You’ve heard of a travel bucket list, but what about a seasonal version to celebrate the change in weather? Think whipping up cozy recipes, curling up with a good book by the fire, or planning a scenic road trip, complete with some leaf peeping.
We had a chance to chat with Virgin River star Alexandra Breckenridge, who gave us a sneak peek of her fall bucket list. It might surprise you!
Breckenridge is set to appear in the upcoming Netflix Christmas movie, My Secret Santa, which airs on December 3, plus she’s gearing up to shoot season 8 of Virgin River next year. (Stay tuned for Season 7’s air date on Netflix, but expect more Mel and Jack drama on the way).
But when she’s not on set, she’s cozied up at home in rural Georgia with her husband, musician Casey Hooper, and two children. “I had lived in California for 23 years and I was about to get married. I was looking ahead and thought, ‘What would make me happy? I actually get kind of stressed out in the city, so living in the woods might be calmer for me,’” Alexandra tells Good Housekeeping of the move she made 10 years ago. Here’s what she’s looking forward to this fall.
Lots of Gardening
That sense of calm is rooted in her love of gardening, which usually means spending time in her greenhouse. “I’ve learned that gardening is not as easy as it sounds,” she says with a chuckle. “It’s rewarding when you see all the cauliflower, broccolini…all those things coming in. I’ve been growing a lot from seed, which is a beautiful, fascinating thing. I know that gardening isn’t considered artistic, but it actually, to me, feels like an artistic endeavor. ”
Non-Stop Cooking
Alexandra puts cooking at the top of her list this season as well. Her Instagram followers often get a taste of recipes she tries, everything from mini lasagna to sourdough focaccia bread.
She’s also proud of perfecting her fried chicken recipe. “I use duck fat to fry my chicken now. I’m not going to lie to you—it’s pricey, but when you make it in a large batch and your ingredients are really clean, it feels better than buying it frozen with preservatives and stuff.”
Kosher salt is key, too, she says: “It has less of a saltiness to it, so you can really correct the amount you have.”
Family Time
Along with cooking, Alexandra won’t miss the opportunity to visit Disney World with her family. “Because the kids are eight and nine this year, I think it’s the perfect time. Disney films still hold that magical place for them, and they’re at the age where they’re going to remember the trip.”
All Things Holiday Decor
Decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving is another favorite. She’s even having a Halloween party for the first time this year. She plans to be Moira Rose from Schitt’s Creek and her husband will dress as Johnny Rose, Eugene Levy’s character. “It’s never happened before because my husband’s not that into Halloween, but I love it. Everyone’s coming in costumes. I have all these different spooky animatronics, blacklight cloak machines that are going to go off, spooky playlists, Amazon eyeball lights. I have witches that I’m going to light up with red floodlights and creepy hanging like skeleton guys that are going to lead up to the back of the house.” Chili, vegetarian lentils, spice cider, and a Halloween-themed charcuterie board are on the menu as well.
That’s a pretty good fall bucket list, if you ask us! We couldn’t wrap our chat with Alexandra without asking for clues about Season 7 of Virgin River.
“There’s going to be a little Mel and Jack romantic getaway to look forward to—and we also get to find out what happened with Marley offering her baby to Mel and Jack. We dive headfirst into that storyline,” she reveals.
Stay tuned!
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.goodhousekeeping.com ’
