Winter's Back!

Remember our last post from two weeks ago? We were excited about what seemed to have been spring's arrival and all the delightful flowers that come with it.
If you live in the NoVa area you know how unpredictable the weather has been lately, which is exactly why today we found all our beautiful daffodils, crocuses, forsythias, hyacinths, snowdrops, and anemones covered in snow.

Our guests enjoyed the view from our front porch, and some even ventured into the hot tub before enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the main house kitchen.

What do you like to do on snow days?

Spring is Almost Here

We have some exciting things to share as we are gearing up for wedding season 2013: the snow and cold have finally made room for all of our thousands of bulbs and we can't wait for the hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips to make an appearance! Our pool is almost open for the season, the stained concrete floors in the Fox Den have been refinished, the construction for our new 4-bedroom cottage has begun, and we are busy making plans for the landscaping of the grounds.

In the midst of all the excitement we have also welcomed our newest staff member, Tricia, who will be introduced here soon. She has joined us at the beginning of the year, and we are very happy to have her on board.

Keep coming back for more updates and exciting announcements!

Briar Patch B&B 2013 Winner: Best Weddings Northern Virginia

Our enchanting brides, along with panels of distinguished wedding experts, have cast their votes and again bestowed several prestigious awards on Briar Patch Bed and Breakfast Inn for 2013!

The Knot Best of Weddings 2013

Wedding Wire Bride's Choice Awards 2013

Washingtonian Bride and Groom 2013 Best Wedding Vendors
 


We believe it is our commitment to listening to each bride's vision of her special day coupled with our spectacular country setting that results in so many beautiful wedding ceremonies and receptions at Briar Patch and leads to the award winning reviews submitted by our brides.

Receiving these awards is literally the icing on the cake for our staff.  After all, our first priority is to delight our brides and grooms, and make time spent with their families and friends on their wedding day simple, elegant, and memorable. 

So what exactly is the background on these awards?

2013 marks the fifth year in a row that Briar Patch has received the Wedding Wire Bride's Choice award; we are proud to have won this award every year since its inception in 2009.  Votes are cast in the form of reviews from the brides for each venue or vendor they worked with during their ceremony and reception, and then Wedding Wire selects the top 5% of eligible wedding businesses.  This site boasts over one million reviews posted, and we are pleased to have risen to the top in our category! 

This is the third time we have received The Knot award, thanks to bride's who love us!  Winners represent the top 4% of all wedding vendors reviewed in the Northern Virginia/DC Metro area - no small accomplishment.

2013 marks the fifth year in a row that Briar Patch has won the Washingtonian Bride & Groom Best Wedding Vendors award, and have enjoyed receiving this distinction every year since they began giving the award in 2009.  The award recipients are selected by editors of the magazine supported by a panel of wedding industry experts who designate the top businesses in each category. 

While these awards are important to us as business owners, the real rewards are watching wedding dreams blossom into reality for the couples we get to know along the way. 

Whether you are planning an intimate destination wedding, or gathering for 200 of your closest friends and family, get in touch with us and learn more about how the lovely grounds and modern event center at Briar Patch Bed & Breakfast Inn will add a little extra fairy dust to your wedding day dreams.

2013 Cooking Classes hosted by Briar Patch B&B Inn

Chef Vaughn Skaggs and Students

Everyone loves watching those television celebrities whip up amazing dishes in seemingly minutes before their eyes.  The kitchen space is organized, all ingredients at the ready and waiting to be called into action as the Chef works their way through the recipe with hardly a note or cookbook in sight.

These shows are fun to watch, but there is one key ingredient missing:  you don't get the chance to actually participate in the slicing, dicing, mixing, smelling and eventually tasting the final product!

Briar Patch Bed & Breakfast Inn invites you and your favorite foodie/travel companion to book a weekend visit with us in January or February 2013 and learn how to bring together a delicious 4-5 course meal with all the flare of a professional chef!

Join our featured chefs, Chef Vaughn Skaggs and Chef Bernard Henry, in our event building -- The Fox Den at Briar Patch -- on these select dates:

January 11-12-13, 2013
February 8-9-10, 2013

Here are the details to further wet your appetite for a gourmet getaway weekend:

• Stay with us 2-nights (Friday and Saturday)
• Enjoy our delicious breakfasts Saturday and Sunday mornings
• Friday night includes a Wine tasting with an expert from a local winery and appetizers prepared by our Chef
• Consider a self-guided or organized 3-hour wineries tour on Saturday afternoon
• Cooking class on Saturday night where you will be invited to do a little of that slicing and dicing, learn tips from the Chef on advanced preparation, holding, and presentation techniques.

