'Tis the season

We hosted Steve's office Christmas party last week, and this year I decided to do all of the cooking so we could have a nice cohesive menu and so his co-workers would just have to show up and not stress about what to bring.  Oh lovely nesting.  First, I had to decorate the house and since I threw away the Christmas tree from last year (read about it here), we went live this year.  I bought a bunch of jewel-toned ornaments and peacock feathers and love how the tree came out.

I learned a little something while decorating the tree.  Here's a Christmas tip: 

Glass ornaments and hardwood floors do not mix.

You might want to write that one down.

As the branches of the tree began to relax, the way live trees do, I would wake up in the morning to at least one broken ornament a day.  I finally tightened all of the hooks and now I think that even if the branches of the tree were all dead and hanging straight toward the ground, those ornaments wouldn't budge. 

Thanks to Pintrest, I made some other decorations and love how they came out.

The best part about all of these candle holders is that I was able to use the glass cylinders we used at our wedding as centerpieces.

I got a little ambitious with the menu and as the party approached, I got nervous about how everything was going to come out, but it all came out better than I could have even imagined.

Here are the recipes I used:

Crustinis with ricotta cheese, prosciutto, arugula and honey
Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds
Caprese salad skewers

Pork Tenderloin stuffed with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and I subbed fresh basil for the spinach
Caramelized butternut squash
Green beans and mushrooms
Wild mushroom soup
Creamy mashed potatoes

Everything was delicious and wasn't terribly difficult to make (just more time consuming than anything).  Most importantly, I think everyone enjoyed not having to rush home from work, make/buy something, and then come over.  The even better part - since the party was on a Thursday night, the dishes were done and I was relaxing on the couch by 9:30.  Last year I was scrubbing pans till 12:30...not fun.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone and try some of those recipes!