As you can see from our recent posts, it’s wintertime at Kitchen Kettle Village.  Although we have escaped a very cold, snowy season so far, it’s still pretty quiet around here.  We miss the crowds.

Rest assured however, we’re busy getting ready for the 2012 season.  Behind the scenes lots of activity is taking place.  Housecleaning, painting walls and scrubbing floors is happenning eveywhere.  Inventories are being counted in the Gift House, checked against electronic numbers and displays are being torn apart in Yummie’s Toy Box only to emerge with a new angle, a new base and a whole new look.  Menus in the Kling House Restaurant are being re-created which means we get to try all kinds of wonderful foods.  New products in the Jam & Relish Kitchen are being tested, tasted and critiqued.  Lodging rooms at the Inn are being redecorated and one new one is being built.  Leadership retreats are being planned with agendas that always emphasize re-creating guest service, showcasing Lancaster County  and tweaking the experience for our guests at the Village.  Accounting books area being closed for the year and the annual calculation of profits, taxes and cash flow projections for the new year is being checked and re-checked.

As you can see, we’re getting ready for you.  And we promise to be ready any time you stop in – except Sunday of course – with smiles, good homemade food, popular national brands, lodging rooms that  feel like home and plenty of fun for the whole family.

See you soon!

My house is empty. I just finished taking down and putting away all of my Christmas decorations and sent both of my kids back to school.  Now what?

In a move that is not entirely common for me, I actually planned ahead for this day. Despite the fact that I have tons of house projects waiting for me, I figured I’d have lots of empty time when both my kids left home. My husband just started a new hobby last fall, so I thought maybe I should have a hobby, too. I decided I would take up knitting.

I’m not really sure why I picked knitting. I used to knit (a little) when I was in middle school. I was into all kinds of crafty projects then. I’ve been intrigued by the luxurious natural yarns at Lancaster Yarn Shop here at Kitchen Kettle Village, and when I visited the shop to talk with Wendy Ellis, the shopkeeper and knitter extraordinaire, about knitting, I  … well, let’s just say I walked out of there signed up for a class.

Wendy teaching the Absolute Beginner's Class - my first class!

Despite the fact that I felt as if I had five thumbs (number is arbitrary, but the feeling was real) during that first beginner’s class, I actually learned to knit. Wendy and the other knitters in the class were very encouraging (and patient) as we knit, step by step, through a beginner’s scarf project.

My first scarf!

I completed that first scarf – and get compliments every time I wear it! And I took a second class – to knit a cowl. My daughter wanted that one, so I had to knit another one for me, and then there was the one I knit for my son’s girlfriend. So that makes four completed items since mid-December!

What started out as a half-hearted whim to learn a new hobby has turned into an activity I truly enjoy and look forward to doing. I find it relaxing to sit down at night after I’ve spent time working on the current house project (a promise to myself after I delayed putting up Christmas decorations last month because I was too busy knitting!) to work on my current knitting project. I already have patterns selected to knit as Christmas gifts!

My cozy cowl

Tomorrow I’m taking the next step – an intermediate level mitten knitting class from Wendy right here at the Lancaster Yarn Shop in the Village. I’m signed up for another class next month, and just saw a sweater class in March I’d like to take. One class a month sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

The Burnleys head on a field trip to see another homegrown, family business

We passed barns, a creek, an odd looking general store. Somebody had a navigation device telling us where to go, a couple phone calls exchanged between cars and when we got where we were going, we circled up and said “well where are we?”  As much as we Burnleys may appear to have it all together, we were genuine tourists. Genuine tourists in HoneyBrook; yup the HoneyBrook that’s 20 minutes down the road. “We drive the kitchen girls home from time to time, so I kind of know the back roads,” says Mike. “except I had it up until that last stop sign”.With camera phones in hand, we wandered the parking lot and really slid into the shoes of a visitor….rather than being the hosts.

