Dinner Party

Well, we pulled it off.  Noel and I decided a year ago that it would be great fun to have Noel's office Christmas party at our house this year.  And we did. 

Oh yes...it was fun.  Oh yes....it was a lot of work.  Oh yes...we couldn't have done it without Aubrey's help.  Oh yes...we're all tired, but satisfied that we did what we set out to do. 

The folks that work in Noel's office are just a grand bunch of people.  The kind you want to celebrate with.  The kind you want to share your house with.  The kind you will happily spend hours preparing for because they deserve a special night.  The kind who deserve only the best. (Yes, I know those are all sentence fragments..sorry.)

We decorated the house to within an inch of its life.  I've trialed appetizer recipes for three weeks.  Noel planned on making two of his best dishes...pecan glazed ham with brandy sauce and seafood fettucini.  We shopped for all of the ingredients on sale or at Costco.  We borrowed tablecloths, napkins, dinnerware, serving dishes and other countless items.  Aubrey came up to help prepare and then serve.  We made, lost and re-made many lists....shopping lists, to do lists, guest lists, food and beverage preference lists.  Here's a bit of handy advice.  Never try to do a sit-down dinner party for sixteeen with nine beverages, six appetizers, salad, two entrees and dessert in your head.  The average brain simply cannot contain it all.  But, in the end my stomach contained it all! Interesting concept...that. 

Here are a few pictures of the food.  Oh my...it's making me hungry just looking at these photos.


Cheese Straws



Pork Riblets



Spinach Feta Triangles



Seafood fettucini in progress



Salmon Mousse



White Bean Dip









We got so busy that we forgot to take pictures of the entrees or the food on the plates or the cake.

But, here are a few pics of the table settings and beverage tables.

 

I've wanted to do something like this for my entire adult life.  I've had parties before, but not like this.  Like I said, we pulled it off and if everyone had as good a time as I did, then we have some happy friends, indeed.  

I'll put the recipes on the blog if you want.  Much of the food could be prepared ahead of time and made use of ingredients that are easy to work with, but look extra special (like puff pastry dough).

Would I do this again?  Not tomorrow.  But, I was looking at the appetizer recipes in one of my favorite cookbooks this afternoon.  Shhhhh...don't tell anyone (especially Noel or Aubrey). 

In fact, I just looked over and saw that Henry, the teddy bear looks like he's already had too much Christmas and I have a sneaking suspicion that Noel and Aub feel just about the same.