Happy Easter 2016!

We have had a great and busy week at the Miller Tree Inn.  Lots of folks from around the world and the United States taking advantage of spring break travel.  It has been wonderful meeting so many friendly and happy travelers.

We are all set for Easter tomorrow.  The tables are decorated for Easter and spring and devilled Easter chicks will be the plate garnish for tomorrow's breakfast.

We are still collecting money this month for the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction.  Any donations can be sent to the Miller Tree Inn, P. O. Box 1565, Forks, WA 98331.  We would like to have those donations in by Thursday, March 31, so that we can make a deposit at the bank.  The Auction raised more than $70,000 for scholarships last weekend.  Anything else we can add to the total will make it that much better.  Please make checks out to:  Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction.

On Friday, April 1, we will have our first quarterly drawing.  Can't wait to see who the lucky winner is!

2016 Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction

It is Scholarship Auction weekend! Here at the Miller Tree Inn, we have been preparing Danish Puff Pastry and a gift certificate to take to the auction tomorrow. The auction starts at 9AM in the Forks High School Commons. The scholarship auction committee has given out more than 1 million dollars in scholarship money to gradutes of Forks High School since the committee was formed in the 1960s. Auction items will be accepted March 19 and 20 at Forks High School. Monetary donations made be made at any time. The Senior Parents will also be serving food throughout the auction. All proceeds from the sale of food will go toward the 2016 Senior Safe Night. Come on out and support Forks High School students!

March 2016

Though we have had lots of rain and wind since March began, the camellias don't seem to mind. We have a very healthy bush blooming off of our side porch giving us hope that spring might just be on its way! Speaking of hope, thanks to all who donated to our February charity of the month, the Forks Caring Place. Because of your kind donations, some of the people who walk through their doors will experience some love and hope. With our matching gift, we were able to send more than $100 to this worthy cause. Thank you!
 Don't forget the Quillayute Scholarship Auction coming up on March 19 and 20. They are our worthy cause for the month of March.  Donations of auction items may be sent our way, but we need them by March 18 to make sure your donation actually gets into the auction.  Monetary donations may come to use through the end of the month.  Checks should be made out to the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction.  We will pass them on to the auction committee AND make sure that your name is entered in our quarterly drawing.  Our first drawing will be held on April 1, 2016.  That is no April Fool's joke!

Happy March!

Happy March 1! It is stormy and blowing over here in Forks. We can truly say that March is coming in like a lion! We will have to wait and see about the lamb part.

With a new month comes a new charity in celebration of our house's 100th year. This month we are featuring the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction. For more than 50 years this annual auction has raised thousands of dollars in scholarship money to give to any Forks High School graduate who is going on to some... form of higher education. Each graduate can apply and receive this scholarship for two years. The money is raised during a live auction conducted over a Saturday and Sunday in March. This year the auction will be March 19 and 20.

How can our facebook friends participate? If you would like to make a monetary donation, you may mail us a check made out to the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction and send it to: Miller Tree Inn, P. O. Box 1565, Forks, WA 98331. We will enter your name in our quarterly drawing for your choice of a $100 gift certificate to go toward a night of lodging at the Miller Tree Inn OR breakfast for 4 at the Miller Tree Inn. We will collect cash and checks for this worthy cause the entire month of March and will pass on our collection at the end of the month. As with the other charities, the Miller Tree Inn will match monetary donations up to $100.

If you have an item or gift certificate that you would like to donate to the auction; you can mail or ship it to the Miller Tree Inn at the above address. Auction items MUST be received no later than March 18. If you donate an auction item, we will enter your name into the quarterly drawing and will deliver your donation to the the auction. Or better yet, come on over to Forks that weekend and attend the auction! We still have rooms available at the Miller Tree Inn.

Out with the Red and In with the Green!

We changed over from Valentine's Day to St. Patrick's Day this morning.  It took a couple of hours, but we are all set for the next holiday!

St. Patrick's Day is special around here since one of the innkeepers is of Irish decent.  We will have Celtic music on our CD player at breakfast time and of course, the tableware will have a decidedly green look.

Though we have changed over to St. Patrick's Day.  We are still collecting for the Caring Place, our charity of the month for the month of February.  We will be collecting for them until next Monday, February 29.  Please make your checks out to:  The Caring Place and mail them to the Miller Tree Inn, P. O. Box 1565, Forks, WA 98331.  We will tally the amount, forward the checks and match funds up to $100.  Anyone who donates to this worthy cause, through us, will have their name entered in our quarterly drawing.

Next month our charity will be the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction.  We will have more details on that next week.