The folks at September Farms are a family run, homegrown business. They love people, they love customer service and the cheese is merely the product. With raspy voices, dry from the farm show dust in Harrisburg, David and Roberta Rotelle gave us the genuine tour of how they make cheese, how they incorporate their family and how they see what they do growing. We took notes, we asked questions, and now it percolates. Whether it’s a visit to Peddler’s Village in Bucks County to see a festival or walking the streets of Vail, Colorado to study up on how a main street should feel, the Burnleys are a busy bunch. Although more so recently, I’m finding myself hearing about family businesses a lot lately.

The Burnley family looks on to another example of "experience retail" at September Farms in Honeybrook, PA

Last Saturday, I was all set up to visit a family run pottery business. I wanted to hear about their growth, their values and their process. With an experience a little like today’s trip to HoneyBrook, this one started with goofy directions to the back of a steel manufacturing plant in search of a “red bicycle parked outside the garage”. This shouldn’t be hard to find right?  Except I was looking for a pottery studio, not a red bicycle. What I found was a lot of no trespassing signs, empty wooden pallets and surveillance cameras. Behind a garage door however was a soft spoken Phil Garnett and his pottery workspace. Phil and his wife Stephanie have been making and selling their pottery at Kitchen Kettle for over 12 years. What started in their basement moved to this space down the road (and will move to an even bigger space in Intercourse sometime soon). We’ll post more about my visit to Phil’s studio in the coming months.  Keep an eye out for more “Locally Made” spotlights here on the KettleTalk blog.

Weeks like this make it easy to tune out the  daily reports of economic distress and tune in to real success stories. Family run, locally made-minded businesses like a lot of the ones here in our village are expanding during these times, because their heart has been in it from the beginning.  We’re grateful to be able to visit places like HoneyBrook, foster a creative space for artists like Phil and to tell the world what they’re up to and how they can get their hands on it! If you had a shop at our village, what would you share with our guests?

Phil welcomed me into his studio for a quick tour last Saturday

2012 is here and I am ready to fast forward about 73 days until the first day of spring! Honestly, it might be a little cold at Kitchen Kettle Village right now, but it is the perfect time to visit because there are not many people around. It is also a great time for our maintenance department to make repairs and for shops to attend shows to purchase the latest and greatest new products. Our food specialist, Kristine, is busy experimenting with new products so we can roll out some delicious additions to our line later this year!

The marketing team is also busy planning for the year ahead. One of my most enjoyable jobs is planning the annual events. This year we have a brand new one to add to our roster…The Music for Everyone Festival on Saturday, June 16 from 9-6pm. It should be such a fun event. We are partnering with Music for Everyone, a Lancaster, PA based non-profit dedicated to raising awareness and resources for music in our school and communities. The event will feature 15 street acts performing throughout the day at various locations in the Village. We still need to finalize all the details, but it should be a big jam fest raising funds for an awesome cause. Mark your calendar now for our latest & greatest event!

And don’t forget about Yummie’s Giant Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April, 7th, 2012. We need to start filling the 7,000 plastic eggs with candy & prizes! Rhubarb Festival happens on Friday & Saturday, May 18th & 19th…and the list goes on. There’s lots of planning to be done, but before I know it my wish for spring will soon be here. Enjoy 2012 and all the new adventures it may bring!

Christmas is just a few days away – do you know how you are preparing your turkey? Sure it would be easy to make it the way you normally do, but here is an easy and tasty way to make it special. This recipe will leave your turkey tender and packed full with flavor. Serve it with mashed potatoes, tossed salad and/or for favorite side vegetable or casserole. Enjoy!

