>> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... ♪♪ >> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more... >> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment... >> Together: Manna Pro -- Nurturing life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms.

>> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at GrubblyFarms.com.

>> And Horizon Structures -- Delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

♪♪ [ Rooster crows ] >> I'm Lisa Steele, author and fifth-generation chicken keeper.

I live in rural Maine with my husband, flock of chickens, ducks, geese, and Winston the Corgi.

We moved to Maine for the peace, serenity, and a simpler life.

Join me as I explore this beautiful state and experience all it has to offer.

Welcome to my farm.

A little bit later, I am heading out to the Maine Coast Botanical Gardens to see their holiday light display.

I've never been.

I'm super excited.

I've heard it's really beautiful.

It's going to be perfect to get me in the holiday spirit, and I thought it would be nice to have a sweet dessert waiting when we got back.

So, I'm going to make some crème brûlée, get that in the refrigerator to chill.

And then when we get home, I'll torch it, and we'll enjoy some Earl Grey crème brûlée.

Crème brûlée is a lot easier to make than you might think.

It only takes a couple ingredients, which you probably have on hand.

First, I'm going to separate eight eggs.

I'm only going to be using the yolks for this recipe because we're making the custard, basically.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So, now I'm just going to whisk them up to combine them.

♪♪ Okay, that looks good.

So, now in my pan I have some heavy cream, and I'm going to heat that up to a simmer while I add the sugar and whisk it to dissolve the sugar.

I just want to heat the cream to a bare simmer.

So, bubbles are just starting to form around the edges.

I definitely don't want it to burn, but I want to heat it enough that the sugar dissolves because I don't want my custard to be grainy.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ And just for a little added flavor, I'm going to add three Earl Grey tea bags, and I'm going to just let them steep while I'm heating my cream.

It's going to give it just a hint of citrus that's going to add a really fun flavor to the custard.

It's going to thicken up a little bit as it cooks, but it's really not going to start to thicken till I add the egg yolks.

So, you're really just looking for a couple of bubbles.

♪♪ ♪♪ We're getting some bubbles.

So, I'm going to take the tea bags out.

And at this point I want to add my egg yolks.

You need to temper them.

If I just dump them all in, they're going to start cooking, and they're going to curdle.

But I'm just going to pour them in really slowly, whisking as I pour.

And that should work, also, to get them incorporated without actually cooking them into scrambled eggs, basically.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I'm just going to let that cook for a minute to thicken up, and I'm going to add some vanilla-bean paste.

Vanilla-bean paste can be substituted in for vanilla extract.

I think it's really important when you're making something like crème brûlée to use the paste instead of the extract because you get the flecks.

So, you'd get the flecks of vanilla that you would get as if you used a vanilla bean.

Yeah, that's looking good.

Looks like it's done.

♪♪ Okay.

Now I just want to strain it through a fine-mesh strainer because I don't want any lumps or anything, so I'm just going to use a ladle and ladle it into my measuring cup, and then I can pour it into my ramekins to bake.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I just want it to be as smooth as it can possibly be when it comes out of the oven.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Okay, now I'm going to fill my ramekins.

You can use any oven-safe type of container.

I love these really low, shallow ones because there's more surface area.

And when it comes to crème brûlée, it's all about that crack through the brûléed sugar.

So, I love these, but you can use any kind of custard cup or anything.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Okay, I've got my oven preheated to 325 degrees.

I'm going to carefully put them in the oven.

So, I'm just going to pour some boiling water into the pan, making sure I don't get it into the custards, till it comes about halfway up the sides.

And that'll make sure that the custards stay super creamy.

Then I'll bake them for about 35 to 40 minutes.

I want them to be just barely set.

They can still be a little bit jiggly because they're going to set up as they chill in the fridge.

I'm gonna share a recipe with you that was one of my favorite as a kid growing up.

My mom used to always make these around the holidays, and we called them "chapel windows."

Some people call them "cathedral windows" or "church windows," and they're basically a cookie log that is usually made out of semisweet chocolate with mini marshmallows and walnuts.

I've decided to use white chocolate and pecans instead in mine, and we'll have them for the rest of the holiday season.

They stay in the freezer.

You can slice them off as you need them.

And it's just such a great childhood Christmas memory because I definitely associate these with growing up with my mom making them for us.

So, in my bowl, I am going to whisk two cups of melted white chocolate.

The melting wafers are going to work better than the chips, but you can use white-chocolate chips in a pinch.

But I like the melting wafers because they do melt a little bit better.

And then one stick of butter, also melted.

I'm just going to mix it together.

Then I'm going to add some flaked coconut and some chopped pecans.

And I'm going to stir that all together.

And then I'm going to add some mini marshmallows.

If you can find the colored ones, it makes nice colored windows, like a cathedral, like it has stained-glass windows.

If not, you can use the white marshmallows.

