiday, our hosts put a book at each plate. That was our Christmas gift. Its great. You can't move in that house for tripping over books so it made sense that a book would be a gift. Being very comfortable since I've been here a zillion times, I had to ask if I could swap the book they gave me for one I was reading in the bedroom and of course I could, so I am going home with three books - one a first edition. My wife is horrified at my lack of manners, but I go downstairs late at night in my robe and pajamas to get hot milk, why not ask about another book? Is it possible to feel too much at home? I actually feel as though I am visiting my parents - I would say grandparents, but they are going to read this blog and I want to be welcomed back.

My wife plays the piano so she enjoyed playing on the grand piano in the house. I'm not sure the rest of us did. Later in the day we heard fantastic music coming from the piano. We were really tired and didn't go down to see who was playing. It was so nice just to listen, in bed. I know enough about music to know it was Chopin, and to know it was good, but I did fall asleep in the middle of the music.

Oh, I almost forgot. While my wife and I were sleeping the kids made playdoh - well not the real thing, but a pretty good imitation. It was the highlight of their stay and they are bringing it home with them. They made it out of flour, water and salt cooked up in a very large pot. Given our lack of an organic home and our tendency to buy all of their toys, they were really excited about this amazing experience.

Hope you enjoyed my blog. It was fun writing it. Is this payment for the books I am bringing home?

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The harpist you heard at a Bettina home is ----

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Deborah Henson-Conant. A fantastic jazz harpist and Grammy nominated electric pedal harpist. If you have a chance, don't miss one of her concerts. In the meantime if you want to see her again try this

www.youtube.com/watch?v-pECeohhUBSs or www.hipharp.com

A great, fun experience!!! She has quite a few videos on Youtube.com. I don't know if she has CD's out but I suspect she probably has! We are delighted you were able to have that experience!

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What I like most about Bettina homes!

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:19:00 +0000

I read your update on adding computers to Bettina homes. I call only Bettina's when I travel and because of my research I mostly travel to Harvard Square Cambridge. I wouldn't stay anyplace else. When you leave home you leave all your conveniences. I like to play the guitar when I get home from a tough day. When I get to Cambridge, the home where I stay has a guitar which I take over and take to my room and play it evenings. I've met other people who stay in your homes because they have access to other musical instruments. Another house in Harvard Square has a harp which people can use. I've been there to see friends staying there so I've seen and played the harp (sort of). I met a woman there who plays beautiful harp - jazz harp, that was quite a while ago. She played a brief concert for us and I will never forget hearing her. Don't remember her name!

Your network is really a fantastic way to travel.

Thanks for your holiday greeting. Keep up the good work and lots of luck in 2010!

A reader (no name please)

editors note: Whenever we receive an email or phone call or etc. We put your notes in Bettina's Blog, but we don't ever put your name or other identifying information unless you tell us its alright to do so.

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Update on 2009 Stock Tips at Breakfast!

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:50:00 +0000

2009 copyright the Bettina Network, inc.

We received notes from guests about buying stock mentioned over breakfast when they stayed at a Bettina home. Three stocks were mentioned and we have the dates the guests purchased the stock. To keep it honest, lets take an end of the year note on what happened.

On 6/15/2009 a guest wrote about the conversation about IVAN, then selling at $1.56/share and IVN, then selling at $6.12/share. You might check out those posts for more information. This is only to bring those conversations up to date.
   Today IVAN is selling for $2.86/share - the energy stock
   IVN is selling for $14.63/share - the gold mining stock

On 7/21/2009 another guest wrote about a conversation around a Bettina breakfast table about SIRI. On that date SIRI was selling for $ .425/share.
   Today SIRI is selling for $.5895/share - the Sirius XM Radio stock

We will keep you up to date on other stock conversations and hope the people who emailed us about their purchase of these stocks will also email us when they sell.

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Changes in Bettina Homes

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:01:00 +0000

copyright 2009 The Bettina Network, inc.

In 2010 you will find wonderful changes in Bettina homes for your added comfort and need for ever more elegant surroundings. The major change is around technology. All Bettina homes have broadband internet access - the kind which has a very fast response time, doesn't need a telephone dial-up and is accessible to you in your room at no extra charge. That broadband includes wireless internet access in all homes. In some homes, you have immediate access to the wireless by simply turning on your computer; in others, where your host family is super-security conscious, your computer IP number is entered into the security system and you then have immediate access to the internet. Eventually, that kind of secure access will be common across the Bettina Network.

The change about which we are most proud is now YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A COMPUTER, at no extra charge, as well as internet wired and wireless when you stay in a Bettina home. You may request a computer when you make reservations and you will find one in your room when you arrive.

