Busy, busy, busy

Ok,the faster I move, the behinder I get. There is too much to do and not enough time to do it all.

We help host an annual Christmas open house at a friend's house. The party is this weekend and we invited 70 couples. We've been hosting this party for 7 years now and each year the guest list has grown. Most of the invitees are folks we go to church with. Yea, I know what you are thinking... that doesn't seem like much fun... Let me tell you, it is fun. We get all duded up and pretend we are what we aren't (does that make sense?) It is just nice to get together outside of the confines of church and get to know folks. We do a lot of laughing and our fair share of eating and drinking. Our pastor comes and he kicks back and has fun. His routine is that he comes about 1/2 hour after the party starts, when he gets there he walks over to the bar and gets a tumbler of Scotch on ice. Uh huh I said tumbler lol. He slowly sips on his drink all night long as he walks around visiting with everyone and grazes the food table. At some point during the evening we do the old fashion Christmas Carol singing.

Did I mention food? That is the best part. My friends Patti, Belinda, and I cook for days. Well, at least Patti and I do. Belinda is known to go to Sam's Club and get whatever is in their freezers or deli section. We call her "the weak link" lol. Patti and I usually do a combination of tried and true recipes and then we "poison test" a few new ones before the party. I'm cheating this year. I'm bringing some new recipes without doing the "poison test"... I hope they all turn out ok.

Here is my list of recipes: Lemon bars, Truffle Brownie Cups, Pecan Tarts, Quiche Lorraine Tartlets, Artichoke/Parmesan Spread, Crab Meat Tarts, Spinach & Feta Tartlets, Chinese Chestnuts, Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, and stuffed celery.

Anybody want to hazard a guess what I have been doing tonight and will be doing tomorrow? I've been chopping, dicing, and mixing everything I can do ahead of time. Tomorrow I will bake the lemon bars, pecan tarts, and truffle brownie cups. I will wrap the Chinese Chestnuts in bacon, and get all of the tarts ready to bake. Everything else will be ready to go to be put together at the last minute on Saturday.

Late Saturday morning Patti, Belinda and I get together at Patti's House (that is where we have the party) and get all the food in one place. Patti usually has everything decorated beautifully and the platters ready to be filled with the wonderful food. We head to the store to pick up any last minute things we need and the alcohol. It is kind of amazing that we have an open bar and yet I've never seen anyone get drunk (whew).

Anyway, that is a little glimpse into my world right now. This is in addition to working both at church and my embroidery business. Dang I'm tired!!!!!!