Top Ten Romantic Recipe Winners

DANA POINT, CA (February 10, 2009)—ILoveInns.com announces the winner of its Top Romantic Recipe contest. The winning recipe for Valentine Chocolate Gift Bag with Hearts and Grand Marnier Mousse for Two was submitted by Great Oaks Manor Plantation Bed & Breakfast located outside Houston, Texas in Richmond.

Valentine Chocolate Gift Bag with Hearts and Grand Marnier Mousse for Two

The winning recipe was created by Carey Gravelle Gulliksen, innkeeper of Great Oaks Manor Plantation Bed & Breakfast and former Portland, Oregon pastry shop owner. The Valentine Chocolate Gift Bag is a small bag-shaped chocolate shell made with dark chocolate and filled with a Grand Marnier-enhanced chocolate mousse. The melt-in-your-mouth garnish of white and dark chocolate hearts adds to the romantic presentation.

Dine on similar delicacies at the casually elegant and historically rich Great Oaks Manor in the formal dining room at tables for two or on the inn’s verandah. Carey says, “Guests are always surprised at our breakfast. We try to present different recipes and we always feature one of my specially-created pastries. If we have a couple celebrating an anniversary or their wedding night, we make our Strawberry Croissant French Toast. We make the Valentine Gift Bag for special occasions as well. This year on Valentine’s Day we will serve Heart-shaped White Chocolate Cheese Cake for Two garnished with Raspberries.” Great Oaks Manor also offers an assortment of romantic packages for a couple’s getaway with Texas-size hospitality in the Sugar Land area. 
 
Members of iLoveinns.com were invited to submit entries throughout January. The winning recipe and the staff favorites below are unique and original chosen for a variety of qualities such as distinct flavor, romantic presentation, seduction quotient and creative flair. All of these recipes with detailed instructions and a color photo are located on the recipe tab at iLoveInns.com and on InnTouch, iLoveinns’ new iPhone application.

ILoveInns represents North America’s best bed and breakfasts and small boutique inns. The romantic recipe competition celebrates the romantic ambiance and pampering that couples find at the unique properties individually operated as bed and breakfast inns. This includes the diverse and generous culinary offerings of innkeepers not only at breakfast but throughout the day. 
 
Staff Favorites 

• Chocolate Mousse on the Half Shell with Raspberry Sauce by 1785 Inn & Restaurant in North Conway, New Hampshire
• Cherry-Berries in the Snow by Victoria-on-Main in Whitewater, Wisconsin
• Chocolate Espresso Pancakes with Raspberry Coulis by Strawberry Creek Inn in Idyllwild, California
• Cranberry Liqueur by Big Mill Bed & Breakfast in Williamston, North Carolina
• Delectable Strawberry & Dark Chocolate Stuffed Pancakes by The Mountain Rose B&B Inn in Woolwine, Virginia
• Sweetheart Chocolate Decadence Cake by Beazley House in Napa, California
• The Perfect Pear Blush in Crème Brule Sauce by Flery Manor in Grants Pass, Oregon
• When Chocolate Met Raspberry by the Artist’s Inn and Gallery of Terre Hill, Pennsylvania
• Coeur a la Crème by Allegan Country Inn, in Allegan, Michigan

 
For more information on these or other inns browse www.iloveinns.com or use the free InnTouch application on iPhone or iPod Touch. The Web site lists 19,000 B&B inns with many full descriptions, photos, video clips and Web links. Many of the properties are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with a Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. ILoveInns also offers Bed and Breakfast Gift Certificates, a perfect solution to help celebrate any occasion.