On Friday 1818 Farms kicked off the Christmas season with a gourmet luncheon and Christmas Entertaining Workshop with LeeLee Wiginton of Lyn’s Gracious Goodness. After touring the farm and meeting the animals, our guests enjoyed mint tea at the Garden House while they shopped. LeeLee had brought some of her gift items from her shop to add to my products for sale. My friend Melissa Dodgen surprised me with an adorable topiary pig (my Cupcake pot-bellied pig) she bought from Lyn’s Gracious Goodness earlier in the week.
After we were served a delicious lunch of hot butternut squash soup, orange and cumin stuffed pork loin, and roasted Brussels sprouts with apple and bacon, we gathered around Lee Lee for her holiday decorations demonstration. She showed us how to make a fruit plaque using fresh apples, magnolia leaves, and a pineapple, and she showed us how to add fruit and natural materials to wreaths. A bonus was learning how to make the beautiful big ribbon bows for the wreaths. She also taught us the easy (and painless) way to decorate oranges with cloves. Each guest was given a bag of materials, including the green-painted board, for making her own plaque at home.
After our session, when LeeLee put her samples outside the Garden House door to load her car, my friendly chickens had a feast eating the apples off her fruit plaque. I need to send a picture to Williamsburg and show them how we use our Christmas decorations!