Turkey With Herb Butter and Maple Glaze

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 8 people

Ingredients:

1 Turkey, 12 to 14 pounds

1 orange, unpeeled

1 tart apple, unpeeled

Salt and pepper

5 tablespoon butter, softened

1 tablespoon dried Herbs de Provence*

1/3 cup maple syrup

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup apple cider

Preparation:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Put on rack in an open roasting pan. Clean the turkey inside and out. Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper and place on the rack, breast side up. Cut an orange, a tart apple, and an onion into large chunks and stuff into the turkey cavity. Tie the legs together with twine. Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. In a small bowl combine the butter with dried herbs. Using your hand, separate the skin from the breasts and pinch the most of the butter mixture evenly under each side. Rub turkey all over with any remaining butter mixture. Wrap wing tips and drumsticks ends with small pieces of foil. Loosely tent the turkey with a large piece of foil. Roast for 2 ½ hours, then remove and discard the foil tent and base with the maple mixture. Continue roasting, basting frequently, for about 1 hour longer, or until meat thermometer registers about 180 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the turkey thigh. Serves 8.

*Substitute 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, ½ teaspoon dried crumbled rosemary, and ½ teaspoon dried marjoram.

Make sure to visit Kitchen Kettle’s recipe exchange section to find more exceptional recipes. Also, send us your favorite recipes and we will add them to our recipe page.

Here at Kitchen Kettle Village everyone is in full swing forChristmas and for us that means Giving Back.  As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, Giving Back describes a program we coordinate for families in two local school districts who won’t be able to have the same abundant Christmas morning this year that many of the rest of us will.  The bake sales, stromboli sales and pancake breakfasts are ramping up. Jodi and Janelle went shopping today for toys, toiletries, books and age appropriate gifts.  On Thursday our warehouse will be filled with people working an assemby line to pack 185 big  boxes of non-perishable food items.  Yesterday  a different group of people  packed up tote bags and Christmas stockings with stuffed animals, shampoo, and jewelry for kids “from 1 to 92″.  Friday morning a third group will make sure the perishable food like turkeys, milk and eggs are carefully put in the cold awaiting pick-up.   And Friday night 185 parents with over 500 children in tow will arrive to celebrate Christmas by enjoying the special activities of Savor the Season – the Kitchen Kettle Village holiday celebration.  Those same families will leave with all the fixin’s to make Christmas as special as possible, courtesy of all of us at Kitchen Kettle and many of you in our extended community.  If you’re still interested in contributing to this effort, just call Lisa Horn, our Director of Fun at 717-768-8261.  For Lisa, the real fun is organizing events and this one is always at the top of her list.

If you really want to remember what Christmas is all about just stop by, watch and listen at the hospitality table.  There are smiles from ear to ear, a few tears are always shed, wide-eyed children discover the joys of the season and parents experience a gratitude they haven’t gotten to feel for quite some time.  It truly  is the real meaning of Christmas.

Last week, Stephen had a product he wanted to sell. He walked into shops here,shops across the street and shops across town. After wandering our village for a bit, he asked who he could speak with about selling his product here at Kitchen Kettle. Someone in the kitchen sent him upstairs to our main office. Now the walk up to the front desk of our village can be a little intimidating; the stairwell is lined with newspaper articles from years and years of praise. Pat and Bob open a business, Pat and Bob’s kids come back to the village, the Kling House restaurant is a force for local, organic food, Michelle Rondinelli establishes herself as a 3rd generation owner, chow chow becomes a sensation, the list goes on. Stephen reads these, he can’t help but be curious. “Where am I?” he asks himself. He’s not from the area. After dodging the speedwalkers with cell phones always hovering around the front desk, Stephen walks in and sees a 5 foot by 2 and half foot photograph of the owner with a giant gingerbread man named Yummie that says “Welcome!” Already a bit unsure of how to do a cold sales call for his brand new business venture, he now has a giant cookie to contend with.

What does this have to do with us and who we are?  Well I receive a ton of calls from people wanting to sell their goods here at the village, wanting to set up a stand, wanting to see how they can basically get in on what we have going. Well I’d say over half of them forgettable. I also received an email last week that said this:

Remember, business is personal and people act for emotional reasons first, rational ones second. There is no faster way to drive a customer away than to avoid the personal, unique nature of every individual. Have you ever called into a customer service line for help only to be given a generic response that doesn’t help you in the least? We all have. And we usually put a special little star by companies like that.

