Christmas Party

We had my brother and his family over for dinner on Christmas. We served festive food.

Dinner:

Here is a picture of how the table looked, before we put the turkey out.

Instead of a vegetable tray, we had a veggie tree. I got the idea online. I used a styrofoam cone for the base and used toothpicks to secure the veggies.

I thought the kids would get a kick out of this penguin appetizer. I'd made it before and I think I originally got the idea on pinterest. The penguins were made with olives, cream cheese and carrots.

When I was a kid, we would often have cheeseballs with crackers around Christmas. So, I wanted to keep up that tradition. I got a jalapeno bacon cheese ball from Safeway and dressed it up to look like a snowman with chocolate chips and a carrot nose.

For the main course we had turkey, honey mustard, cranberry sandwiches. I formed the bread into a wreath shape and put a bow on top after it had finished baking. Here is a link to the bread recipe. I used all the ingredients and made one big loaf instead of 3. I baked it for 15 to 20 minutes.

This picture was taken before we put the turkey and lettuce out on the table.

Dessert:

For dessert we had a frozen peppermint ice cream / brownie dessert. It was topped with whip cream to look like snow, and a candy cane / gum drop to look like the north pole.

Memory Game:

After dinner we played a holiday version of the game "Memory." I put this game together last year for a cookie exchange party I hosted. Here is a link to the holiday game details. I added more ideas this year and gave less candy, since there were fewer people and I didn't want to load the kids up with too much candy. Here are some of the prizes I gave.

Santa's sleigh

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

 

 

 

 

 

 Angel Food

Live Nativity

We went to see a live Nativity that the church put on in West Salem this year. It was outdoors. We walked along a path with stations. Each station had scriptures from the bible about the Saviors birth posted and read out load. Actors were in the distance. At the end of the path we came upon the "Stable" with Mary, Joesph and the baby Jesus (doll.)

"Angels" (young women) sang hymns in the background. There were animals too. They even had a camel and all the kids wanted to pet it.

Cookies and hot chocolate were served inside the church.

 There were a few rooms that displayed artwork. One room had pictures of the Savior and the second room had nativity scenes made out of different materials. There were people playing beautiful music on the piano in the rooms. I really felt the spirit while we were there and we both were so glad that we went.

My husband and I were introduced to a Walter Rane painting while we were there, that we had never seen before. It was of the Savior in 3rd Nephi, where he blesses the little children. It was so touching. Here is a link to the picture.

There was another picture on display of Mary holding the baby Jesus that I really liked too. It was a piece by Liz Lemon Swindles. Here is a link to the painting.

Christmas Lights + Hot Chocolate

I love traditions, especially Christmas traditions. One of my favorites is driving around, looking at Christmas lights, while drinking hot chocolate / steamers. We do this every year.

As you're heading into town from South Salem on Liberty, there is a church that goes all out with their light decorating. They even have Christmas music playing. We got out of the car and walked around a little bit this year so the baby could see the lights and while we were there we noticed that Santa was there too.
We all enjoyed the lights.

Grinch Themed Date

I love this time of year, Christmas time. We celebrate Christmas all month long and this year I've been trying to think of festive dates to incorporate into the season. So, here is the first one...a "Grinch" themed date.

I listened to the Grinch story on youtube to refresh my memory, before planning our date. I was reminded that the "who" people like to celebrate Christmas with a feast that includes: who-hash, who-pudding, and roast beast.

I wanted to recreate the "who" feast, but I also wanted to put something out on the table that would scream the Grinch (not literally.) That way my husband would know what we were doing when I surprised him with a table full of green food.

My husband loves quesadillas, so I thought to make Grinch ones using spinach tortilla wraps and an edible ink pen to create the face. The hat was made with sour cream and a roasted red bell pepper. I've included the full recipe and instructions at the very bottom of this post.

Who-Hash:

I seasoned hash browns with chipotle powder, garlic powder, and salt. I added red and green bell peppers to be festive.

Who-Pudding: 

I used pistachio pudding to create the who-pudding.

Roast Beast:

For the roast beast I made roast beef pinwheels using the spinach wraps, chipotle cream cheese, roasted red bell pepper, mango, green onions and cilantro. Here is the recipe I built on.

Here is a table of the book/movie inspired food that we had.

 The font I used is free and it's called Grinched. I did have some problems with it. The spacing was off so I had to cut and tape the words closer together on some signs.

I played the Grinch song for our date too. My husband was actually singing the Grinch song on the morning of our date. I thought I had given the surprise away somehow, but found out that he didn't know I had planned a Grinch themed date for that evening.

My husband was really impressed with the Grinch quesadilla. He said that it was 110% Grinch. He thought it was very artistic and that I should put it on pinterest.

I couldn't talk him into watching the Grinch movie, because we have seen it so many times and he didn't want to watch it again. That was okay though, because I wasn't super excited about watching the movie either. We went out and got a Christmas tree instead.

Grinch Quesadilla Recipe

Face

4 Spinach tortilla wraps (will make 2 Grinch quesadillas)

1 can black beans

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chipotle powder

1 Tbsp salsa

1-2 chicken breasts

cheese

edible ink pen

Eyes

Yellow bell pepper

olive

Hat

roasted red bell pepper

sour cream (pipe it on)

Enlarge this image on your computer. Trace the face and eyes onto a piece of paper from your computer screen. Cut out the image. Place it on the tortilla, use an edible ink marker to trace the face on the wrap. Cut the tortilla with scissors. You'll have to draw the face details on, free hand.

Quesadilla Filling

Drain and rinse black beans. Mash the beans and season them with cumin, chipotle powder and salsa. Cook and cut up chicken. Put bean mixture on one tortilla and back at 350 for 5 minute. Add chicken and back for another 2 or 3 minutes. Add cheese and top tortilla (Grinches face) and cook for 2 min.