Some are computers without lots of bells and whistles; others are totally equipped with what you wish you had at home. On the plain vanilla computers, you will have to sign into your home/office computer and use your programs remotely. You will be able to access your email on the computer in your room. In other homes, the computers are complete with every little thing available. The difference is the level of technical competence of the host family. As those host families become more comfortable and knowledgeable about their increased technology offerings, those computers will be upgraded and other things will be added. Although, some host families, who are technologically challenged, have so many technical people staying as guests, they tend to have better equipped computers because of their guests contributions to their knowledge and they have added other little gadgets like iPod docking stations.

We are constantly working to keep our position ahead of the pack. Its no fun doing business when you are running with or slightly behind everyone else. It is not about offering cheap service at a cheap price, that has never been what the Bettina Network is about. - It is about offering quality, convenience, luxury, an elegant and very green lifestyle as economically as we can possibly offer it, with both our guests and our host families surviving and thriving nicely.

We had some interesting side developments in 2009. One couple - who met in a famous Bettina home in Harvard Square Cambridge - are now engaged and planning a wedding in June: one Bettina host family is helping them plan the wedding; and they are going to be married by another Bettina host family member, but unfortunately not in a Bettina home, in their family home - which we would love to add to the Bettina Network. A family, who stayed in Bettina homes for many years, lost a loved one and a Bettina host family member, who had been involved in the last months of life with the family, was at the funeral and officiated. Another Bettina host family member, who is a photographer/videographer produced a beautiful documentary, which is available in Bettina homes if you would like to see it and/or buy it.

Several guests registered their talent with the Bettina Network and we were able to find work for them -painting, sculpting, photographing, musicians, etc. Concerts are now being held in a couple homes where the families are professional musicians. Its great for the family member because they have an audience on which they can try a new program, before they present it in a public concert, and great for the guests who see and hear musicians perform, up close, able to ask questions, talk about what they've heard and enjoy an hour of beautiful music.

We are very happy about the direction in which we are moving and hope you will let us know how we can improve to better suit your needs in 2010!

One disappointment was to see our motto - "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" - being prominently used by an Inn in Cambridge in their advertisements. We keep hearing that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so we will take it as such and know that we must be succeeding in what we do or we wouldn't be imitated. We know our guests are discerning and know the difference between follow-the-leader and the real thing.

Happy New Year! May you think of us first and foremost during 2010 and beyond!

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Our Holiday Greeting to Everyone

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:39:00 +0000

This is the time of year when you realize you know your friends, but you don't know which holiday they celebrate. So our best wishes to everyone, everyplace, whatever you call your end of the year celebration.

- We rejoice in being in a business which allows us to share a small part of so many people's lives and to be immersed in such a wonderfully diverse community. You have allowed us into your world in ways we never could have dreamed of before we became a part of this Bettina Network. We hope it continues into the next year and into the next generation!

Thank you for having given us so much. Money tips are not allowed in the Bettina Network - from anyone - because our "tips" come from so many greater gifts from our guests as we share their lives no matter how briefly.

We have a favorite poem we pull out at this time of year, written by The Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman who was the Dean of Boston University's Marsh Chapel from 1953-1962. He was an exceptional person and his writings are what some of us turn to when we feel as though we are straying from the path we are called to walk. It is said that Martin Luther King, Jr. kept two books next to his bedside wherever he travelled - one was the Bible, the other was Howard Thurman's book "Jesus and the Disinherited."

It makes quite a statement about Boston University to know that in the 1950's, when it wasn't popular, the Dean of Marsh Chapel was an African-American. That was a time when, if Howard Thurman went to conferences, or travelled about the country on Boston University's business, he would not be able to stay in the hotel in which the conference was held because hotels, in that fairly recent time frame, refused to accept African-American guests. Howard Thurman would have to enter the hotel through the back door or staff entrance to attend the conference because African-Americans were not allowed to enter hotels through their front doors. When he travelled on other business he stayed with friends, Boston University Alumnus or bed & breakfasts. In spite of these deterrents, Boston University selected Howard Thurman for what was one of its most prestigious appointments.

Our holiday gift to you is this poem by Howard Thurman. Many of us had to memorize this poem in grammar school and it has stayed in our hearts. We hope you will pass it along to your children!!

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
Then the work of Christmas begins.

   To find the lost,
   To heal the broken,
   To feed the hungry,
   To release the prisoner,
   To rebuild the nations,
   To bring peace among brothers (and sisters),
   To make music in the heart."

MAY THE JOY, PEACE AND PROMISE OF THIS SEASON PERVADE YOUR LIFE AS LONG AS IT LASTS AND AT THE END, TAKE YOU INTO THAT PROMISED LAND GLORIOUSLY!!!!!

   From all of us at the Bettina Network!

A Bettina Coconut Cake

info@bettina-network.com (Bettina Network, inc.) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:09:00 +0000

copyright 2009 The Bettina Network, inc.

Cakes can be easy to make - or - judging from some recipe's I've read, they can be extraordainarily difficult.

I was raised with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake. It can be varied with different ingredients and it doesn't take a genius to remember the recipe without pouring, once again, over many cookbooks. This is the basis for the coconut cake.

