Fa la la la la.... it's PARTY Time!

Who doesn’t love a good party?  :) This past weekend my husband Paul and I along with our friends, Rockie and Virginia, hosted a Christmas Dessert Party.  Especially at Christmas time, it’s such a treat to get together with our friends and family to enjoy some “sweet” fellowship!   In Galatians 6:10 in Message translation it says, “Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.”   The motivation for this party was to celebrate Christmas by extending an invitation to some of our family and friends from our church (community of faith) to come over for an evening of fellowship and food.  It was nice to have my sister, my niece, my parents and Paul’s Dad here as well as many friends from our church family.  Christ’s birth is something special to celebrate and so with that in mind, we encouraged people to come casuallydressed, bring their sweet tooth, and stay for an evening of relaxed fun! 

                   

Christmas Tree - Home decor

I began planning for this party a few weeks ago, and started making lists of ideas for decoration and menu.  Where would I be without my lists!!  I decided on desserts because it meant I could bake most things ahead of time and would have time to enjoy our guests without being stuck in the kitchen all evening.  To plan desserts for 30-40 people takes a little preparation.  After flipping through many Christmas recipe magazines, cookbooks and surfing many an internet recipe sites, I came up with a list of desserts I thought would be yummy for our guests:  Egg Nog Cheese cake, Chocolate Mint Cheesecake, White/Milk Chocolate Cheesecake, Bavarian Apple Cheesecake (thanks to my friend Robin).  Strawberry coulis and whipped cream complimented all the chocolate cheese cakes. As my husband always says, “One can never have enough whipped cream!”  I also made Chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream icing, Chocolate Carrot Cake, Peanut Butter Cup Trifle, Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle (an unexpected hit with the guests), homemade fudge, Grandma’s Cream cookies with white frosting (my favourite), and Molasses cookies.  Virginia made lovely plates of fresh fruit, dip and extremely yummy white chocolate popcorn with crushed peppermint. There was no shortage of calories in this menu!  Yummy apple cider, chai tea, egg nog, ice water and and tart strawberry punch  were the beverages of choice for the evening. 

Egg Nog Cheesecake

Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle

Hot Apple Cider



For the food table, I decided to go with a red, silver, white and crystal theme.  I love anything that glitters.  What girl doesn’t like a little bling here and there!  I started collecting items that matched this theme and the table started to take shape.  I started with my silver table cloth, then added the  potted red and white flowers (Homesense).  That created the silver, red and white theme.  I started to layer it from there.  I added some silver serving trays, crystal candle sticks, table confetti and a few other decorative items, and voila, a beautiful Christmas table.  I used decorative Christmas ball place cards to label every dessert item so people knew what they were digging in to.  I love my label maker for these jobs!  I didn’t have to spend a lot of money on table decor because I basically used what I already owned, adding a few new little touches here and there.  I had the table set and ready a couple days before the party and was very happy with how it turned out.  The day of the party was the time to do all the last minute jobs:  ice the cookies, whip the cream, make the chocolate ganache and to put all the little pieces of fudge in the little silver and red cups.   My Mom spent the day with me and we plated everything in anticipation for the guest’s arrival.



The finished table!!



Setting a Christmasy atmosphere outside to greet one’s guests is fun too!  On the steps leading to the door I put battery operated votives in glass mason jars to light up where the guests would walk and used my summer lanterns turned into “winter” lanterns by adding battery operated candles,  fir boughs and acorns for a wintry look. 

Outside decoration





Mason Jar Tea lanterns



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My Grandma Giesbrecht, who is 90 years young, is a great cook.  For this post I knew I had to include her recipe for Cream Cookies.  These cookies were a favorite of mine growing up.  For this Christmas party, I made them more festive by using white chocolate buttercream icing and red/green maraschino cherries.  They taste the best if they are made with farm cream but one can also use whipping cream.   Here is her recipe:

Grandma's Cream Cookies

2 Cups farm cream (or ¼ Cup margarine and 2 Cups whipping cream)

3 Eggs

1 C white sugar

3 TBSP baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch of salt

3 ½ Cups flour (work in 3 Cups, then ½ Cup on board for rolling)

1. Mix in order given.  

2. Don’t over mix. 

3. Flour rolling surface and roll out ½ inch thick. 

4. Cut out with cookie cutter. (I used a round cookie cutter)

5. Bake 15 mins at 325 degrees

6. Makes 3 dozen large cookies

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at the party and were in no hurry to leave which to me, is a success!  We really enjoyed having friends who had never been to our home before as well as those who we rarely get to visit with because of our busy family lives and work schedules.  It was a great pleasure to have entertained all these people in our home in honour of our Saviour’s birth.

I understand that this party was on the larger side and may seem overwhelming to consider the menu or the scale of decoration that I chose to do.  I just encourage you during this holiday season (and as a way of life) to take heart and just reach out in your own way, with your own style and ideas, to those around you.  It doesn’t have to be a big fancy party or cost a lot of money to show love and hospitality to your family and friends.  I chose to have a larger party and do a lot of decoration but one doesn’t have to feel that pressure to do the same.  A mug of hot chocolate and a cookie can mean a lot if extended in a warm and genuine way.  I also believe reaching out to others in a hospitable way does a work in me as well.  A scripture that I’ve recently been reading and meditating on is Col 3:23-24, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.  Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.^”  It reminds us that as we work to be hospitable to others, to be a blessing, we are actually serving God – I dare say as an act of worship.  It’s a matter of the heart.  In the big or in the small, let’s serve God with our lives in our acts of hospitality this Christmas! 

Love and Blessing,

Laura