Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 6, 1995 TAG: 9509080023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. NUTT and NEVA HART SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Innkeeper Mary Lynn Tucker, who with her husband, Lee, has dished up healthful breakfasts for guests at The Manor at Taylor's Store since 1986, has combined her menus and recipes from the historic inn into a chatty and refreshing compilation.
Conceding that "no respectable Southern breakfast cookbook would omit a recipe for sausage gravy," Tucker said, "We take traditional dishes like sausage and gravy and make it low-fat."
As proof, her flavorful sausage gravy recipe uses turkey sausage, margarine and skim milk to come in with a count of less than 20 mg of cholesterol per serving. She converts high-cholesterol spoonbread (normally 125 mg cholesterol per serving) into a 2 mg per serving version using egg whites and egg substitute. Other pared-down successes include homemade sausage, baked cheese grits, frittatas, and the inn's "signature" low-fat apple puffs - often prepared with apples from trees on the 120-acre property or nearby orchards in Franklin County - made with canola margarine, skim milk and egg substitute.
Nonmeat appetites are accommodated with foods such as tasty vegetarian sausage, vegetable breakfast loaf and several breakfast cheeses. Fruit soups and blender beverages add variety without adding fat, cholesterol and calories. Even the few relatively high-fat special-occasion recipes don't exceed recommended dietary guidelines.
Tucker, a University of Virginia graduate with a master's degree in public health specializing in patient education, covers in the book her concepts of heart-healthy cooking, how to read labels and how to convert your own recipes into low-fat/high-fiber dishes. Also a nutritionist and family nurse practitioner, Tucker uses lots of fruits and vegetables to create homemade granola, whole-grain pastries and breakfast "desserts," most of which have been tested in the Manor's kitchen with guests as final judges.
Ideas for food presentation and serving complement the recipes in the easy-to-use book, which has a lay-flat binding.
Gathering and testing recipes for the book took Tucker four years, during which she also managed to found the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia - a state trade association representing over 200 B& Bs - and squeeze in a lecture tour on bed-and-breakfast management.
In addition to its good-for-you breakfast recipes, "Heart Healthy Hospitality" is chock-full of interesting tidbits about the Manor itself.
Taylor's Store, located on Virginia 122 just north of Burnt Chimney, opened in 1799 and served local settlers and travellers who passed along the old Warwick Road. In 1812, a U.S. Post Office began operating in the store. Thus, the entire community soon became known as Taylor's Store. Taylor's Store provided household and farm supplies for the community and also served as a gathering spot for the daily exchange of news and for weekly social activities such as square dances.
The store eventually fell into extreme disrepair and was dismantled in the early 1970s, but the Virginia Department of Historic Resources erected a historical marker near the store's location at the front of the inn.
Mary Lynn and Lee Tucker knew from the time they started dating that they shared many common interests. Their mutual fascination with creating good-tasting, low-fat, high-fiber recipes eventually resulted in the inn's popular "Lee's Whole Grain Pancakes." Their shared desires to run a bed and breakfast, to renovate an old home, to cook healthful meals, to visit with guests from all over the world, and to live on a farm eventually led to their buying the Taylor Store property in 1986.
The Tuckers picked up renovations where the previous owner, the late Roanoke surgeon Henry Lee, had left off. They also undertook an investigation of the property's history, which led them to the Library of Congress, the National Archives and to the homes of a few Rocky Mount women, now in their 9Os, who tape-recorded - Foxfire-style - their memories of growing up in the Manor.
"Part of the bed and breakfast experience is being connected with history," Tucker said, "and we knew there was very interesting history in this house. People who stay here feel the roots of Franklin County."
Lee's knowledge of antique rugs and furniture and the Tuckers' passion for decorating with fine antiques and Victorian furniture are evident in the inn's elegance. A case clock, with elaborate carvings of gargoyles and cherubs, designed by architect Stanford White in 1903, stands tall in the parlor. The inn's six rooms are each individually decorated with a different theme, and the separate Christmas Cottage offers additional accommodations for families and groups.
Two years ago, "Southern Living" magazine featured The Manor at Taylor's Store and a few of its favorite breakfast recipes.
Prices, including full, healthful breakfasts and amenities, such as volleyball, croquet, hot tub, pool table and big-screen TV with VCR, range from $80 to $125 per night for double occupancy. West Lodge, a hand-hewn log and stone reproduction featuring three luxury suites with modern kitchens, baths and jacuzzis, is expected to open in October. Its rates will range from $125-$175 per night.
Picnic lunches and dinners also are available for guests in all quarters.
"Heart Healthy Hospitality, Low Fat Breakfast Recipes from The Manor at Taylor's Store Bed and Breakfast Country Inn," by Mary Lynn Tucker, costs $10.95 in paperback and is available at local gourmet, gift and book stores or directly from the publisher: Kia Ora Publications, Route 1, Box 533, Wirtz, Va. 24184. From Roanoke, phone 721-3951; other areas (800) 248-6267.
- FOOD EDITOR ALMENA HUGHES CONTRIBUTED INFORMATION TO THIS STORY
Recipes for:
HEART HEALTHY VIRGINIA PEANUT SOUP
THE FAMOUS MANOR APPLE PUFFS
TURKEY SAUSAGE PATTIES
SOUTHERN SAUSAGE GRAVY
TAYLOR'S STORE LOW-FAT CRUSTLESS QUICHE SMOKED TURKEY AND CHEDDAR
by CNB