It Feels Like Spring

We have been enjoying the spring like weather here the last couple of days.  It helps to make up for the rain coming down sideways last week!  We took advantage of the nice day and planted 24 colorful primroses around the house and happened to catch some snow drops and crocus in bloom also.  We hear that the rain is coming back the end of the week, but we don't mind.  We will be warm and cozy inside.

Don't forget to send the Miller Tree Inn a valentine and/or donation to the Caring Place so that you will be entered in our quarterly drawing.

February and Valentines

February marks our second month of celebrating our building's 100th birthday, here at the Miller Tree Inn.  Our featured "Charity of the Month" is the Caring Place.  The Caring Place is a faith based organization that provides, food, clothing, counseling, etc, to families.  Most of their clients are women and children.  They specifically try to help pregnant women in crisis due to finances, abuse or social and/emotional circumstances.  This month we are accepting donations from guests and friends for this very worthwhile cause.  As with last month, the Miller Tree Inn will match any donations received up to $100.  Last month we were able to give the Forks Food Bank more than $300 in donations!

If you would like to donate to this charity, please make your check out to the Caring Place and mail it to us at the Miller Tree Inn, P. O. Box 1565, Forks, WA 98331.  For every donation made, we will enter your name in our quarterly drawing.  The drawing will be held on April 1, 2016 and the prize is your choice of $100 gift certificate to the Miller Tree Inn or Breakfast for 4 at the Miller Tree Inn.

There are 2 other ways to get your name in this drawing during the month of February.

1.  Send the Miller Tree Inn a Valentine with your full name and either your email address or phone number (so we can let you know if you win.)  One Valentine per household, please.

2.  Stay with us a night in February and we will have you fill out a ticket for the drawing.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we still have rooms available for that weekend.  We would love to see you!

Red Velvet Pancakes

We made these for Forever Twilight in Forks weekend and also for Valentine's Day 2015, so we thought we had better get the recipe up for Valentine's Day 2016, so all can enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons red liquid food coloring

Soft together the first 6 ingredients into a large bowl.  Whisk together the buttermilk and next 3 ingredients in another bowl.  Gradually stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture, just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot buttered griddle or large non-stick skillet.  Cook 3-4 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry and cooked.  Turn and cook 3-4 minutes or until done.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet, and keep warm in a 200 degree oven up to 30 minutes.  Serve with Sweet Cream Cheese Butter.  No syrup necessary!  Though I do garnish with both white and dark chocolate syrup and powdered sugar.

Sweet Cream-Cheese Butter - mix the following ingredients together
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup softened butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To serve put one pancake on the plate and a generous dollop of the Sweet Cream Cheese Butter, then top with another pancake and garnish.  I use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut a heart in the top pancake, just for visual interest.

The 100th Birthday Party of the Miller Tree Inn

On Wednesday, January 13, we had an open house at the Miller Tree Inn to celebrate the building's 100th birthday.  Friends, neighbors and members of the Forks business community came to tour the house, socialize and have a variety of food.  It was a great night, and the rain even held off, so that people were not getting wet, coming and going from the Inn.

We had a drawing for prizes for those in attendance and we were honored by the presence of Oscar and Wilma Peterson.  Oscar is the grandson of the original homesteaders and builders of the house.  Oscar and Wilma are our wonderful neighbors and were able to share stories of the house and the family with our guests.

In addition to the food and fellowship, we were able to raise funds for our local Food Bank.  We know that the holidays can stress the resources of food banks, so we collected food and cash during our open house.  We are happy to say that a box of food and more than $200 was donated on Wednesday night.  We are always humbled by the generosity of our small community.  We will continue to collect cash/checks for the food bank until the end of the month.  Since we have decided to match the money raised up to $100, we will be able to give Forks Food Bank more than $300 at the end of January!  That should help fill up those shelves a little bit.

We plan on continuing the 100th celebration all the way through 2016.  Our charity for the month of February will be the Caring Place.  Stay tuned for what we have in mind for that!

Happy 2016!

2016 is going to be a special year at the Miller Tree Inn.  Our building is 100 years old this year and we are going to have a year long celebration.

The Miller Tree Inn started out as the Peterson family homestead.  It then became the home to first the Liebold family and then the Chamberlin family.  In 1984, Ted and Prue Miller purchased the home and turned it into the Miller Tree Inn Bed and Breakfast.  The current innkeepers, Bill and Susan Brager, purchased the inn in 1998.

We will kick off

 the 100th birthday celebration with a birthday Open House on January 13, 2016 from 5PM - 7PM.

We are also going to have quarterly drawings.  This quarter, the drawing will be for a $100 Miller Tree Inn gift certificate or Breakfast for 4 at the Inn.  You will receive a drawing ticket for each night that you stay at the Miller Tree Inn.  On April 1, 2016, we will draw the winning entry and award the prize.

We also have special mugs for our 2016 celebration.  Come on over and stay with us!