In Bogota, I had the privilege of being in the South African ladies club. It wasn’t actually a club, I am being silly but I met 2 great girls that were my age and in the baby phase and we spent lots of time together. We did lots of playing with babies, planned trips, went through a couple of exercise phases together, shared recipes, chatted about parenting, husbands and dreamed of when and how we would be living somewhere a little cleaner and safer that the BOG. A visit with Kima and Bronwyn rarely took place without Bronwyn’s bran muffins…or a cup of tea. The group slowly expanded as we met new friends. And the muffins and tea continued!

We now all find ourselves in places much cleaner and safer than Bogota. Whew. And even now, every couple of months I get a craving and mix up a big double batch to pop in the fridge and pull out when we need them. They are the kind that you can mix up and will last 30 days in the fridge. You scoop out batter into muffin tins and you have fresh hot muffins in minutes. They were the perfect solution post-baby because we were all growing tired of cereal and yogurt. They are so easy to mix up and you can add or subtract based on what your family likes. Owen is my super picky guy as I have mentioned before and I was able to make him think he was getting cupcakes for breakfast. After seeing that he would eat them I stirred in some pumpkin puree to his batch and sure enough I bamboozled him on that too! He loves them.

ta da! don’t they look yummy!

I asked Bron if she would mind me sharing this around and she agreed! So here it is in her writing! If you need me to decode for you let me know (hint: bi carb is their word for Baking Soda)

Is nice and easy so here goes:

2  EGGS
half cup OIL
1 and a half cups BROWN SUGAR
2 and a half cups MILK
2 cups DIGESTIVE BRAN
2 and a half cups NUTTY WHEAT FLOUR OR JUST NORMAL SELF RAISING WHEAT FLOUR  (I use whatever flour I have..normally a mix of wheat and white all purpose flour)
half tsp SALT
2 and a half tsp BI-CARB OF SODA
1 tsp VANILLA ESSENCE
2 tsp CHOPPED OR SLICED ALMONDS (or any other nuts) – optional
500g DATES or RAISINS – optional
half cup COCONUT – optional
1 cup RAW OATMEAL- optional

Mix all ingredients together and place in an airtight container overnight in the fridge.  Half fill muffin pans and bake for 20min at 350 degrees  on middle shelf.  This mixture keeps for 30days in the fridge so you can just bake them whenever you want fresh.  Most of the time I double up the mixure as I make everyday.  It doubles up fine.  You can add or take out any of the following as you please to your taste: raisins, dates, nuts, coconut, oats

ENJOY!

Thanks, Bronwyn! Hope you are surrounded by some friends eating these now! I am sure they will be asking for your recipe!

Disclaimer: This got way longer than I thought….it’s more in the informational category so not so exciting! Feel free to skip in hopes that there will be something more interesting coming soon!

Since I just posted our guest round up I figured it may be a good time to do a random “guesthouse” post.  As I have mentioned before, this past yr in Bern we have hosted 24 guests! I have kind of made it my personal goal to get good at it. I really want people to come, relax and feel like they have a great time on their vacation. We have learned as we have gone and as we close this season of guests I feel like we have learned a few things that I thought I would pass along.

1. Prepping the house for guests

I start the preparation days in advance!! Not meaning that I work and work for days in advance, but that I spread it out so that I am not completely exhausted when our guests arrive.  I used to save the cleaning for the day before because I wanted it to be nice when they arrived. But I soon discovered that this house is way too big to try to do in one day. (we couldn’t have so many guests without this kind of space so it is a bonus)  I now have kind of a system where I do fresh linens a few days out and then follow it with different jobs that can be done ahead. I save the floors and dusting for the evening before. And then there is the fact that I used to think I could do it all myself but I have succumbed to the reality and now I have Seth on board to help me!

Now that I have a system I can devote more time that last day before to getting to the grocery store and doing some baking. Oh yea, and then once the guests arrive I let them know that I would rather spend time with them than clean. I maintain as best I can but I don’t stress. I mainly tidy and occasionally sweep if it is in desperate need, but otherwise I just let it go and enjoy the visitors.

