Favorite Place On Earth

Each year my dear husband gets me a gift certificate to my favorite place on earth.  It's a place that I've been visiting for many years.  A place that has taught me about hospitality.  A place that has taught me that treating people with respect and honor makes them feel very, very special. 

 Southern Exposure Herb Farm sits out in the country just northeast of Battle Creek.  It has some very interesting buildings that have been named according to their history.  The corn crib, the hog house, the milking parlor. They are all just lovely pieces of nostalgia that make you want to stay forever.  Today, we all met down in the milking parlor for a marvelous breakfast of Chef Elsie's quiche, fruit and scones.  It was rainy and chilly today, but no one really seemed to care as we bounced from garden to garden picking fresh herbs such as sage, rosemary, lemon verbena, garlic chives, basil, and lemon balm.  

Our first stop was the kitchen up at the old farm house.  Elsie had made a huge batch of basil pesto, and bless her heart, she even had little cups for us to fill so we could take some home.  We talked about how to make pesto and about freezing the leftovers.  We also discussed freezing other herbs from our fall harvest, capturing them in chicken broth and freezing them in ice cube trays.  We were sent home with chicken broth, an ice cube tray and a plethora of herbs of all kinds.  No excuse not to freeze the herbs we brought home today!

Next stop was another room in the old farm house where we sat down to prepare some herbs for bread making.  Today we used a store bought bread dough, we weren't here to learn to make bread but to learn to make bread tasty by adding herbs.  We added garlic chives (both the leaves and seeds from the flower), a little sage and thyme, then we added some full leaves to the top of the bread.  Each of us went home with a loaf of bread in a bread pan, ready to put in the oven.  

We actually tore the herbs into little pieces.

From there we were escorted to the 'small tent' where we really got our hands dirty.  We filled pots with  pansies, swiss chard, beets and ornamental kale.  Check these out!

After that we ventured back to the milking parlor where we sat outside and made the most amazing herbal butter.  We each received a nice bowl filled with 1/2 pound of unsalted butter to which we added chopped up lemon balm, rosemary and basil seeds.  Mine is sitting out right now in my kitchen letting it soften so I can mold it into a log which I will freeze for a special occasion.  

Wouldn't this taste wonderful on freshly baked bread!

From here we washed up for yet another wonderful meal prepared by Chef Elsie.  She is the greatest!  We all love her so much.  She always goes the extra mile to prepare fabulous food that we can duplicate.  She gives us tips and helps us however she can.  She's just a jewel and such an asset to Southern Exposure.

Elsie prepared a juicy roasted half a chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus and cold slaw.  Then she served apple pie with an amazing cinnamon ice cream.  Unfortunately, the ice cream has to be purchased in 5 gallon containers, so a bit much for the typical household.  That chicken was so tasty, it had a glaze of reduced chicken broth with french tarragon. Yummo!

Everyone loves Scott too!  Always sweet and friendly and I truly believe he would have given me that blue and white checked shirt he was wearing if I'd asked for it!

I never tire of visiting this delightful piece of heaven on earth.  All my cares seem to fade away as I take in all there is to see, touch and smell.  Whether you are reaching down to snap off a piece of rosemary or walking past Elsie's kitchen where the most amazing aromas seem to waft out and follow you around, it's home away from home for sure.

One of the many herb gardens at Southern Exposure.

Isn't this a cute idea!  A 'bed' of flowering kale!

I think I'm heading to my kitchen to finish off that leftover chicken!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!  If you're interested in visiting Southern Exposure just click HERE
for information on how YOU can make it your own favorite place on earth!