Every year, Mathlete and I host a Christmas party.  It almost always falls on the second Saturday of December (so mark your 2012 calendar!).  After over 9 years of hosting this party, I have gotten in a semi-rhythem that really helps me stay on track {Insert Mathlete laughing because, even with all this planning, I still run around like a headless chicken come 6pm on party night!}.

The first step to any party is invitations.  Yep, CAPT Obvious here today.  In the past, I have sent paper invitations along with an evite for people I don’t have a physical address for.  99% of the time evite gets more responses.  People with the paper invites still come but they just don’t always RSVP.  Not a big deal really.  This year, I embraced the digital world and went evite only.  Yes, I know that I probably broke some major party ettitiquette rules but my pocket book is a little heavier because of it.

[Tip Junkie]


Ok, our invitations are sent so I move onto the next biggest thing: food.  I like to think that people come to the party to visit with us but I know a big part of it is food and drink.  Heck, that is a big reason why I go to parties!  Knowing this, I spend quite a bit of time planning the food aspect.  We have a few standard items you will see each year (meatballs, cheese platter, etc.) but I always try to bring in a few new items too.  Some highlights from this year’s menu:
Bacon herb cupcakes with cream cheese “frosting”
Chicken Satay bites
Pancetta, pear and goat cheese bites
I am sure you notice that the word bite is in a more than one of those descriptions.  We try to keep most things bite sized to limit the flatware we need to provide/wash.

[12 Ways of Christmas]


Of course, you can’t eat without having a drink.  So, cocktails are part of the planning too.  We usually offer beer, wine and one holiday themed cocktail.  This year, I am leaning towards Sparkling Pomegranate Punch.


[Design Mom]

 Once I have the menu set, I put all of the recipes into a folder.  Then, I use them to build my shopping lists.  This usually involves multiple stores.  I am totally in love with the online shopping my grocery offers now so I am using that to save a ton of time!
Also in the folder is my timeline.  This is a breakdown of all the tasks that need to be completed prior to the party such as setting out platters, cooking food, setting up drink stations, etc.  My timeline typically starts on the Monday prior to the party.

[Mocha Mom]

On the Thursday prior to the party, I buy most of the groceries.  The only thing I exclude on these shopping trips are bread, any seafood and chives/green onions.
Then, for the next 2.5 days, you can find me

I try to choose several recipes where the bulk of the work can be done in advance.  Sauces can usually be made up to 2 days in advance.  Meatballs can be mixed, formed and frozen months in advance if you choose.
On my party day schedule, I try to leave an empty two hours.  This is especially helpful in case I need to make an extra trip to the store or I get behind on a task.  If everything goes as planned (what is it they say about best laid plans?), that two hours can be used to relax before the party.
Ding dong…it’s 8pm.

[Lipstick Alley]



This was an exceptionally long weekend (thank you holiday!) and we did our best to pack in as much fun as possible.
Friday, Rock Boy and Shopaholic hosted us all for a casual dinner to kick off our weekend.  Mathlete was headed out of town for his adrenaline powered birthday celebration but stopped by for dinner first. 

Our friends sure know how to make some cute kids, right?  On top of all the cuteness, we experienced a rare thing: a cheeseless pizza!  No one is sure how it happened (it’s like seeing an albino squirrel or something) but Rock Boy came home with a box full of this

Someone was not amused.

After dinner, the kids played while the adults tried to avoid them.  Just kidding…the adults were there but doing more relaxing than playing.
Saturday, I took H to a playdate with some of her new friends from her new school (she switched schools last week).  As you can imagine when preschool aged girls are involved, there was a lot of princess playing

And dancing…

The rest of the day was spent finishing up my yarn wreath.
Sunday was our September dinner club!  I had the appetizer course so I had scoured the interwebs to find something new to make.  The Pioneer Woman was happy to help out with recipes for Olive Cheese Bread and Cheddar Puffs.
Now, Olive Cheese bread is divine but it is anything but healthy so be warned.  I mean how can anything with these ingredients be healthy

Yes, that is an entire stick of butter you see in the picture.  I used the.whole.thing. First, I chopped up all my olives though (sorry for any dinner club readers…I skimped and went canned/jarred vs. the olive bar this go around)

Then, we stirred all of the yumminess together and spread it onto some delicious fresh bread.

The results…melty, salty, bready goodness

I made the cheddar puffs too but didn’t take a single picture.  Why?  My real life cooking images weren’t quite matching up to the inspiration that I was reading on the interwebs.  So, I panicked that I was doing something wrong.  In fact, I panicked so much that I made a third (back-up) appetizer that I knew I couldn’t screw up: spinach dip.  In the end, I wasted some sour cream and spinach because the cheddar puffs were a huge hit!  Seriously, make them…but make a double recipe because you’ll need it.

While the adults got dinner club started off the “right” way, the kids were down in the playroom having some fun.

Dinner time came quickly and we all chowed down.  I know you come here for the pictures but prepare to be hungry with these

The girls all finished dinner up very quickly because they had other plans in mind…hot tub!

All that partying could only lead to one thing

The holiday was a blur of sleeping in, Pho (YAY!) and playtime.  Lots of fun but very little pictures.  Hope you enjoyed your weekend (and that you got an extra day like we did!)