Photos from Weeknight Holiday Dinner Party

Last week we hosted three parties.  Wheew.   Three years ago, I would have said that I'd catered 3+ parties this week.  The holidays used to be sooo much different then - I spent every night cooking and everyday shopping for ingredients.  Then, the weekends were back-to-back parties.  Loading and unloading my car and making my way to clients' homes in the ice and snow. 

I loved my job during the holidays - everyone was so gracious and their guests were usually very kind.  I was fortunate to spend festive evenings in bustling homes that were filled with holiday cheer.  The only problem was that those home weren't filled with my festive friends and family (except when Mike was my happy helper). 

This year we packed our holiday entertaining schedule to the max and hosted a family party (Emma's Birthday), an open house for everyone on our new street and a small dinner party.  Tonight, I'm sharing photos from our small dinner party for 5 - us, our 2 guests and Emma.

As you can see, I reworked the floral arrangement from Emma's birthday party by adding clove studded oranges and red/orange amaryllis to the pink amaryllis, magnolia and cedar.

A photo of the simply set table just before dinner.

Light snacks with wine before dinner.



  The evening's entertainment...
 

Goat Cheese & Roasted Beet Salad over greens with a Lemon Vinaigrette



A new dessert created from my old creme brulee recipe...

Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee (pre-caramelized top!)

Stay tuned for recipes and more photos from our holiday parties!