The Morning After

Table setting

A Victorian look

      We had our annual Christmas Dinner party with three other couples and one big dog last night and it was a great deal of fun.  CC went into overdrive with the Christmas boughs in the china cabinet and the gorgeous table setting (yes, that's a rug on the table - very Dutch apparently!).  I busied myself with the food, which is a good division of labour for us.

Wonton Crackers

      For appetizers I made an oriental-inspired Edamame dip with homemade wonton crackers and a baked Artichoke dip served with Carr's Table Water crackers.  We then sat down for the first course - Curried Parsnip Soup with some crumbled blue cheese on top and homemade Pumpernickel Bread.  After a rest period, we had the main event - Osso Buco overtop of baked mashed potatoes and pan-fried Brussel sprouts with bacon, leeks and lemon.  It looked very Christmasy being red and green.  For dessert we had our friendly bake-off!  I made Ginger Snaps that had chocolate truffle sandwiched between them plus a dollop on top with some cut up crystallized ginger - eat your heart out Martha Stewart!  CS made lovely Gingerbread cookies cut out in the shapes of snowflakes and Polar Bears (from a Swedish cookie cutter no less) with a silhouette of icing on top.  PM made Chocolate Crinkle cookies with chocolate ganache and Date Squares filled with a cranberry filling.  TW made three types - Checkerboard cookies, Diamond cookies topped with jam and Graham Cracker cookies.  We were very full and enjoyed a lot of lively conversation.  I even boiled the Osso Buco bones to give to our guest dog, Berg, who had a good chew on them out in the back garden.

Ginger Snaps

     There was a lot of cleaning up and some went for a long, wintry walk and then it was to bed.  Two couples stayed overnight and we had a good fry-up for breakfast this morning, exchanged Merry Christmases and then it was back to normal.  This year, as a little gift for them, I made origami Christmas Tree decorations out of brightly coloured foil, metallic wire and red beads.  Our tree is covered with them and they are making good host gifts.  And now for a nap...

Origami Decoration