It would still be good!
Somehow, we have lucked out with weather going to our favorite place and it was still pretty much full-fall when we arrived. So of course we took a wander through the gardens. To be honest, I find great beauty in faded blooms.
They remind me a bit of how we might feel after having had a wonderful time and now we are tired and ready for a rest.
Honestly, haven't you ever felt like this?
But some, like the hydrangea, are just as lovely in their faded place as they are in full color.
(Although a few were really hanging in there!)
I just adore how they do their bird baths -- and it's so pretty with the reflections!
Loads of berries now. I'll bet the birds are loving these!
But on to dinner! Our first stop was in the Corn Crib. This is my favorite of the rooms and I loved this view when we entered.
Angie was making drinks. She hollowed out apples to serve as vessels. This was called her "Poisoned Apple" drink and was vodka, pomegranate juice and other juices, including Hawaiian Punch. (I didn't like the Hawaiian Punch in there -- made it a tad too sweet for me. But I LOVED the presentation!)
The appetizer was a Brie with chutney in phyllo cups. Yum!
Then we walked through a canopy of lights for our next course in the Hog House.
This featured a beautiful salad with a lovely raspberry dressing...
...and the cutest rolls I've ever seen with a delicious spiced butter. After I got home I looked up recipes online for these and found a couple of links.
Then it was off to the Milking Parlor for the main course. We had roasted rack of lamb, a veggie and a Thai rice (which is deep enough purple to be considered black). And that was served in these cute hollowed out peppers. I can't wait to do something like this with the Baby Grands. Pasta or mac and cheese would work!
We were pretty stuffed, but not too stuffed to move on for Creme Brulee and ginger snaps. And best of all, when we moved to our final station we found a project for us! We did little bloom-stuffed Jack Be Littles.
And here's mine, shown at home.
All in all, a most glorious evening. The next time we return it will be in December. The garden will be gone completely (and if we are lucky it will not be covered in snow! Too soon!)
Oh, I can hardly wait!
51 comments:
You are clearly a Southern Exposure girl. The people who do the decor there must be in a constant state of flex as they swap out one season of with the next. My senior hall books a trip there every 3-4 years and I'm hoping next summer is one of them, I'm signing up again.
WHAT fun! I am ever so jealous. I love it all-from the tour of foods to the project at the ends. Can't wait to see your visit in December. xo Diana
Loved seeing your photographs.
Another super visit, with one to come in December! Fantastic!
… but enjoy your November first :)
All the best Jan
Southern Exposure sounds like my kind of place. I like the photo homage you did for the old flowers.
Those fall not quite at their prime anymore flowers are gorgeous in their own way and those peppers made in jack-o-lanterns are just amazing. How clever is that. I'm going to remember that too. It looks like you hd a wonderful day! Hugs-Erika
Lovely photos. Especially the Corn Crib one. I wish we had a fun place like that here.
The food sounds wonderful. I love your photos.
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
What a hoot seeing that witchy leg with the pumpkin i your first pic. Also what a great idea to make poison apples. Wonder if it would work with another punch not so sweet. Janice
I would go there just to eat!
The faded blooms are kind of spooky looking and just right for this Halloween time. Jeanie, your photos are so interesting, I never know where to begin. I know that the pumpkin and the yellow rose really got to me. The canopy of lights - I love that photo! The Brie with chutney looks delicious. And the rolls with spiced butter, oh my. That first picture is pretty cool too. Was that your leg with the purple stockings? haha
~Sheri
Southern Exposure always looks so fun. I too find beauty in spent blossoms. Glad you got to go and enjoy it. Your mini boo arrangement is so pretty!
hugs,
Jann
Gorgeous fall theme and colours. Everything is spectacular.
Jeanie,
Thanks so much for stopping by!! Great pictures!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Jeanie, you always have a grand time at SE. The food looks and sounds so enticing, how fun moving from building to building for each course. I love your little project, so cute.
Cute leggings!
The place is so lovely and the appetizers look so good.
I like the canopy of lights, nice to walk through :)
The wilting flowers are so dramatic. Sometimes life seems like that. Lovely photos.