I'm just going to slowly add marshmallows and keep mixing it up.

I want to have enough chocolate to bind it all together.

All right, that looks good.

Then I'm going to use parchment paper and form the dough into logs.

I'm going to take about a third of the dough, I guess.

♪♪ ♪♪ And then just use the paper to make it into a nice, round log.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Crimped off the ends, and this one is ready to go into the freezer.

I'm going to freeze them until they're solid -- so, at least an hour or two.

♪♪ All right.

And now I'll get these in the freezer and leave them overnight, and they'll be ready to slice tomorrow morning.

Okay, now for the big reveal.

I'm going to unroll and slice my cathedral-window cookies, and you can see what they look like inside.

And now I'm just going to slice them into maybe half-inch slices.

♪♪ ♪♪ And you can see they're pretty.

They look like little stained-glass cathedral windows.

So, these are super fun for kids to make -- no-bake holiday cookies.

♪♪ I'm so excited to go see the lights this evening.

I've never been, and I think it's going to be a real treat.

But since it'll be dark by the time I get home, I got to lock the chickens up.

When you raise chickens, light becomes so important.

They get up at sunrise.

They go to bed at dusk on their own, which is nice.

And, of course, they have to be locked up to keep them safe from predators.

Chickens need about 14 to 16 hours of daylight to lay an egg.

So, they'll stop laying in the winter unless you light your coop.

One of my favorite mementos from my grandparents' chicken coop is this old vintage light fixture that they had in it.

I personally don't light my coop.

I give my chickens a break.

I think they need it.

They're just trying to stay warm.

So, mine stopped laying, which is fine.

They start up again in the spring.

Another way to cheat that is to get baby chicks each spring because they will lay through their first winter and pick up the slack for the older girls.

Hi.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.

I'm so excited to be here.

I've never been, and I've always been meaning to, so this is really going to be a fun night.

So, tell me a little bit about it.

When did it start, and what's the whole point of all the lights?

>> Yeah, yeah.

So, this is the eighth year of Gardens Aglow.

This is my second year designing the show, fourth year working it, which has been awesome.

So, just kind of getting more and more ideas over the years has been wonderful.

And so, the design kind of starts in late July or early August.

I kind of sit down and start planning out different color schemes for different areas, what's going to work best where, different sculptures going different places.

And then I'd say around Labor Day or so we start putting up the lights.

And so, it's about an 11-week process to get all of the lights up.

>> Wow!

And it runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas roughly?

>> Yeah.

So, it starts the weekend before Thanksgiving and then goes to about New Year's Eve, New Year's Day is kind of the rough time frame and Thursday through Sundays.

Then, this final week, we're open every day.

>> Wow.

And I did read that you were in the top three for USA Today this year, which is quite the honor.

>> Uh-huh.

Yeah, no, it's super exciting to be nominated again.

And then, yeah, just the fact that we made top three botanic-garden light show in the country is just amazing, and little Boothbay, Maine, up here.

>> Right?

>> And we have such an amazing show for people.

>> You get people from all over Maine, I'm sure, but all over the country.

>> Yeah, people travel.

A lot of people from New England come in, but people as far away as California and people coming up to see family.

And then it's a fun event that everyone can do together.

>> Okay.

So, year to year, how much does the display change?

Are you redoing all the lights each year, or do you just leave them on and... >> We take the lights down every year.

>> ...just unplug them?

Okay.

>> So, yeah.

So, starting January 4th this year, we're going to start taking the lights down.

Thankfully, they come down a little bit quicker.

>> Okay.

>> It's not as meticulous.

And then we hand-bundle all 13,000 strands, which keeps the support team and many others employed kind of through the winter.

Yeah, so, we reimagine or I reimagine different areas with different color schemes.

So, we have a set amount of colors and same lights each year but just different combinations and how we use them and then just our sculptures.

So, each year we add more and more sculptures, and it's been really awesome to come back to a walk-through so we can use all the sculptures we built over the past couple years in the gardens to really highlight all the different water features and woodland areas and things that we have.

So... >> Yeah, so, talk to me.

I saw Wade the Moose.

>> Yep.

So, we have many different types of animals.

Ideally, all of them can be found in Maine.

So, we have moose and deer and ducks and geese and a fox and herons and always thinking of new, fun animals, which will get people excited.

And then we also have over 260 flowers that we've created out of rebar and metal.

We had volunteers help hand-wrap those last year.

>> It's about a mile, the whole walk?

>> The whole loop is about a mile, yep.

>> Okay.

>> And when we first started it, in 2015, the thinking was really we're a very seasonal business.

And so, obviously in the summer we're super busy, and we have lots of staff who are very busy, and we were thinking about ways to both expand our season and get more people coming here in the shoulder seasons but also keep our staff employed.

And we play a huge economic impact in all of Maine but especially in this region.