Stephen did not have a company car, a marketing representative, or outbound sales associate.  Stephen doesn’t have factories for what he does, he doesn’t have supply chains. Stephen has a camera and his own car. What we do here at Kitchen Kettle started from two people working with their hands. What we have now in our village over 55 years later is a collection of artisans who work with their hands. What’s great to me is that Stephen wandered town for over an hour, he didn’t know what stores were ours and what ones weren’t. To him, we were a big retailer and his first steps in selling his craft, so when Jerry our buyer asked him about pricing, he glazed over again like when he walked in the door. Jerry asked him about what he does, how long he’s done it, what he sees in the future, and came to a handshake and a solution. They both chose to make it personal.

Next to the photograph of Pat and Yummie is another wall adorned with accolades. Yes, there are more newspaper articles, but even more prominent are gold plaques; gold plaques with employee’s names with years of service. We spend so much of our lives doing “business” so we say it is indeed personal. We care about the experience here, that’s why we buy produce from farmers down the road, why local families shlep bags of their quilts into our shops and why our shopkeepers who also work with their hands, love being part of this “business”.

Some people chalk it up to being some sort of cliche’d Lancaster County hospitality, but man I’ve lived here a lot of years and had some horrible customer service experiences. This is not a widespread, “you’re nice because you live here” phenomenon, you have to choose to be that way, and I swear Kitchen Kettle people choose that every day.

My top “must see” 12 (sorry I just couldn’t stop at 10) holiday attractions in Lancaster County! Thanks to the PA Dutch Visitors & Convention Bureau, I was able to find an array of activities to keep me busy of the next few weeks…enjoy!

1. Old Fashioned Christmas at Kitchen Kettle

Fridays & Saturdays, November 25 – December 23 at Kitchen Kettle Village enjoy live Christmas carolers, marshmallow roasting, whoopie making and live reindeer!

2. Gift of Lights at Elizabeth Farms

Do not miss this! Approximately 1 mile of drive-thru light display with hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights. November 18 – January 1; 
Sun-Thurs 5pm-9pm, 
Fri & Sat 5pm-10pm.

3. Santa’s Paradise Express

Weekends, November 25-December 18 at the Strasburg Rail Road you can enjoy a 45-minute journey with Santa on an authentic steam train, featuring a pot-bellied stove and strolling musicians.

4. Outdoor Ice Skating in a Ballpark Setting

December – February at Clipper Magazine Stadium you can ice skate to your hearts content. Enjoy skating under the open sky at Clipper Magazine Stadium’s Ice Rink!

5. Ephrata Cloister’s Christmas at the Cloisters

December 12-13. Spend a few moments in quiet reflection with seasonal readings and holiday music in our historic meetinghouse…but you need tickets! Reach them at 717-733-6600.

6. Holiday Open House at Twin Brook Winery

December 3-4 at Twin Brook Winery get into the holiday and spice things up! Mulled Spice Wine and holiday treats will be available for you to sample!

http://www.twinbrookwinery.com

7. Longwood Gardens Christmas

See Longwood landmarks recreated in gingerbread, stand beneath towering trees adorned with ornaments and don’t miss the candy-laden Music Room overflowing with sweet holiday cheer-sounds enchanting!

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/

8. Downtown Lancaster for the Holidays

During the days of November 26-27, December 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18… Downtown Lancaster will be coming alive with signs of the season! Don’t miss out on Caroling Bells, the arrival of Santa Claus, the lighting of the Christmas tree, horse drawn carriage rides, strolling musical entertainment, a model train display!

9. The Nutcracker at President Buchanan’s Wheatland

Join a magical cast of characters as they lead you on an Enchanted Journey based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original The Nutcracker & the Mouse King!
10. Segway Holiday Tours

During this special guided Segway tour you’ll learn about holiday traditions that started in Lancaster. You’ll see beautifully decorated downtown Lancaster shop windows, as well as the huge holiday tree located in Penn Square! No previous Segway experience is needed. Check out the website for more details and tour requirements.