The Corn Crib sounds like such fun. All of your photos make me do a happy dance. Fading flowers, good food, fall festivity...you nailed it here, girl!
Are you missing your lakehouse? We take a break until it's time for sledding and warm fires. I'm quite happy and sound here in the city now.
Jane ❤️
Wise words. Maybe I´ll manage to enjoy fading flowers better now, thank you, Jeanie.
Drinking from an apple, cool idea, I like that.
Beautiful canopy! Hey, that´s where my last edible flower went ;-)
No snow (yet or ever again!).
Wonderful place to visit, love the decorations and the gardens look great, thanks for sharing the lovely photos. Have a great day, hugs, Valerie
This place looks amazing! I will be anxiously awaiting your December trip.
Oh what a great time this evening must have been! Like you I find this time of year worthy of praise and beauty. Loved the entry, looks so perfect for autumn. The meal sounds delicious and how cute were those peppers. The witchy drinks were fun but I would not want the punch mixed in either. Love the sweet little pumpkin project and you'll enjoy that all month long. Happy November Jeanie........
Every time you post about this place, it looks amazing and I think that I must go when I am in Michigan next!
What a perfect Halloween treat! Also, nice you had a surprise of getting to do a project... Just a perfect end to what sounds like a wonderful evening.
What a fun Hallowe'en event! Great photos. I love the faded blooms, for I believe there is beauty to be found in everything if we only open our eyes to it.
~~~Deb in Wales
Beautiful pix, especially of the fading blooms ~ so atmospheric!
As for the food ~ you had me at "Brie"!
wow! that was fun!
Hog house looks lovely and the brie bights look yummy!
As I always say, presentation is everything and Southern Exposure has it in spades. Incredible photos, lovely food, and a great final project, too. Wonderful. They should pay you for advertising for them (grin).
Jeanie, I'd say you belong at Southern Exposure. Wish I had one similar near me. What a great time and I just love that window you showed first. Hmm, do you think they would object if I stole that idea? Too pretty. Love your little Jackie with the flowers and wouldn't the kids get a kick out of that pepper bowl?..Love these posts..Happy Tuesday..xxoJudy
Jeanie, I well know being envious is not a good thing to be. However, I can't help myself. I would so love to tag along to Southern Exposure. How fun and interesting to have such a place close to you. I think I will add owning such a place to my list for my next life. Enjoy December there, I can't wait to see and hear all about it.
What a gorgeous post and photos, enjoyed it so much.
Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful photos Jeanie. I love your analogy on how we sometimes feel like a dying flower looks. I used to have one of those last hydrangeas up north (can't remember its name). The petals turned an amazing color in the fall and were still gorgeous once they were totally dried up. How brilliant to hollow out an apple for a beverage. The pumpkin bread is so cute! Perfect for a holiday place setting. I have hollowed out peppers and carved like a pumpkin for a veggie dip before. So cute. Your arrangement is so pretty.
Great Autumn photos.
Your trips to Southern Exposure are always lovely! I adore the cute jack be little arrangement you made. The autumn garden analogy is so apropos, Jeanie! Gardens certainly put it all out, don't they?
Glorious indeed. I loved everything, especially the food and the hollowed out apples. Your piece looks great.
Neatest place...love the roll. That is cool. But not crazy to see the flowers dying off BUT next yr we can enjoy new flowers all over again!
I recently went for lunch at a place here in NH that seems very much like Southern Exposure, only we didn't move from room to room for the courses. I'm planning a future post on it. Your recent dining experience looked lovely, as always, Jeanie.
Oooo...WOW, Jeanie! ANY time at SE would be FAB--it's just that kind of place! So very easy to imagine fun there at Halloween! LOVE seeing the beautiful decay of the flowers and things... Those zinnias are amazing! And I just love love hydrangeas as they're fading. Such fun apple cocktails!! Those pumpkin rolls-- be still my heart! Those peppers with pumpkin faces are too cute! The little decorated pumpkin you made is wonderful... what a little treasure from the day, the season. Already can't wait for your December trip! ;) ((HUGS))
Love this place, as you know, and this sounded like a perfect evening. The drink (!) and meal, dessert, and your takeaway arrangement - another win! Love your analogy of the spent blooms and life, so true.
