December’s Recipe: Featherbed Eggs
Cape Cod Peppers
An excellent buttery choice for serving to your holiday guests.
Go to our website for the full recipe.
Recipe Book Favorite Recipes of The Palmer House InnYou can find this recipe and many more in the Inn’s recipe book. Order a copy for yourself (at blurb.com).
Open for the Cape Cod Holidays
The Palmer House Inn is Open for the Holidays
- Cape Cod Thanksgiving Wreath
THE 2011/2012 WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL WINTER FILM SERIES DINNER & A MOVIE KICKS OFF ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2011
- Captain Kidd
The Woods Hole Film Festival winter film series Dinner & a Movie offers elegant dining with superb independent film at the Captain Kidd Restaurant. The series takes place every other weekend from November through April (with a few exceptions). Dinner & a Movie is a great way to enjoy a night out with friends and family.
The Captain Kidd Restaurant is less than 10 minutes from the Palmer House Inn.
For more information go to www.woodsholefilmfestival.org
Cape Cod Marathon 2011 Athletes at the Inn
The Cape Cod Marathon draws runners from all over the world.
Swedish runners, Kjell and her husband, Cape Cod Marathon 2011 runners.
This is Kjell, she and her husband are from Sweden. They stayed at the Palmer House Inn this past weekend. Kjell, did the half marathon on Saturday and her husband ran with her on Saturday and then completed the full marathon on Sunday.
This is the first year that Falmouth had runners from all 50 states and many foreign countries.
The Palmer House served a full buffet style runner’s breakfast starting at 7:00 am. each of the days.
November’s Recipe: Cranberry Nut Bread
Cape Cod Cranberry Nut Bread
An excellent compliment to the array of tasty foods around at Thanksgiving time.
Go to our website for the full recipe.
Recipe Book Favorite Recipes of The Palmer House InnYou can find this recipe and many more in the Inn’s recipe book. Order a copy for yourself (at blurb.com).
34th Annual Cape Cod Marathon Starts in Falmouth, October 29-30
Cape Cod Marathon Running Weekend
Runners at the finish line of the Cape Cod Marathon.
This is known throughout the running community as one of the most scenically beautiful marathon routes on the east coast. The starting and finish lines are just a seven minute walk from the Palmer House Inn’s door step.
Starting Gun
“The Cape Cod Marathon takes its participants on a twenty-six mile loop around the town, beginning in the historic Falmouth Village Green, past the picturesque Falmouth Inner Harbor, along the breathtaking Nantucket Sound vistas of Falmouth Heights and Menauhant, across Green Pond and through the rustic wooded areas of Davisville and past Falmouth’s legendary Cranberry bogs in Hatchville. The race then turns west towards the Buzzards Bay villages of West Falmouth and Sippiwissett and south through the internationally famous scientific community of Woods Hole.” – https://www.capecodmarathon.com
For more information: https://www.capecodmarathon.com
October’s Recipe: Cranberry Cheesecake Shake
Cape Cod Cranberries. Photo LVO'Connell.
This decadent recipe will get you ready for cranberry picking season.
Go to our website for the full recipe.
Recipe Book Favorite Recipes of The Palmer House InnYou can find this recipe and many more in the Inn’s recipe book. Order a copy for yourself (at blurb.com).
Birding the Cape
Fall is prime time for birdwatching in Falmouth. Salt marshes such as those in Sippewisset offer great viewing opportunities for birds such as egrets and great blue herons. The Cape is renowned for its open spaces and beautiful beaches and remains a prime destination for vacationers and weekend tourists. In addition the Cape is known for bird watching due to its coastal topography and proximity to the sea. On any given morning it’s not uncommon to find bird people on our beaches or walking through secluded trails with binoculars and spotting scopes scanning for birds. Coastlines are wonderful places for birds to gather. Experts believe that this fall in particular is going to be very interesting, with lots of diversity of species.
This time of year is the tail end of the snowbird migration season with some birds overstaying plus the arrivals of winter birds such as sea ducks and mergansers. Fall is also a great time to watch hawks and other raptors.
During this time one will also see shore birds, especially on mud flats.
Getting into birding is very straightforward. One needs minimal equipment such as binoculars and a field bird identification guide such as Pearson, Audubon or Sibley’s. A visit to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History is a good way to learn about birds and identification. If you decide to go out on your own, beaches, open fields and salt marches are good places to observe birds. It is not always critical to identify birds, it is perfectly fine to just go outside and watch the birds.
Our Blog Has Moved…
We’ve moved our blog. Go to www.palmerhouseinn.com/blog for the latest happenings at the Inn.
‘Tis the Season for Cranberries
Now that the long hot summer is over the Cape is coming into what many consider its best time of year.
This year’s Cranberry Harvest Festival will be held in October at John Parker Road Bogs. Come to the Palmer House to enjoy our cranberry nut muffins and cranberry sorbet. Not to mention our oatmeal cranberry raisin cookies for an afternoon snack.
Early fall or the shoulder season, is known for sunny days and comfortably crisp nights. It’s also cranberry harvesting time.
Cranberries attain their peak flavor and color and are ripe for picking from mid-September through the first week of November. Picturesque bogs brimming with the deep ruby-red berries dot the landscape against a backdrop of blue skies and fall foliage.
The cranberry is one of only three native fruits including the blueberry and Concord grape, commercially grown in North America. Massachusetts ranks as the second biggest cranberry producer behind Wisconsin. Despite unusual flooding in early spring and drought conditions throughout much of the summer, experts predict a bumper crop in the state this year. The US Department of Agriculture has reported that a crop of 1.95 million barrels to be harvested this fall, but weather conditions including the recent rain and heat wave can affect the output. Growers say that they don’t know what the crop is going to be until it is delivered.
Native American tribes of the area were the first to use the wild berry as a food, medicine and fabric dye. They called it sassamanash and ibimi ( meaning bitter berry). They introduced the Pilgrims to the multiple benefits of the fruit. The Pilgrims also found it to be a valuable bartering tool. The European settlers named the fruit the cranberry after the sandhill cranes commonly spotted around bogs at the time. American whalers and mariners brought cranberries on their voyages to ward off scurvy.
Commercial cranberry harvesting began in Harwich in 1847.
The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ association was formed in 1888 and prides itself as being one of the oldest farming organizations in the US. The cranberry provided a needed source of income to many families during the economically depressed decades after the Civil War.
There are about 1,000 acres of bogs sprinkled throughout the Cape.
Cranberries grow on long-running vines in sandy bogs originally made by glacial deposits. A bog is a fragile ecosystem affected by climate and environmental conditions. Typically growers do not have to replant since an unmanaged cranberry vine can survive indefinitely. Some vines in Massachusetts are more than 150 years old.
In the beginning growers handpicked cranberries, then used wooden scoops to lift the berries off their vines. By the late 1800s machines were invented to make the job less labor intensive.
Two methods are used for gathering cranberries: wet and dry harvesting. Today, ninety-five percent of cranberries are wet-harvested in Massachusetts.
