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Revive by Reading About, Cooking Mystery Food |
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Marilyn and Don Breese say things fell into place so smoothly when they decided to buy the Oak Ridge Bed and Breakfast it must have been serendipity. Oak Ridge is about 90 miles from Charlotte, and the B&B is six miles north of the Greensboro airport. The Inn, which they've renovated and landscaped extensively, is a Colonial Revival built in the early 1930s.
Two outstanding features of this place are the downstairs library and a huge kitchen large enough for catering and cooking classes. The library is especially well stocked with mystery novels. And the two features come together in the cooking classes they advertise as "Cooking Up a Mystery."
The classes, taught by personal chef Cindy Williamson-Kohler, feature recipes from those mysteries that include recipes. For $45, you learn to prepare recipes featured in the novels - and receive a copy of the book from which they're taken. In the case of an author such as Patricia Cornwell, who writes about food in her stories but doesn't give recipes, the specifics come from a Patricia Cornwell cookbook.
The guest rooms reflect the literary theme - Tony Hillerman Room, Lillian Jackson Braun Room, Anne McCaffrey Room and The Hobbit House. The Hobbit House is a separate space outside the main house that is large enough to accommodate a family of four, and private enough to serve as a special-occasion retreat.
In addition to cooking classes, Oak Ridge Bed and Breakfast offers classes in a variety of fiber arts, from quilting to felting, interests reflected in decor throughout the house.
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The above article appeared in the November 6, 2005 issue of the
Charlotte Observer, the local news and information source
for northwest Charlotte, NC |
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