About Us

Somewhere on a long highway drive home from an innkeeping conference, the idea of 8 Broads in the Kitchen was born and fleshed out. It was early in 2009. Two long-time innkeeper friends, Deb and Kathryn, were excited about the idea of starting a shared blog that would be all about food and share delicious recipes online, two things that seem to be of great interest to B&B guests. We were all innkeepers who knew one another, or knew of one another, through professional innkeeping associations. Some of us were already close personal friends. There was no science to the number 8. It just seemed right. And since all of us were women of a certain age and life experience, we felt we had earned the right to call ourselves Broads.

And so it began. Here we were, a broad (pun intended!) representation of innkeepers with properties spread out from coast to coast, and North to South. Which presented the first challenge – how to get together in one place to flesh out an agenda and business plan. A few months later we were able to coordinate schedules and have a photo shoot in Philadelphia in the beautiful kitchen of a retired innkeeper friend. Since that first meeting, we’ve shared many fine meals together, traveled together, laughed, cried and hugged many times. We’ve become as close as sisters.

We’re proud of our achievements since then. Our second cookbook is now in bookstores and available online. In 2015 our first cookbook was published. We have also done cooking demonstrations and workshops for groups, national and state innkeeping conferences, and in local kitchen shops. We have written articles on food and cooking for various publications. Some of us offer cooking classes at our inns.

Even though several of us have now retired from innkeeping, we still have a wealth of knowledge and recipes to share and are excited about the opportunity to do so. We hope you enjoy meeting each of us below.

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Kathryn White

Hanover, PA

“My favorite pastime is being in the kitchen. Listening to opera and being in the kitchen is sublime. I prefer kneading dough by hand, grill pork steaks in frigid cold temperatures of winter, and I have baked thousands and thousands of cookies for arriving guests each afternoon. Having closed my inn just over three years ago, I am now active in consulting after having served as director of education and events for AIHP, a national association that I helped create as a member of the leadership team. I love teaching cooking classes, and am determined to attend opera in the great houses throughout the world.

Music and food reveal the hearts and souls in all of us, and travel gives me the opportunity to test this theory. Although St. Louis tugs at us to return, my husband and I still live in Pennsylvania with Sarah, the lap-dog black lab.”

Danielle Hanscom Thode

Brampton Bed and Breakfast Inn

25227 Chestertown Road, Chestertown, MD 21620

(410) 778-1860

“Food has been a big part of my life since my childhood in Zurich, Switzerland. Meals were planned carefully around the seasons. Baking was entertainment for us kids on weekends. It’s the kind of thing that stays with you.

In the mid-eighties, my husband Michael and I settled just outside of Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to raise our kids and start the Brampton Bed and Breakfast Inn. My love of cooking and baking came in very handy!
In 2009 I proudly became one of the 8 Broads in the Kitchen with seven of the smartest and kindest women I know. We share a love of hospitality, good conversation, tasty food and a glass or three of wine!

 

Ellen Gutman Chenaux

Philadelphia, PA

“I was not to the kitchen born, but rather moving from country to country and traveling extensively awakened my palate and in turn inspired my passion for cooking and baking. Owning Birchwood Inn, in Lenox, MA, gave me the opportunity to hone my skills and my culinary passions soared. My breakfasts reflected my passion for 17+ years and won numerous awards.

I have retired from innkeeping but not from continuing to satisfy my passion for creative cuisine!”

Joyce Schulte

Seattle, WA

“I have always loved food, and most of my life I loved the eating of it much more than the cooking of it. Then came Innkeeping and the Eight Broads and all that changed. I learned to cook and a whole new world opened up.

While innkeeping made me learn to cook, retirement from innkeeping has let me learn how to cook foods beyond breakfast, for the pleasing of my own palate rather than the expectations of guest’s palates. I find myself on a new exploration of food and the kitchen, both cooking alone and with friends and family, laughing at the mistakes along the way, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the ride! My cooking has taken a different turn, it has been over a year since I made a quiche or baked a cookie, no more dairy, no more gluten, no more sugar. I now eat and therefore cook pretty much an anti-inflammatory diet. Vegetables are my new best friend (who knew they could taste so good), I finally have an herb garden, and then there is fish. Tasty, beautiful fish, I never had time to cook fish as an innkeeper, it wasn’t exactly a major breakfast food.

Being blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest I’ve been exploring tasty new ways to cook the bounty of fish at my doorstep. I’m now a regular at the fish market and the Farmer’s Market, both within walking distance of our West Seattle home. Some things have not changed, I still love living in Seattle, I’m thankful to my fellow “broads” for giving me the confidence to learn to cook in the first place, I’m still exploring the world of food, cooking and most of all eating, and I am still the queen of keep it simple and keep it delicious.