1 - One cup of organic butter (equivalent to two sticks)

   Put butter in your stand mixer and let it whirl for a few minutes

2. Two cups organic turbinado sugar

   Add the sugar to the butter, pouring it slowly while your mixer is on - almost, but not quite to the highest setting. Don't let the butter mix too far ahead of adding the sugar because you can get the whipped cream look to your mixture if you add the sugar just a minute or two after you start whipping the butter.

3. In a bowl measure three cups organic STONE-GROUND whole wheat pastry flour

   To this you want to add one teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix this with a spoon or wire whisk until you've put lots of air into the flour.

4. Four organic eggs

   Add the eggs to the sugar and butter mixture one at a time, mixing until they are fully incorporated, but don't mix this too long. The sugar and butter can be whipped forever and the cake gets better the longer they mix. Once you start adding eggs, don't beat the cake too much.

   After the eggs are incorporated, alternate adding the flour mixture and the liquid to the sugar-egg-butter mix. In this case, for the coconut cake, the liquid is either one can or 1/2 can of organic coconut milk. If you are good at making your own coconut milk, go ahead, it makes for a better cake, but the canned organic variety is my speed at this point in time........for two reasons a) I don't know how to make coconut milk and b) I can never find organic coconuts to experiment.

   If you would like a creamier cake, add the whole can of organic coconut milk. I find 1/2 can is more to my taste - it produces a drier cake, but not too dry.

Put the cake in either two* or four* cake pans which have been well buttered and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. That is an estimate of time because each stove will bake in a different time frame. When the cake looks done, springs back when you touch the top and a straw or knife put in the center comes out clean, then you know the cake is done.

*If you like lots of icing on your cake you might consider making four layers. If you like a less sweet cake then you want to choose to make only two layers.

One goodness of a cake made with all organic ingredients is that it tends to be less sweet than a cake made with white granulated sugar.

Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool.

The long part is the icing:

Break 4 eggs and separate them - the egg whites are what you want to use for this icing. The only reason is because the icing on a coconut cake should be white and to use the entire egg would produce a more ivory/brownish looking cake. It has a better taste, but the romance around a coconut cake is shattered. (What to do with the egg yolks for all of us who think frugally - use them to make Bettina's Chocolate Pudding.)

Set the egg whites aside. Put one cup organic turbinado sugar in a glass corning pot. Add one cup of water. Just pour in the water, don't stir, don't touch anything in the pot once you pour in the water and pour slowly so the water doesn't splash around the pot as you add it.

Turn on the flame and let the water and sugar cook until the mixture becomes a simple syrup - which means until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.

When the mixture reaches 240 degrees, put the egg whites in your stand mixer and whip them until they begin to have soft peaks. When you reach that stage with the egg whites, gradually and slowly pour in the hot syrup. Be very careful with the syrup because it is really, really hot and can burn you severely if not handled properly.

You can add coconut syrup, vanilla syrup or any other kind of flavoring you would like at this point. Pour the hot syrup into the egg whites VERY VERY gradually and let this whip for a very generous length of time.

At this point you can do one of two things:

1. Once the egg whites have become substantial and hold their peaks looking white, fluffy and beautiful, take a small portion aside in a bowl and add your favorite preserves (ginger preserves make an unusual and very delicious touch), lightly mixing by hand. Use this mixture for the filling in your cake. OR - you can add lots of shredded coconut to this mixture - stirring by hand - and use that for the filling with the rest used to slather very thickly on the top and sides of the cake. And voila - you have your coconut cake.

2. If you prefer a more butter-cream icing, you can start adding pats of butter to the mixture as it whips and let it continue to whip until it has a very whipped creamy/butter-creamy look. This is delicious. Of course, it will take all of the butter in the house, plus some you will get from a quick trip to the store, --while your icing is mixing, -- as you realize you don't have enough butter in the house for this icing to come through properly, -- but it will be worth the hassle.

Use this as you would the other icing - stir lots of shredded coconut into this icing; put a generous amount of icing on each cake layer; put the layers together and slather the rest on the top and sides of the cake.

Because these icings hold peaks nicely, you can really get imaginative in making the cake look spectacular.

Sometimes when adding butter to the whipped syrup and egg white mixture, your icing can break and when you look at it in the mixer you think you have a loser, but do not fear, just let the mixture keep on going - maybe as long as 15-20 minutes or longer and your icing will come through beautifully for you.

You can put this buttery icing on the cake, or you can sit in a corner with the bowl, making sure no one sees you, and eat until your heart is content. It roughly reminds you of a wedding cake. Whatever is left from this little act of gluttony can still be the icing on your coconut cake.

TO RESPOND TO THIS BLOG email comments to info@bettina-network.com

TO LEARN MORE about the Bettina Network, inc. try www.bettina-network.com

IF YOU ENJOY OUR BLOG, USE OUR SERVICES TO BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS WHEN YOU
TRAVEL!!! 1-800-347-9166 inside U.S. or 617-497-9166 outside or inside the U.S.