Hanover innkeeper Kathryn White may not be a professional chef, but she knows what she's doing. She learned from her family and her collection of about 80 breakfast and baking cookbooks.

It's true, she never enrolled in professional courses. "No, I just grew up in a family where food is very important," White said. "I just have that interest. I guess I come by it honestly."

White and her husband, Thomas, moved from St. Louis to Hanover, when the opportunity arose to purchase the Beechmont Inn, on Broadway, in 2000.

"It was a dream of mine for about 20 years," White said, to purchase an inn. Her dream started after she read "Country Inns and Backroads" by Norm Simpson, which encouraged her to travel, staying at bed and breakfasts.

When White and her husband purchased the inn, it was clear that she would do most of the cooking.

"He is terrific with scrambled eggs," White said, but for the most part, she reigns in the kitchen.

Each morning at the inn, she tries to serve up something different, something fresh.

"We serve breakfast every morning, so I'm always looking for a different approach," White said. "It's always fun to experiment and combine different ingredients."

Her experimentation led her to submit recipes for her cranberry French toast and spice pancakes with lemon sauce in Select Registry's "Inn-credible Breakfast Cook-off."

White says she tries to ensure quality with her cooking by using fresh, local ingredients.

"It's hard not to when you live in an area such as ours with great vegetables, great fruits," White said. "I also love the fact that we have a good butcher for our bacon and sausages. Guests notice the difference, when they get sausage that is that fresh and that good. That's very important to us, to use local products."

White shares her recipe for cranberry French toast, which she entered in the cook-off.