12.  Miracle of Christmas at Sight & Sound

November 11 – December 31 at Sight & Sound Millennium Theatre enjoy a show of a lifetime! The Christmas story comes alive in a brand-new sensory experience, it takes place at the Millennium Theatre. http://www.sight-sound.com/

Happy holidays!

Dare I say it but, Christmas is on its way…Thanksgiving is a little over a week away and here at the      Village, we’re getting in the spirit! Thousands of twinkle lights are being hung, decorations are arriving  and an “Old Fashioned Christmas” sprit is filling the air. Kitchen Kettle has its own group of busy elf’s  scurrying around to make sure enough cookies are made, hot chocolate and hot apple cider are stocked,  Christmas carolers are booked, all the ingredients for Mrs. Claus’s dinner are ready and JUST IN: we  confirmed that Star and Tundra the Reindeers are stopping by! So much to do so little time… Below is  series of events that will be taking place throughout the Holidays here at the Village!

The Tree Lighting Ceremony will take place on November 25^th at 6:00pm. Guests can stroll and shop in  the Village on Friday nights until 9:00pm between Thanksgiving and December 23rd among thousands  of twinkling Christmas lights and strolling musicians while they enjoy a warm cookie and hot chocolate.  They can have Christmas dinner with Mrs. Claus and Yummie, visit the live Nativity, and roast a marshmallow over an open fire for a delicious gourmet Miesse Chocolate inspired s’more. Guests can stop by the Kettle Café and make a personalized whoopie pie at Kitchen Kettle’s first ever Whoopie Pie Bar. Santa will stop by Kitchen Kettle Village, Friday nights from 6-8pm. December 2^nd & 9^th from 6-9pm Operation Keystone Cards will be at Kitchen Kettle for guests to write cards filled with New Years cheer and well wishes for our troops overseas.

On Saturday Holly Days, November 26^th - December 17^th, visitors can take advantage of candy making demonstrations while strolling carolers and brass bands entertain. Santa will visit the Village from 2-3pm every Saturday. Guests can also roast a marshmallow and make a s’more, send a letter to Santa, decorate a cookie and much more.

A complete listing of events and times can be found on our website!

Pillow cases go on last. On the list of things a “room artist” does at Kitchen Kettle, this may seem like just another task, but man don’t make the rookie mistake of doing this first. I barely make my bed now, don’t even ask me about college and growing up, but holy habanero did I get a lesson last week!

Stripping the beds, that’s easy. Get the soiled linens off and in a bag and out of the room. Put the fitted sheet on the bed, lay out the flat sheet, lay the blanket, do a nice fold, and then I think I blacked out. I may have hit my head after slipping on a newly mopped floor, I may have passed out from working through lunch to get 15 rooms done by 3 o’clock, but as soon as Kim King in our Stewardship Department started talking about tucks, folds and tight sheets, I do believe my brain shut down. “What can I carry?” I asked, thinking maybe I could do some heavy lifting. “Well you’re going to have to do a room by yourself here, so pay attention!”

Kim has years of experience with quilts, years of experience with cleaning rooms. Donna Riehl, known as “Dr. Clean” has years of experience with cleaning rooms, and loves her attention to detail (something I may not exactly possess). Vicky, another stewardship team member has been in housekeeping for over 30 years. Don Good, the Coach of this department knows floors, and I mean knows ‘em. Carpet, linouleum, concrete, tile, the list goes on; he knows how to care for them, clean them, what tools you need. I show up to help out and I can’t tell you how much I had to learn. I may write a snappy sentence and be able to take it when some lady in Massachusetts thinks I personally broke her jar of pepper jam and smeared it all over the box before sending it in the mail, but last week I learned a bit more than I expected about our lodging rooms.

17 rooms, two full time cleaners, one part time cleaner, one part time folder. With occupancy over 80% during the month of October, they needed help and yes, the boss’s kid wore a different hat. Like I said, give me some words and a blank page and watch me go, but sometimes a clean room is what we need more. This place keeps me on my toes that’s for sure.