Nauset Beach Club Restaurant Hosting Italian Wine Dinner Specials

During the next few months, the Nauset Beach Club, an Orleans eatery specializing in Northern Italian cuisine will be hosting regional Italian wine dinners. The first dinner will be held at 6:30 on Friday January, 29th and will focus on Puglia, a region located in the very south-east part of Italy. Cost per person is a very reasonable $45.00 excluding tax and gratuity, but inclusive of wine. The four course menu is enticing:

Antipasti

Marinated Mixed Olives and Pickled Baby Eggplant with Homemade Sun-dried Tomato Focaccia

Zuppa

Chickpea Soup with Short Pasta Tubes

Secondi

Individually Rolled Stuffed Veal, with Italian Parsley, Pecorino Cheese and Roasted Garlic, Apulia Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Roasted Fingerling Potato, Sautéed Broccoli Rabe

or

Marinated Grilled Lamb Sirloin, Salentino Rosso Wine Sauce, Fava Bean Puree, Wilted Farmed Dandelion and Preserved Lemon Rind

Dolce

Pecorino Romano Cheese, Crenshaw Melon with Drizzled Reduced Negroamaro Rosso, Almond Biscotti

Wine Selections

2008, Cantele, Chardonnay, Lecce
2004, Salice Salentino Riserva, Lecce

2003, Tormaresca, Negroamaro/Cabernet, Bari

As future dinners are announced, we will keep the blog updated. In the meantime, if your plans include a visit to the Captains House Inn to include January 29th, consider having us make you a reservation for this authentica Italian feast!

Jill's Top Ten Easy Peasy Holiday Decorations

It is less than one week until Christmas and the Captains House Inn looks beautiful. I have to admit, though, that I cannot take credit for the festive holiday decorations this year. With two daughters under two, I left the tedious task of decorating to our more patient staff and James with a lot of help and orchestration from the masters of decorating, James' parents, Lynne and Lou. For them, fussing over lights, tinsel, and garland is a labor of love - they look forward to the annual chaos of it all while I am much happier inside with a mug of hot chocolate reading "That's Not My Santa Claus" over and over with my daughters. There are, however, some decorations I enjoy digging out every year - I call them Jill's Easy Peasy decorations and they require close to zero time and most importantly, zero frustration:

1. Santa Claus Hat Chair Covers - You can find holiday chair covers in many different designs. We use the santa hats at the inn - all you have to do is fit them over the back of your dining room chairs and - voila - the room is instantly festive!

2. Glass Snowflakes - These oversized ornaments can be found at most places that sell holiday decorations. We have a bunch in different sizes and hang them in windows and from ceiling hooks. The best part is, they can be left up all winter!

3. Wreath Magnets - If you're a wreath person, these are worth the investment. You can easily hang wreaths in windows and on glass doors without dealing with wire or ribbon.

4. Festive Hannukkah Candles - Since I am part Jewish, we celebrate the eight nights of Hannukkah at our house. While there aren't many Hannukkah decorations out there, I like to buy festive rainbow candles to add a little pizzaz to our menorah.

5. Become a Collector - My mother in-law is the biggest fan of Santa Claus over the age of five. She has wooden santa clauses, stuffed St. Nicks, santas made of glass, porcelin ones, mini ones, giant ones - and every year, she puts all her regular knick knacks in a big box and displays all the santas. Likewise, my father-in-law somehow became a collector of pig christmas tree ornaments - they buy a tree specifically for all the pigs. Find your holiday passion and make a show of it!

6. Charlie Brown Christmas Tree - Every year, James and I pick out the worst looking tree at the nursery. We've had short trees with big bottoms and tapered tops, trees with gaping holes in the branches, lopsided trees, and trees that were so stunted they were too small for our Christmas tree stand. But inevitably, with a bunch of lights and sparkly ornaments, our Charlie Brown trees wind up looking - well, passable anyway. It is a great way to save a few bucks and start a fun family tradition while you're at it.

7. Stocking Hangers - As a little girl, I remember my dad hamering nails into the brick surrounding our mantle so we could hang our stockings. It is probably common knowledge that they now make decorative hangers to place on the mantle, but I didn't discover them until just recently so to spare anyone trying to drill nails into brick, these hangers make my list. Pottery Barn makes them with picture frames to easily identify the stockings.

8. Holiday Card Tree - This wirey tree with clips for photos is perfect to display all your holiday cards. Then, no need to find storage for it when the holidays are over. Simply remove the cards and clip snapshots to it instead.

9. Advent Trees - My mother in law invented a fun tradition for our girls. Instead of traditional advent calendars, she bought each of them a mini pre-lit Christmas tree and two dozen mini ornaments. Our older daughter, Abigial caught onto the tradition quickly and can't wait to meticulously select a daily ornament.

10. Baby Pointessa Staircase - To jazz up your staircase for the holidays, buy 7-10 (depending on the size of your staircase) mini pointsettas (they usually sell them right in the grocery store) with different color foil surrounding the pots. Place one on every other stair and carry the holiday spirit from one floor to the next. The only caveat is that you will have to water the plants, but you can always cheat and buy fake ones - there are a lot of decent looking silk imitations out there now.

Regardless of your holiday decorating scheme, try to remember that unless you own an inn, there's no need for your home to scream Martha Stewart. Just have fun and embrace the holiday spirit. Happy holidays everyone and happy decorating!

