Guest Recipe Requests at the Harrison House

We have requests from our guests for many of the items we prepare for breakfast. This week one of our guests, Sterling S., enjoyed our zucchini pancakes so much that he wrote to ask for the recipe. That particular morning, we served them with omelets made with Gruyere cheese, sun dried tomato, basil and prosciutto. As the summer squash season is coming to a close, make sure to enjoy them soon! You can find this and many other recipes in our cookbook, La Cucina Anna Maria: Good Life Recipes from San Juan Island.

Here is the recipe:

Savory Zucchini Pancakes
1 1/2 cups zucchini finely shredded (about two 8-inch zucchinis)2 large eggs beaten1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
½ cup grated parmesan cheese or grano padano1/2 tsp salt1 Tbsp vegetable or extra virgin olive oil1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp garlic
1 tsp basil
¼ tsp rosemary
¼ tsp black pepper


In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs then add oil and milk. Add dry ingredients and then shredded zucchini and mix until combined. Preheat griddle or heavy frying pan. Spray with non-fat cooking spray. Spoon batter on hot grill; about 2 tablespoons for each pancake. Cook until bubbles almost stop. Flip pancakes and cook on other side until pancakes are done.
Serve with sour cream, yogurt, or syrups. Makes 24 small pancakes.

A peak into the kitchen at the Harrison House

Our guests are enjoying all the fresh fruits the local farms have to offer for breakfast. We have been getting local raspberries (red and gold), strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries and have been making wonderful berry tortes, berry short cakes, cobblers and crisps for our breakfast dessert. The peaches and plums are the best ever. We tried a new recipe inspired by our summer intern, Alicia for the fruit course. We baked a half of peach, brushed with a bit of butter and sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon. Then we served it with a bit of marscapone cheese and garnished it with a fresh berry and mint. Not only were they beautiful by tasty as well. This would be a perfect summer dessert for dinner with a scoop of Lopez Island vanilla ice cream! This morning we made our famous lemon ricotta pancakes for breakfast with a side of chicken apple sausage. Dessert was a plum pudding with almond cream! All these recipes and more are in our cookbook, La Cucina Anna Maria: Good Life Recipes from San Juan Island.

Fall Fun on San Juan Island

The Island has lots to offer this time of year. Take advantage of the smaller crowds and some wonderful fall weather. Our guests have been enjoying great hikes in American and English Camp. One group hiked up to Mt. Young on English Camp and were treated with amazing views over the north part of the San Juan Islands. Others are enjoying the plays and concerts at the San Juan Island Community Theater. The restaurants are all still open and cooking up some fabulous food. Dave and I enjoyed some wonderful oysters and scallops at Back Door Kitchen, a scrumptuous seafood coconut curry at Golden Triangle and some out of this world salmon at 120 Nichols over the last few weeks. This is one of the tough parts of our jobs. We want to make sure that we are up on the latest menu offerings so that we can share them when you visit.