At times, my favorite meal is indeed “one that has been prepared for me by someone else”, but whoever makes it, me or someone else, great food for me is best at a table shared with friends, and the sound of laughter, sharing, and happiness. I might have a new motto, life is short, eat well, eat healthy, and eat often!”

Kristie Rosset

Hot Springs, AR 71913

(501) 562-0042

“When baking cookies for guests, I marveled that “this is part of my job!”. I love innkeeping, and with my husband, Ray, built the award-winning Lookout Point Lakeside Inn in Hot Springs, Arkansas. After nearly 15 years of being challenged as innkeepers, we sold the inn to terrific new owners in 2017. I am struck with wanderlust, moving every one -to-three years as a child and young adult. I’ve lived in several mid-western and southern states, plus Canada. Cooking is a fun creative outlet, and I’ve learned that pretty food just tastes better. It’s a joy to prepare a meal for a houseful and experiment with different foods.

For more than 13 years I’ve been involved with the national innkeeping association, serving in various leadership and board positions. I am proud to be a founder of the Association of Independent Hospitality Professionals (AIHP).

As an ordained United Methodist clergywoman (retired), I continue to officiate at many weddings. To date, I’ve officiated at more than 1,000 weddings! I am also a former RN, specializing in critical care nursing. With a wide variety of interests and keen sense of adventure, I love spending time with family including our two grandchildren, playing cards and board games with friends, having fun at the lake, rescuing dogs, sipping red wine and traveling worldwide. I will go almost anywhere and try most anything.

I am amazed and grateful to be a member of the 8 Broads in the Kitchen. I’ve learned so much from these incredible women, and consider each one a sister.”

Debrah Mosimann

Swiss Woods

500 Blantz Road, Lititz, PA 17543

(717) 627-3358 / (800) 594-8018

“My inn is tucked away along the back roads of Lancaster County PA, where I grew up in a PA Dutch family with deep roots in the area. My parents ran a smoked meats and cheese store with an in-store bakery, so it is no surprise that I enjoy food and especially love to bake. One of my earliest memories is standing on a pickle barrel watching the men slice bologna. I was 6 and the pickle barrel lid gave way. You can imagine the rest!

Yeast dough is my specialty and passion. Early on I spent quite a bit of time in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, eventually settling in Switzerland for several years. My baking and kitchen are greatly influenced by these years and it is reflected in much of what I cook/bake. In 1986 Werner and I opened Swiss Woods. The inn features many baked goods as part of our morning fare, and these many years later I still love sharing with you the tips and secrets that make them perfect every time… well almost!

I am also grandma “Omi” to 5 grandchildren and Mom to four and having them all home for dinner is one of my favorite things. I love teaching cooking classes at national conferences as well as at our local kitchen gadget store. I am the 8 Broad tweeter so next time you see a tweet from 8broads say hi!”

Yvonne Martin

The White Oak Inn

29683 Walhonding Road (SR 715), Danville, OH 43014

(740) 599-6107 / (877) 908-5923

“I was born in Scotland, where we shared a home with my beloved Welsh grandmother. She and her two widowed neighbors were all excellent cooks and the three of them were in constant competition for the various baking prizes at the local fair. These three ladies taught me how to bake, and to appreciate simple fresh local ingredients. I was hooked on cooking the first time I watched through a glass oven door as the cake I had made all by myself rose and emitted a delicious sweet smell.

As a teenager in Canada, I continued to expand my repertoire, using my younger brothers as grateful guinea pigs. (Or at least they were grateful most of the time!) While I had a career in business and finance, in Toronto, my true passion and hobby was food and cooking. I spent most of my spare time exploring farmers’ markets and ethnic groceries, trying out independent restaurants and cooking up a storm.

In 1992 I moved to Danville, Ohio, with my husband Ian, to buy The White Oak Inn, where even after almost 25 years in this business, nothing gives me more satisfaction than hearing guests groan with pleasure as they taste something delicious I made for them. And I’m proud to say I’ve never had to use my fallback plan in case a recipe failed – which would be to order in pizza instead!”

Lynnette Scofield

William Henry Miller Inn

303 North Aurora Street, Ithaca, NY 14850

(607) 256-4553 / (877) 256-4553

“Ithaca New York is known as a real foodie town and its no wonder that I feel right at home! As the owner of The William Henry Miller inn, I’m always happy to let guests know that the Inn is with walking distance of more than fifty restaurants.

I’m never happier than when I’m surrounded by butter, flour, sugar and a cookbook. Or two. Or three.

I love my city and have chaired two United Way campaigns raising more than $3 million dollars and I’m involved with The Tompkins County Public Library Foundation; Foodnet, Meals on Wheels and The Strategic Tourism Planning Board.
And her constant companion? Lucy Lunchbox, an 11 year old VERY mixed breed love of a dog.”