Blessed & Bountiful

Mary Rappole’s mother worked long days in a factory. So, even when she was a young girl, it often fell to her to have dinner ready at the end of the day for her parents and brother. On her days off, her mother taught her how to cook, and Rappole grew to cherish the kitchen and the time the family spent there together.

Her mother died at the age of 53, in 1977, when Rappole was just 29. But Rappole celebrates her memory on Mother’s Day — and every day — by honoring what was most important to her: family and home.

“I celebrate what ‘home’ meant to her,” says Rappole, who has three children, two stepchildren and 10 grandchildren.

Now, after retiring from a career of her own, the gray-haired and petite Mary Rappole finds herself once again cooking for a crowd. This time, though, her guests are treated each morning to a three-course meal served in the sun-drenched breakfast room at Plumbush Bed & Breakfast, which Mary owns with her husband, Bert Rappole.

Her breakfasts are simple creations, with an emphasis on local foods. Dishes, prepared by Rappole and Plumbush employee Julia Nelson, burst with flavor. Some of the offerings might still be warmed by the sun from Rappole’s own half-acre garden.

“It’s a choice,” Rappole said. “Should we eat strawberries grown in California or grown right here? Eating locally makes sense. It’s the way we should be doing it.”

Just like her family’s when she was growing up, Plumbush’s kitchen is stocked with locally harvested meat. The bacon and sausage Rappole serves come from a 4-H pig she and her husband, Bert, purchase each year from the Chautauqua County Fair.

Much of the other Plumbush favorites also have roots nearby. The coffee comes from a local roaster. The brown eggs and the maple syrup are harvested nearby. Mary makes the jams and jellies with strawberries and raspberries grown in her own garden or by neighboring farmers.

You must be a guest of the inn to eat there, but Rappole, 66, also operates a produce stand in front of Plumbush. The stand is open for the entire nine weeks of the Chautauqua Institution’s season and features fresh produce, as well as scones, muffins and pies baked in Plumbush’s kitchen by Rappole and Nelson.

 It wasn’t the Rappoles’ lifelong dream to operate a bed and breakfast. Mary was a nurse practitioner and her husband a surgeon. But in 2004, when they were considering what to do after retirement, she noticed a “for sale” sign on her way to visit the Chautauqua Institute.

They’d never talked about operating a bed and breakfast. “It was emotion,” Mary says of their purchase. “It wasn’t thought out. There was no business plan. But sometimes that stuff works out.”

They redecorated the entire interior, staying true to the formal character of the home, which was built in 1865, predating the neighboring Chautauqua Institute by nine years.

There are six guest rooms, each with a distinct character, private bath and view of the countryside, with its towering oaks, rolling hills and soft meadows.

In 2010, they added on living quarters for themselves, with airy ceilings and wide-planked flooring hewn from a maple tree that fell on the property.

While being an innkeeper was not something she’d ever imagined for herself, Rappole said she and her husband enjoy the work. She especially enjoys her time in the kitchen.

 “I certainly don’t claim to be a gourmet chef,” she says. “It is not always the most expensive ingredient, but how fresh and untampered it is by preservatives” that make its flavor and taste stand out.

So she can maximize the local growing season, Rappole cans fruits and vegetables, a skill her mother taught her.

Like her mother, Mary’s daughter, Elizabeth Rowe-Baehr, also enjoys time in the kitchen. So much so that she has started a small business selling homemade granola. She makes the granola, sold under the name New Day, in her mother’s kitchen at Plumbush. The profits from the granola sales go to help support an orphanage in China.

 “She was telling a woman about (New Day Granola) at her church, and the lady said, ‘my daughter is a missionary in an orphanage in China by that same name,’” Rappole said. “Elizabeth then decided to donate all her profits to the orphanage. She felt like the Lord had led her to do that.”

The mother and daughter spend time in the kitchen together, making and packaging the granola for sale. The granola is available at Plumbush’s roadside stand, as well as local shops and online.

 “That is an important time for us,” Rappole says. “I love being with my kids anywhere, obviously, but the kitchen is a special place.”

If you go:

Plumbush Bed & Breakfast
4541 Chautauqua-Stedman Road
Mayville, N.Y.
716-789-5309
plumbushbb.com

The Menu

First Course — Heavenly Bananas and Concord Grape Juice (from Grower’s Cooperative Grape Juice Co. in Westfield, N.Y.)

Second Course — Praline French Toast with local Maple Syrup or Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Casserole and Hickory Hill Bacon

Third Course — Cranberry Orange Scones with local black raspberry jam

Recipes

Heavenly Bananas

(serves four)

The simplicity of this banana dish, says Rappole, is belied by its delicious taste and beautiful presentation.

½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 or 3 large bananas
4 tablespoons granola
Mint sprig for garnish

Combine the sour cream, sugar, orange zest and orange juice. Slice bananas into ¼-inch-thick pieces. Add bananas to the sour cream mixture and stir gently. Spoon into serving dishes, top with granola and garnish with mint sprig.

Praline French Toast
(serves 6)

This is a simple French toast dish that is just “a little dressed up,” making it perfect for a special occasion, such as Mother’s Day, Rappole says.

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
Loaf of French bread
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cup chopped pecans
Whipped butter
Chautauqua County maple syrup

Mix very well the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla and salt. Slice loaf of French bread in ¾-inch-thick slices. Dip bread first in egg mixture, then into a mixture of the shredded coconut and chopped pecans. Place on a large, heated griddle that has been greased with cooking spray, turning to cook both sides. Serve with dollop of whipped butter and real maple syrup.

Hickory Bacon
(Serves six)

Rappole uses bacon culled from a local pig to prepare this dish. Using thick-cut bacon is important to the success of the dish.

½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 pound thick-cut bacon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the brown sugar, flour and pepper in a gallon-size plastic bag. Place one slice of bacon at a time in the bag and shake to coat evenly.  Lay bacon on

a  cookie sheet that has been coated with cooking spray. Use a pan that has edges to catch any grease rendered during baking. Bake for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Place bacon on paper towels to remove any excess grease.

Cranberry Orange Scones with Black Raspberry Jam

Rappole often sends her guest home with a doggy bag filled with these scones. “Everyone loves them,” she says. Want to make these extra special? Rappole says these scones are wonderful as is, but suggests a glaze made of 3/4 cup confectioners sugar and 1 tablespoon orange juice for extra-special occasions.

3 cups white flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
grated zest of one orange
10 tablespoons of cold butter
1 cup buttermilk
¾ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together the first six ingredients in a food processor. Place the cold butter, cut into slices, into the

flour mixture and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 cup of buttermilk (if you do not have buttermilk you can use 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice as a substitute). Then add the dried cranberries and chopped dried apricots, mixing gently.

Flour hands and countertop, then cut pastry in half. Make two round discs about 1 inch thick. Use a large knife and cut each circle into 4 pie-piece shapes. Place each piece on the parchment paper. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Casserole

This is another guest favorite, Rappole says. She occasionally replaces the milk with with half-and-half, which makes the dish incredibly rich.

2 cups of milk
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tablespoon
cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped nuts (any variety)
1 cup chopped, peeled Granny Smith apple
½ cup raisins

In heavy saucepan on the stove, bring the milk, brown sugar and butter to a simmer.

Set aside. In a 9x9-inch casserole dish, place the oats, cinnamon and salt. Add the mixed-together nuts, apple and raisins. Pour milk mixture over oats.  Bake uncovered until set and slightly brown on top, about 25 minutes.