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Finding and keeping good help at the Inn is always a challenge. As with any business in the service industry, recruiting and retaining good employees is a major key to the success of the business. During the 14 years the Inn has been open we have hired, trained and fired more employees than memory allows. We have also been very fortunate to find some excellent young people who have stayed with us for a number of years before moving upward and onward.

As spring approaches each year so does the need to hire seasonal staff. The collection of past summer staffers includes a doctor, two lawyers, a CPA, a musician, an artist and a convict. Whatever the last one did, the Innkeeper is just happy that it did not happen while he was her employee!

A neighbor stopped by the Inn on a spring day and asked if we might be looking for a good helper in the form of his 16-year- old daughter. The young girl was beautiful and she was extremely funny. In the beginning, she was an excellent worker. As the new wore off, so did the delight and the humor. It was a challenge to keep her motivated and only her father’s iron hand kept her coming to work. One busy morning she was given her list of duties. Her priority was to get a room ready for an early arriving guest and then to assist the other housekeeper with the balance of the day’s chores.

We were about the business of the Inn as usual and did not notice until two hours later that the young girl was still working in the first room. Puzzled, the Innkeeper went to check on her and found the young lady stretched out across the bed, sound asleep. Seems the poor girl was tired from being up late the night before and had laid down for a little rest.

On another occasion a different employee was working as a relief cook to give me a much-needed day off. The employee came to work promptly at

6:30 a.m. and had breakfast well underway when she got a call on her cell phone. Not wanting to disturb anyone she stepped out onto the back porch to conduct her conversation. The only problem was that she left a pan of eggs cooking on the stove. From the amount of smoke it must have been a long discussion. She was jerked back into the kitchen when the noise of 35 smoke alarms and the clamor of 16 guests got her attention.

So for the sleepy, tired and distracted employees the Innkeeper has devised a check system that, hopefully, prevents a guest arriving to find an unmade bed or better still, a burned-down house. It’s called the buddy system. Two cooks can easily prepare this meal while keeping an eye out for AND on each other.

APPLE OAT MUFFINS

1 box Duncan Hines Yellow cake mix

2 large eggs

2 cups cooked and diced apples

1/3 cup oil

1 cup milk

2 cups quick cook oats

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix by hand the cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg until thick and smooth. Stir in apples and oats. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot or cold. Makes 12 large or 18 regular muffins.

PERFECT SCRAMBLED EGGS

15 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons dried chives

Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium heat. Mix eggs, sour cream and chives in bowl and whip until creamy. Pour into pan and cook to desired doneness, stirring frequently.

Serves six.

Mary Richards is the owner of All Seasons Inn, a bed and breakfast in downtown Fairbanks. Contact her at www.allseasonsinn.com or 451-6649.