What a fun evening! I loved your flower analogies 😂 all the food sounds wonderful too, plus a bonus project, what a perfect event! I have made the orange pepper jack o lanterns, what a great idea to fill them with mac and cheese for the kiddos, they will love that! Those pumpkin rolls are so cute too!
Jenna
I thought they'd have something ingenious and original for Halloween lunchtime! Beautiful. and the orange pepper jack o'lanterns are a terrific idea - one I will remember!
Me again, Jeanie, just to thank you for your visit. I am so glad the lights are back on for now and we did pick up a generator for the next time so now hubby can't wait to try it out! Yuck!!..Happy Wednesday..xxoJudy
Looks like a fun time on Halloween. I agree I wouldn't like the Hawaiian punch in my drink of juices. Many juices are already plenty sweet.
The end of the season can still be quite pretty!
What a fun meal! Those pumpkin stuffed peppers are adorable. Super great idea for the baby grands. Paul would love those - I will have to think to make them next year. We get stuffed peppers from Costco and maybe by next fall he can eat one on his own (he's getting less picky - yay!).
I have to say I feel a bit like those wilted flowers... we've been burning the candle at both ends preparing to get our house on the market and shifting things around at the new house. I tell myself this, too, shall pass and it's all for a good reason as soon we'll be settled into a beautiful new home! But the process is exhausting, especially with a little guy in tow. Our house got staged yesterday and it looks gorgeous but it's so not kid friendly (white chair, beautiful but breakable things on a coffee table, etc). Paul is drawn to them like a moth to a flame so we went to the new house last night to unpack and do some cleaning and went back home for bed time. I didn't even feel comfortable sitting on our couch with the fluffy, white, decorative pillows so I went up to our room to read (which is not a bad alternative - it's just a weird feeling to feel uncomfortable in your home!). But it will all be worth it as our house will look very nice in photos and hopefully we'll get lots of traffic this weekend and house will sell while we are at the lake! I can't wait for 3 nights with my parents where there is nothing around us to do or fix or clean. We can just relax and enjoy ourselves and my mom will watch Paul in the morning so we can get some extra (and much needed) sleep!
If I ever go back to the US, I want to go there wth you!
I'd completely forgotten about the existence of Hawaiian punch. We used to drink gallons of it when I was a kid, but I honestly thought it had gone off the market. I guess not! I'm so clearly not a Southern Exposure kind of girl, but I'm certainly glad it's there for you. I must say -- those peppers are darned cute, though. I might mess around with those, just for fun.
Sounds like fun! Love the creativity of the Poison Apple drink, the cute appetizers, and the stuffed pepper dinner.
They have come up with a good formula for a very pleasant and entertaining evening out! :-)
Thanks for taking us along.
I always love "my" visits to Southern Exposure through your lens. What a yummy menu with a beautiful presentation as usual.
I also like how the withering flowers look like.
I love Autumn, it's so charming and variable.
And yes, I've felt like this many times... Well, I feel like this even right now :/
I love the idea of a drink inside the apple! I would love to taste it, it sounds nice.
Well, probably it would be to sweet for me as well, but I would try it anyway! :D
I've recently tried "drunk watermelon", it's awesome!
You only need to mix vodka with some sour juice, pour it into a bowl and put small pieces of watermelon inside. They need to stay in the bowl around 12 hours, then you can eat it.
The path under the lightened trees is charming!
I also like how the withering flowers look like.
I love Autumn, it's so charming and variable.
And yes, I've felt like this many times... Well, I feel like this even right now :/
I love the idea of a drink inside the apple! I would love to taste it, it sounds nice.
Well, probably it would be to sweet for me as well, but I would try it anyway! :D
I've recently tried "drunk watermelon", it's awesome!
You only need to mix vodka with some sour juice, pour it into a bowl and put small pieces of watermelon inside. They need to stay in the bowl around 12 hours, then you can eat it.
The path under the lightened trees is charming!
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