Autumn has arrived here in New Zealand and our tree lined streets are alight with the colours of the Season. Leaves of every fiery hue rustle on their branches and our local paths are laden with burnished oak leaves, offering up their satisfying crunch underfoot when we’re out strolling and soaking up the beauty.

When the air begins to cool outside like this, it feels the perfect time to open our home to friends and family and create warmth within - so recently, we did just that, inviting a wonderful group of friends to share in a special Friendsgiving evening.

Friendsgiving, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, is a modern take on a traditional thanksgiving meal, to be shared with friends. While we’re certainly a few months off Thanksgiving (celebrated in November during Fall in the U.S), I loved the idea of this seasonal meal, so I’ve borrowed the tradition of gathering to appreciate one another and the things we’re thankful for during our Autumn. After all, it’s always a good time to practice a little thankfulness and appreciate the good in our lives.

The menu for the evening (noted below) featured foods and colours to create the feeling of warmth and for the table setting, I worked with beautiful orange hues, soft reds and shades of brown.

You’ll see tangerine and dreamy peach roses, burnished chrysanthemum, autumn berries, snap dragons and hydrangea, offset with eucalyptus leaves offering their crisp, natural scent.

If you look closely, you’ll even spot little clusters of acorns - I collected these from the Oak at the back of our house and glued them in groups to small wooden sticks to add to the arrangements. Acorns and pears were also scattered amongst the florals and place settings, which featured beautiful pin oak leaves and a small favour of tea, produced by Harney & Sons.

Autumn Friendsgiving Menu

My menu for the evening included the following:

Starter - Butternut squash soup with mini cheese scones and Lewis road sea salt butter

Mains - Slow cooked lamb shanks served with parmesan potato mash and sauteed leeks, kale and brussels sprouts in roasted garlic

Desserts - Butterscotch pudding, plum clafouti and mini apple grain-free crumbles

With love,

Sandra xx