Christmas Lights in Americus Georgia

Tuesday night, Kim and I took a drive around Americus to enjoy the Christmas lights. I thought you might enjoy them too! Please click on the photos to see a larger view. There is a street in Americus that always decorates to the max.I tried to get the "feel" of the flashing lights. Imagine Christmas music playing as you look at these photos.
It was a very cold night and it really felt like Christmas was coming soon.
At one of these houses, Santa usually sits outside and waves. It was too cold for Santa, he stayed inside.

This is a long shot to give you perspective.

I just love angels.

The gingerbread house was in the distance.

This yard was really full of decorations.

This one looked really pretty from the distance.

There is a huge live tree that gets decorated every year.

This year, the City Hall building was all lit up.

There was a show at the Rylander Theatre, "It's A Wonderful Life", a live radio show adaptation. Judging from the number of cars, it looked like a great turn out.

We were driving up Lamar Street and caught every red light, as you can see.

Kim took this beautiful shot of the Windsor Hotel, all lit up for Christmas.

Earlier in the day, I let the cats run around outside for a while. Rufus and Cinderella chased each other up the dogwood tree.

Here Squeaky is proclaiming himself to be "King of the Garden statue".

Thank you for your virtual visit to the Americus Garden Inn blog. We are just starting a major project and I will be sharing updates as we go along. Stay warm, stay happy. Hope you'll visit again soon.

Baked Apples a la Americus Garden Inn

There are certain aromas that bring you back to your childhood. I remember the Cream Puff Bakery in my hometown that made the most delicious chocolate cheese cake. There aren't many stand alone bakeries anymore, are there? Anyway, there is nothing like the scent of freshly baked goodies. That includes freshly baked apples with cinnamon.This morning, here at the Americus Garden Inn Bed and Breakfast, I made baked apples. When I was a kid, I remember my Mom made baked apples when she was on Weight Watchers. I believe she used cherry flavored soda to add sweetness to the apples. These days, I make several different versions of baked apples. Sometimes, I do it the old-fashioned way. I bake them for almost an hour and baste them every few minutes. Today, I did it the quick and easy way in the microwave. If you are interested, follow along as I show you exactly what I did. The original recipe is on our website at http://www.americusgardeninn.com/ just go to the "recipe" page and you'll find it. What I did this morning is a variation. I started off with some beautiful rome apples.
You will need a melon baller and a small sharp knife.

You will also need some butter, cinnamon and splenda or sugar.

I really like raisins with baked apples and when I bake them in the oven, I always fill them with raisins which I have soaked in orange juice. For this version, I used dried cranberries that I plumped in hot water. Place the desired amount of cranberries (or raisins) in a cup or bowl.

Pour some hot water over the cranberries or raisins (enough water to cover them) then cover the dish with plastic wrap. Let is sit for about 5 minutes.

Just drain the liquid and they are ready.

Scrub your apples to get the wax off. Using the melon baller, scoop out the stem.

Here is the apple with the stem scooped out.

Take another scoop with the melon baller and you'll see the seeds.

One more scoop should be perfect. You want to leave the bottom intact. Place the apple in a microwaveable dish.

Now, take your knife and carefully start creating a "waist" in the middle of the apple.

You don't want to cut too deeply. You just want to allow some room for expansion when the apple bakes in the microwave.

I always do this step when I bake apples in the oven, too.

Pour one envelope of Splenda into the apple (you can use up to 1 TBS sugar, brown sugar or honey instead, if you prefer).

Put a pat of butter into the apple. I used about 1 tsp of real butter. The original recipe calls for 1 TBS per apple. You really don't need that much.

Sprinkle the apple with some cinnamon.

Cover the dish with wax paper.

Microwave on high for about 2 - 3 minutes. Check after 2 minutes to see if the apple is soft to the touch. You will have an apple with lots of liquid around it in the bowl.

Spoon the liquid into the apple.

Spoon the cranberries into the apple.
To make the apple easy to eat and eye-appealing, use kitchen shears to cut the apple on either side, dividing it in half (but leave the bottom intact.)

Now, cut each half into 3 pieces and you have a beautiful baked apple ready to eat.

Wish you had been here for me to make this for you personally. But, I'll be with you in your kitchen when you try this recipe. Let me know how yours comes out.

Thank you for visiting the Americus Garden Inn blog. We hope you'll visit us again soon, virtually or in person!

Winter has arrived in Americus at the Americus Garden Inn

Greetings from a very chilly Americus Georgia. The temperature on the porch is, as you can see, in the 30's. Definitely cold for here. Yesterday, it was cold but the sun was shining. I just got a new camera and decided to try some test shots. This is the view from the parking area. You can see the October glory red maple still shows lots of color and the ruby lorapetalum appears to be almost purple.
The bald cypress is almost bald for the winter.

Looking towards the gazebo in the far corner of the garden you can see that the bloodgood maple has lost most of its leaves.

Although it was rather chilly, in the sun it was comfortable. Here is Squeaky soaking up some rays.

Today, it is overcast and feels much colder than yesterday. You can see by Kitten's expression that she is not happy today. It might have to do with the fact that the fish in the pond are down towards the bottom and she can't reach that far...

Rufus, on the other hand, was chasing the dead leaves and having quite a good time.

The red dragon Japanese maple has not lost its leaves just yet, but the monkey grass around it is starting to turn yellow. The sago palms still look gorgeous.

A different view from the parking area into the garden shows that the red rocket crepe myrtles have lost all their foliage. The magnolias look great.

It may be a little cold for strolling the garden, but, it is never too cold to snuggle on the swing.

This view of the garden shows the curly filbert has no leaves, the day lilies are gone, the weeping cherry is bare, but, the Leyland cypress and cryptomeria are beautiful.

A view of the other planter on the path towards the gazebo.

With so many plants going into hibernation, it is nice to see the paperwhites coming forward all around the yard.

And, the gardenia by the porch entrance has new buds.

We have been fostering 2 very affectionate kitties that our neighbors left behind when they moved, Cinderella and Thumbelina ("Lena" is her nickname). If anyone has room in their home for 2 adorable companions, please let us know.

This is Cinderella asking me to give her some attention.

And here is Lena. Aren't they cute?

Thank you for your visit to the Americus Garden Inn blog. Hope you are staying nice and warm on this very chilly day. Wish you were here.