Chef Vaughn Skaggs explains culinary fine points

At our January Cooking Class conducted by Chef Vaughn Skaggs, attendees will enjoy bringing this 4-course meal to life, savor the results, and take home the recipes to share with family and friends:




Friday evening hors d'oeuvres:

• Smoked Trout, Pecans and Scallion Gougeres
• Creamy Cheddar and Kale Tartlet
• Grilled Flank Steak on a Blue Cheese Crostini and Caramelized Onions
• Saturday evening dinner

Saturday evening dinner:

• Soup: Honey Kabocha, Roasted Apples, Crème Fraiche and Spiced Pistachios
• Salad: Winter Spinach Wilted, with Warm Brie, Red Onion, Roasted Tomato, Mustard Crostini and Pancetta Vinaigrette
• Main Course: Pride of Plains, Braised Beef Short Rib, Spinach, Risotto, Crispy Leeks with Raison and Cipollini Jus
• Dessert: Warm Cranberry Apple Tart

Visit our website for details on room rates and availability for these special weekends.

Cooking class pricing:  $95 per person plus tax

We know your time spent with our Chefs will be entertaining, and you may even come away feeling more confident about your cooking skills! Check back soon for details about more cooking classes at Briar Patch Bed & Breakfast Inn.   Bon Appetite!

Easter Weekend Wedding

It was a beautiful wedding this weekend as Sam and Elizabeth tied the knot with close family and friends from both this side of the pond and the other (United Kingdom). They are such a cute amazing couple that are so in love and you could not ask for a better family, on either side, to marry into! Their friends are so supportive of them and are so happy that these two found each other which was obvious through out the weekend.

Sam and Elizabeth wanted a unique weekend starting off with a rehearsal dinner from Pizzeria Moto, a portable/traveling brick-oven pizza kitchen. Saturday was a nice relaxing day for the bride and groom with Make-Up by Tracie coming out to Briar Patch to do the girls hair and make up in our Cottage. Legends Catering did a fantastic job as always with the food and refreshments. There was a 3PM ceremony in our ballroom so as not to risk any uncertainties of weather. The brides brothers, all musicians, did a fantastic rendition of "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles. Fitting that the groom is British. Here are some pictures of their special day. Elizabeth I wish you all the best in your move to Germany!

The tables were set in the back of the room behind the ceremony.

The ceremony was in a semi-circle shape like a theater.

They used our bird cages and our antique oil lamps as centerpieces.

Mingling before the ceremony.

Father of the Bride ready to walk his little girl down the aisle.

Happy calm bride and bridesmaids seconds before walking down the aisle

Such a beautiful ceremony!

Start of the Wedding Season

This past weekend started our official wedding season of 2012. We could not have asked for a better couple to start off our season, thank you Kathleen and Steve you and your family were so much fun to get to know! There families were so much fun to get to know and they were definitely a fantastic group of people to be with! Kathleen and Steve are both very lucky to have such amazing families!

The entire weekend was definitely them. They were very low key and laid back and that was their entire weekend. From the relaxed entertaining breakfast to the hair and make-up appointments to the ceremony and reception. They had a beautiful ceremony in our event hall followed by a cocktail hour, and reception indoors. Thanks to Six Star catering for doing such an amazing job on the food and to Torre Photography for photographing the entire event. Below are some pictures we took of the set-up of the room.

There will be more pictures of this wedding at www.pinterest.com/cej223

Long Overdue!

Hello all! So please forgive me for this is my first blog post ever! I know its very exciting and I have been putting this off for a very long time, but after speaking with several of our guests over the past week they have convinced me that I should post on here. So here it goes!

I am actually not too sure what to write about and I apologize if it takes me a few posts before I get better at this. I have been asked to blog about the food that I have made at Briar Patch and also the recipes that I have made. I am not going to lie I get my recipes off pinterest.com/cej223.

This past week I made a Cinnamon Baked French Toast. It was super easy and very delicious! Here is how it turned out!

Here is the link to the blog that I got the recipe from. I cannot take credit for it but I highly recommend it! http://whatscookinglove.blogspot.com/2012/01/cinnamon-french-toast-bake.html

I also just made individual baked eggs. This is an original recipe that Henriette came up with! What you need is individual ramekins.

What you will need:

1 Small Carton of white mushrooms

2 yellow onions

1 1/2 C 1/2 and 1/2 cream

Parsley

Salt for seasoning

Pepper for seasoning

9 eggs

cheese for topping

What you do:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F

2. In a medium sized sauce pan saute onions until they are see through

3. Add cut up mushrooms and saute with onions until mushrooms are soft

4. Add half and half, salt and pepper, parsley and simmer for 10 minutes

5. Spoon sauce into ramekins evenly

6. Crack 1 egg per ramekin

7. Sprinkle Cheddar blend cheese on egg white (so you know when the egg is done)

8. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes

This recipe works really well with Salsa to replace the onion/mushroom sauce.

I think this will be all for now. More to come later on!

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