Cape Cod Gift Ideas Part III

Here is our final installment of Cape Cod gift ideas that we have been posting every day on Twitter.

Idea # 21 - The book Still Alice written by Cape Cod author Lisa Genova.
Idea #22 - Cards from Cape Card.
Idea # 23 - A growler of beer (or a shirt or a hat) from Cape Cod Beer .
Idea #24 - A Cape Cod Hammock.
Idea #25 - A tie from Vineyard Vines .
Idea #26 - The Last Best League - a book about the Cape Cod Baseball League - order from Where the Sidewalk Ends.
Idea #27 - Baby Quilt hand made on Cape Cod .
Idea #28 - A Cape Cod weathervane.
Idea #29 - Community Cookbook created by the Chatham Women's Club - Peggy at 508-348-1938.
Idea #30 - Maybe the best of them all - a gift certificate to the Captain's House Inn.

We hope you all have a Happy Holiday!

Cape Cod Gift Ideas Part II

For those of you following us on Twitter, we now have posted twenty great Cape Cod gift ideas to help you with your holiday shopping. Over the next ten days, we will post ten more. You can learn about them on Twitter every day at noon, or we will post them here in ten days.

Idea # 11 - A sand snowflake ornament from your favorite Cape Cod Beach.
Idea #12 - A carved house number sign from the Chatham Sign Shop.
Idea #13 - A glass plate (or bowl) from Sydenstrickers.
Idea #14 - Gourmet oil and vinegar from Gustare - one of our favorites is the Cinnamon Pear Balsamic.
Idea # 15 - A Captain's House Inn robe.
Idea # 16 - A gift certifcate to Buca's - one of our favorite year round restaurants.
Idea #17 - A Cape Cod photograph from Jon Vaughan - the Peaked Hills is one of our favorites.
Idea # 18 - A subscription to Cape Cod Life Magazine.
Idea #19 - A "Dogs of Cape Cod" 2010 calendar.
Idea #20 - A Cape Cod doormat.

Cape Cod Gift Ideas

To help out with the holiday shopping, we have been posting Cape Cod gift ideas on our Twitter page. Every day at noon, we have been listing a great Cape Cod present to help you out with your shopping. We have posted 10 so far, and will do another 20. Follow along on Twitter, or wait 10 more days and we will update them here.

1) A wine club from Truro Vineyards.
2) A beautiful Cape Cod necklace.
3) An antique map of Cape Cod or one of the towns that make up the Cape.
4) Spa appointments at Sol Spa in Harwich or Le Petit Day Spa in Chatham.
5) Delicious jam and jelly made at Chatham Jam and Jelly shop.
6) Hire Bob Hessler to be your personal chef for a relaxing, romantic dinner at home.
7) An aerial tour of Cape Cod.
8) A Captain's House Inn mug - a great way to wake up in the morning.
9) Chocolate covered cranberries (or any thing else) from the Candy Manor.
10) A Nantucket Basket made on Nantucket.

Happy shopping.

Cranberry Pecan Bread Recipe

Part of the Captain's House Inn's holiday high tea menu...

Oven Temp: 350f
2 large loaf pans

4 Cups Unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1Tsp Baking Soda
2 Eggs
½ Tsp Salt
½ Tsp Ground Cloves
½ Tsp Ground Cardamom
1 ½ Sticks Unsalted Butter,(melted)
1 1/3 Granulated Sugar
2 Cups Fresh or Frozen Whole Cranberries (coarsely chopped)
1 ½ Cup Pecans (toasted and coarsely chopped) - optional
Finely Grated Zest and Juice of 1 Large Navel Orange
2/3 Cup Buttermilk

Method:
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves and cardamom into a medium mixing bowl. Set aside. Combine the melted butter, buttermilk, and orange zest and juice in a small mixing bowl .Set aside.

On a high speed beat together the egg and sugar in a large mixing bowl until they are thick and light yellow in color. Beat on a low speed the melted butter mixture. Scrape down the sides with a spatula several times during the mixing. Mix in the flour mixture and finally the cranberries and pecans just to combine. Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake until cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto the rack. Set it aside and let it cool completely until slicing.

The baked and cooled loaf can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days, or refrigerated for up to 1 week. It may be frozen for 3 months.

Skibo Castle Ginger Shortbread

Part of the Captains House Inn's holiday high tea menu...

Oven Temperature 350F
Yield Makes about 5 dozen
Pan Size 13 x 9 inch Metal Baking Pan

Ingredients (Shortbread Base):
1 ¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
3 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Ground Ginger
¼ Tsp Salt
1 Stick Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces.

Ingredients (Topping):
¾ Stick Unsalted Butter
1 Tbsp Lyles Golden Syrup (British Cane Sugar Syrup)
1 Cup Confectioners Sugar
½ Tsp Ground Ginger
½ Tsp Vanilla

Method (Shortbread Base)
1. Sift together dry ingredients and blend in butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Press evenly into bottom of pan. (Base will be thin)
3. Bake in middle of oven until golden and crisp. 12 - 16 minutes (at 9 minutes start topping).

Method (Topping):
1. Melt butter in a small saucepan and whisk in remaining ingredients until smooth.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring for 30 seconds.
3. Remove shortbread from the oven and pour topping over, tilting pan to cover.
4. Leave to set and cut into sqauares.