The Chophouse Restaurant here at Woodfield Manor is very proud to be playing a part at this fund raising event for the Barrett Friendly Library in Cresco, Pa.
The party will center around 12 stations serving interesting food and beverages throughout the library, hosted by local people, groups, and companies who support the library. For example, Paradise Brook Trout is hosting a table of “all things trout” and another table will host a Tea table with assorted tea cakes. Hosts are encouraged to decorate their tables in keeping with food and beverage theme and if you wish to link your theme to a book, character, or author, that would just add to the fun.
So, as host for The Chophouse I am embracing the idea that The Chophouse is a “magical” place to dine with family and friends. The book I’ve chosen is the Harry Potter series and through this event,we will be able to promote Woodfield Manor’s capabilities to the local community as well as our cuisine, while helping the library meet the community’s needs.
So keep the date open, Friday June 25th, from 6:30-8:30pm. Tickets in advance $25.00 pp, $30.00 at the door. Come and feast at the library and have fun!

Well, here we are in the last days of May with the whole summer before us. The weather has been great, lots of sun with a few rain showers sprinkled in to help cool things off a bit. Our guests have been enjoying the pool as well as hanging out at night by the outdoor fireplace. Do I smell chocolate and marshmallows? This holiday weekend kicks off the season of summer.
Just to highlight a few upcoming events because there so much going on in the Poconos, it’s hard to fit it all in. This weekend, May 29th & 30th, there’s the Celtic Festival at Shawnee Mt. and June 4th starts race weekend at Pocono Raceway in Longpond. Our guests have been treated to fireworks compliments of Mt. Airy Casino, which can be seen in the skies right over Woodfield Manor. Sit by the pool enjoy your favorite beverage and watch. How fun is that?
The Farmer’s Market on Ann St. in Stroudsburg opens Saturdays from May thru Oct. 8am-noon. People ask us all the time what’s to do here in the Poconos? Well, here’s a short list: hike, walk, visit local galleries, enjoy a Day Spa, golf,visit the Pocono Indian Museum, eat ice cream, visit Boulder Field, go on a canoe down the Delaware, shop, white water raft, visit the Butterfly Sanctuary and walk the legendary Appalachian Trail. That’s about 10% right there. It’s all there waiting for you. Just step out and go!

What a beautiful day to be in the mountains. Clear blue skies, wonderfully mild temps and plenty of fresh air. I can safely say, spring has arrived. Keith is in the process of adding fresh mulch to landscaped areas and I’ve begun to get our “wee garden” ready for planting. The lawns in front of our cottages as well as near the area we call “The Grove” are dotted with spring flowers like wild viola and the common dandilion and it makes these areas come alive with color. We have had a few trees removed over the winter and those areas are being replanted with grass seed. So you see we have lots to do to get ready for our summer guests. Our pool will be up and running by the 28th of May. Our outdoor fireplace has been well stocked with firewood all winter but we’re hoping to add a few extras to make relaxing under the stars even better! This year I plan to make an effort to plant areas beneficial to the common honey bee whose numbers have diminished over the last few years. So, to our guests yet to come to Woodfield Manor, remember to smell the flowers here but remember to “BEE SAFE” as well.

Happy New Year to everyone! Keith, myself and all our staff wish our guests, past and present, as well as our family and friends the best in 2010. We’ve been very busy this year and that includes December. We’ve hosted our share of Christmas parties as well as a wedding on New Year’s Day. Quite magical, I’d say!
For all of you who have not had the opportunity to stay here at Woodfield, we’re waiting for you. With the shortest day just behind us, we still have a lot of winter left. What are you waiting for? Take it from someone who lives in the mountains, it is one beautiful place! We have two state parks very close to Woodfield Manor that are wonderful for winter walking as well as Camelback and Jack Frost for skiing and snowboarding. There are plenty of places to shop, dine and explore. Mt Airy Casino with its’ weekend enterainment is just 10 minutes away. Our outdoor fireplace is even closer and stocked with enough firewood to last till spring. Imagine sitting outdoors with family or friends in front of a crackling fire enjoying a warm drink, toasting marshmallows and just talking.You look up and realize you can’t remember the last time you saw this many stars. It’s all waiting for you at Woodfield Manor in the Pocono Mts. Come and count the stars!

     Well, hello again. I’ve been absent from blogging these last few months and I think part of it was the “business of summer”. On the Woodfield property there is always something to do. Besides helping our guests enjoy their stay, there is grass cutting, taking care of the pool and maintaining the garden areas. But another reason might have been “a wee trip” Keith and I took this September. It was a short jaunt to a country that has certainly captured our hearts, Ireland. We spent 4 days on the east coast in the fair city of Dublin and tried our best to fill the time we had with as much as we could, this side of insanity. After an early breakfast we would drive north or south of the city to sites that could satisfy our love of “the old and spirited places”; the Boyne Valley, the Hill of Tara and the monastery of Glendalough to name a few. These are fantastic sites but there was one especially poignant place we had visited and it did not disappoint. It is called Uisneach and represents the sacred center from which Ireland is divided. Just some slanting fields, bordered by corpses of trees where cows graze and crows fly from tree to tree. Very powerful and haunting. Well, enough of that. So, TAN and SUNDANCE members, if you’d like Ireland to be a TAN destination let us know. We might be able to convince our owners that Ireland might just have to be the next Woodfield East.