And so, when we started Gardens Aglow, it completely changed the calendar, not just for us, but for the whole Mid-Coast area, because lots of hotels and businesses stay open now right through New Year's, which they never used to.

>> Which is really great.

>> Yeah.

>> I was driving through downtown Boothbay, or Boothbay Harbor, I guess it is, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

And Boothbay.

>> And the inns and the restaurants and the little shops, they must love it, just to draw this many people.

>> Yeah.

>> It's really a great idea.

>> So, we have over 750,000 high-efficiency LED lights.

So, amazingly, our electric bill only goes up a couple hundred dollars a month while we're doing this thing... >> That's pretty amazing.

>> ...which is kind of pretty remarkable, I think.

>> Yeah.

People are so excited.

You can just -- like, you can hear the people are getting so excited.

And there are so many kids.

This is just such a great family thing to do.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> A lot of your staff is volunteers.

>> We have a lot of staff, and then we have a lot of volunteers.

>> Oh, okay.

>> We have over 250 volunteers that work with us over the course of the year.

>> Wow!

>> Not quite that many are engaged in Gardens Aglow, but every night probably 10 of the 40 -- well, we have about 40 staff here and then 10 volunteers every night.

>> Very nice.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

So, we couldn't do it without our volunteers, also.

They're a key part of our operation.

>> You can just see how much work goes into this.

I'm just, like I said, I'm so excited to be here.

It's not getting dark quick enough because I can't wait to see it when it's completely dark.

>> It is completely magical.

The focus is nature.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> So, if you look around, it's all about plants, and you've got lots of flower sculptures, and we have this mushroom forest that is absolutely mind-blowing.

You're going to love it when you see it.

And then there's an area by our woodland garden where we've got these really tall trees, and they're all lit up.

And it's just really magical to walk through the whole thing.

>> It's a beautiful place, and you can see how much work and love and thought has gone into this.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Very excited.

Thank you so much for having us.

♪♪ So, this is the cool children's mushroom garden.

There are all kinds of different mushrooms.

I don't know what any of them are, but I know you're not supposed to eat wild mushrooms, especially the really brightly colored ones.

But they're so beautiful -- all different colors, all different types.

So pretty.

It's just starting to get dark, so we can go explore the rest of the garden.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I think this hummingbird is one of the most beautiful things I've seen so far.

Drinking out of the flower -- so pretty.

The sun is just setting.

Magical.

So beautiful.

♪♪ I am at Gardens Aglow, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

The sun has finally gone down, so I've got one mile, 750,000 lights to see.

So, let's go.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi.

>> Hi.

What can I get for you?

>> I heard you have the best blueberry crisp in the garden.

>> We do.

>> Could I have a blueberry crisp with whipped cream, please?

>> Absolutely.

>> Thank you.

>> With whipped.

Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> You're welcome.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> And this is the best blueberry cobbler I've had in a long time.

Real Maine blueberries with oats, whipped cream -- so good.

And it's nice and warm because it is getting kind of cold out.

♪♪ ♪♪ So good -- wild Maine blueberries.

♪♪ ♪♪ The best.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I love how they've incorporated a gardening theme into so many of these displays.

So, we have a watering can here pouring water over the flowers.

I love it -- so pretty.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Ooh!

There's a frog down there.

I don't know exactly how to get down there, but I'm going to figure it out.

Get a better look at him.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ It's really important, though, to have, like, the height.

>> Yeah, yeah.

It makes... >> You know, it wouldn't be the same if it was all ground level.

>> No, not at all.

>> It's so cool.

>> Yeah.

It adds a lot of depth, too, because you can see in the distance.

>> Right.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ And here is my favorite display.

We've got some incredibly lifelike-looking geese hanging out in the field.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ The crème brûlée is chilled, and I'm just going to sprinkle some superfine sugar over the top of each one and then torch it.

And we're going to enjoy a really delicious dessert.

♪♪ ♪♪ If you don't have superfine sugar, you can put your sugar into a food processor or nut grinder or coffee grinder or something.

But it just -- it does torch a lot better than regular sugar does and about a tablespoon for each one.

You just want a nice, even layer on each one.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Okay, perfect.

Now for the fun part.

You really do need a kitchen torch.

You can do them under the broiler in your oven, but it doesn't come out the same.

So, if you plan on making crème brûlée fairly regularly, it's definitely worth investing in a small kitchen torch.

It's really the only thing I ever use it for.

But it's a good excuse to make crème brûlée more often.

So, highly recommend the torch.

So, I'm just going to melt the sugar, get it all nice and bubbly without burning it.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So smooth... so delicious... so easy to make.

>> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... ♪♪ >> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more... >> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment... >> Together: Manna Pro -- Nurturing life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms.

>> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at GrubblyFarms.com.

>> And Horizon Structures -- Delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

Closed captioning provided by Eaton Pet & Pasture.

♪♪