Quick confession: I don’t iron sheets, even when I pull them out and toss them into a ball onto the bed. Both of my grandmother’s are gasping right now but I figured it was better to be honest. Sheets will be clean, but very wrinkled around here!

2. Meal Planning

I always contact our guests before they arrive to see if there is anything they can’t eat or have allergies to. Then I plan the meals, trying to accommodate as much as possible!  It’s tough cooking for a crowd and I have learned that not everyone will like every meal but I do try to pick things with our guests in mind. I always have the meals planned but not necessarily for a particular day. For instance, I know that whatever day we decide to day trip meals need to be simple or hot in the crock pot when we return. Our favorite group meals for the year have been Ina Garten’s Macaroni and Cheese,  Gina’s Barbacoa Beef that we use for burrito bowls and a recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Stephanie, for French dip sandwiches. They are all easy to make and make a cozy dinner for a crowd.

Some things I always have on hand that I can make the day before…

Refrigerator bran muffins….the ones I wrote about here. They are an easy thing to keep in the fridge, I bake them up as people want them. So far they have been a hit and everyone is thankful for something healthy in the middle of their travels.

Tomato Basil Soup… knock off of La Madeline’s. I realized I have never posted this in the past so this will be coming soon! Most guests arrive in time for lunch (or breakfast their time) so I normally make a soup the night before and serve it with Bern Zopf bread, salami and cheeses. Everyone is always eager to have something Swiss so it is an easy way to get it in when they first arrive!

Something seasonal and homemade….having guests gives me the excuse to have something yummy around. I don’t often bake treats when it’s just us here so when guests come it’s fun to have something out of the ordinary. In February when the O’Leary chicas came I made those Valentine’s whoopie pies, they were fun for Valentine’s Day but also a fun memory of making devil dogs at Annie’s house!  When my parents came it was peach season so I made some Butterscotch peaches! This time around I made Southern Living’s Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake which isn’t on their website yet but I am sure you have seen it on the cover of their magazine last month! It was super yummy and people snacked on it and had it with coffee throughout the week. I also enlisted Jackson to make some fall M&M cookie bars to stow away for snacking.

This guy is the Guesthouse assistant, he is always the best welcomer, conversationalist and entertainer! As we left last week to run an errand I called for Jackson who was lagging behind. When I turned to see what was holding him up I overheard him saying  “bye guys, do you have everything you need before we go?”.  We have all learned a lot about hospitality this year!

3. Ring a ling

After a few rounds of guests got lost here and there and didn’t have a way to call us easily we decided to invest in a chargeable phone. It was cheap and easy and it has made it so nice to stay in touch. There would be no need for this in the US obviously but overseas this has been great. It got comical this summer when guests were so close together that they would have to take the phone back and mail it to the next guest so they would have it when they arrived in Zurich. It made train station pickups so much better!

4. Little basket

Before guests arrive I put a few snacks in their room as well as check to see that they have the Bern map and some other brochures from previous guests. Most of our friends and family are jetlagged so I make sure they have something for when they wake up at 2 AM starving and thirsty.  It’s a goal to have the wireless password written down in the room but that hasn’t happened yet.

5. Activities

So far our guests have not been lacking for things to do. It has been especially nice in the summer festival season. There is always something going on.  Nearly everything is about an hour away, or 15 mins away if it’s in Bern. I have a feeling we would have not seen nearly as much if it wasn’t for our guests.  If our guests have any plans for a day trip by train I try to strategically plan it for about midway through their trip. that allows me to get the house back into livable shape and allows my boys to get a breather day for naps, in hopes that they will refresh and be kind hosts for the remainder of the stay!

These are likely all things you all do too!  I tried to pack it with recipes and such to make it useful! If you happen to be guests in the Spring maybe we will have it running like a well-oiled machine!