                                                                      Slan

   Last Friday night the Manor Bar at the Woodfield Chophouse was alive with music.  A local well known musician, Joe O’Malley, was kind enough to set up stage and perform for our bar and restaurant guests.  A very accomplished guitar player with the kind of voice that make you want to sing along,  Joe found a very receptive audience here at Woodfield.  The listeners were a mix of Manor guests and locals many of whom follow Joe’s performances.   I wouldn’t call them “groupies” but they know good music when they hear it and they were enthusiastic.   Watch this website for additional appearances by Mr. Joe O’Malley here at Woodfield Manor.  He can take the stage anytime he wants.

     Although  every season has something to offer our guests, summer brings an exciting energy to the longer days with a wonderful playground just outside our door. There are golf courses, horse stables,movie theaters, summer theater, dancing, fishing, hiking and all the scenic wonders of the lovely, ever popular Pocono mountains.

     On the Woodfield Manor property , our heated pool is a favorite daytime social center but we’ll soon have a outdoor game area with badminton and horseshoes for our guests and their family to enjoy. Our next project, is to improve the seating and ambiance of our outdoor fireplace so our guests can stay out late enjoying a glass of wine or an ice tea while stargazing near their own “summer campfire”. We might even have to break out the marshmallows and hotdogs.

     We can’t forget our fine dining restaurant and the wonderfully creative drinks, dinners, desserts, as well as the great service of our chef and staff. We at the Chophouse are excited to announce a new service of “Afternoon Tea” which will be held Sundays 1-3pm. Our first ”Sunday Tea” is June 14th and will be served in 4 courses which includes fine premium tea, freshly baked scones and tea breads, soup, salad, or mini quiche, finely cut tea sandwiches and a trio of delicate desserts. We are presently accepting advanced seating reservations for this “lovely full tea experience.” To make a reservation or ask about more details call 895-4460. Come visit and celebrate your special occasion with us.

One of the best things about our job is meeting interesting people. Recently we had the pleasure of speaking with two very active guests who certainly enjoyed the great outdoors in the Poconos. Besides being out and about with their kayak they were avid birdwatchers and they happily shared their knowledge with us.Being a gardner, I spend alot of time outdoors and was very aware of our bird population but it wasn’t until we spoke with the Martyns did I realize just how varied our bird population was. They told us  in just 4 days they recognized by sight and sound a total of 60 species of bird.

      The short list includes Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, Magnolia Warblers, Black Poll Warblers,Spotted Sandpipers, Eastern Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, Redstarts, Goldfinch and Downy, Hairy, Red Belly and Pileated Woodpeckers. They explained that the large line of trees across the road by our pool  appears to be “bird central”. So, future guests, come with eyes and ears open as you sit by the pool enjoying the warmer weather, or walking the property, because you just might spot some of our wonderful winged friends.

     As the weather warms everyday we’re beginning to see and hear the first signs of life at Woodfield Manor. The winter crows (which I love) are still present but returning robins, sparrows, and bluebirds add to the activity by calling their mates and making nests. I’ve seen increased movement of turkey around the property as well as deer inching their way back to our greening lawns and we consider ourselves lucky to sneak a peek at them down by the pool at dusk.

     The landscape around Woodfield changes from cut lawn to untamed overgrowth as it meets the woods. An early spring walk can reveal nature’s treasures. A closer look at the forest floor which is covered with mulch and dried leaves hides a secret world of insects and still emerging spring plants. But as the woods and overgrowth act as “a backdrop of wildness” to the propery, any good gardner knows there are always small pockets of wildness that long to be tamed into unexpected beauty for me as well as my guests.

     So that said, Keith and I are trying to steal snippets of time to start new small gardens at Woodfield. Last year we planted our cutting garden which supplied the dining rooms with cut flowers for most of the summer into the fall. This year I’d like to add a shaded garden with seating and a scented herb garden. George, our maintenance engineer, has promised to make nesting houses for our bird population as well as helping us improve our outdoor fireplace for our guests to enjoy summer stargazing and conversation.

     As beautiful as winter is at Woodfield Manor, I think we’re all excited to see spring and summer return.

    The winter weather continues here in the Pocono mountains, more snow is on the way, and cold temperatures hold fast.  For the outdoor enthusiast this is heaven.  Skiing, snow boarding and tubing are all the rage.   But what to do after a day enjoying nature’s wonderland?  We at the Woodfield Manor Chophouse Restaurant have just the answer.  Delicious food, hearty wine, and good company.  It’s time for another of the Chophouses’ much anticipated “Wine Tasting” events.  This time we’re going Italian, Five courses of devine Italian food, soup, salad, appitizer, entree and dessert, all served with a appropriate Italian wine.  Talk about a way to spend a cold winters night!  The Wine Tasting will be held at our Chophouse Restaurant on Swiftwater Road, Swiftwater, on Wednesday, February 25th., at 7:00pm.  Space is limited and reservations are a definite.  Call us at 570-895-4460 to reserve your seat.  Your wine expert for the evening will be Tom Rogari.  He will making the wine presentations and is ready to help make this another night to remember at the Chophouse Restaurant at Woodfield Manor.