Cindi sippin' Peppermint Wonderful-ness

Once again, THE Christmas party to be at.  This one always boosts the Christmas spirit for all of us, especially since we share it with the hubbies and make a big deal of it.  Keri was in good form (but not such great health — what a trooper!!) and started us off with peppermint cocktails that fogged like a deep lake in December.  (Bubbling Candy Cane: one shot each Godiva White Chocolate Liquer, vanilla rum and peppermint schnapps served with a nugget of dry ice in the bottom of the glass.)

Then on to that exquisite table in the new dining room for a snowscape and candlelight, and SIX dinner courses, with and intermezzo course of homemade cranberry and lemon-ginger sorbets.

Next we adjourned to the winter-wonderland in Keri’s living room for gift swap and our final course of a trio of mini-desserts by Mary, and just a whole lot of laughing.

Click for more pix!

We had planned some shagging lessons, but we were all so stuffed and mellow from the cuisine, we’ll have to re-visit that idea another time.  Enjoy the pictures (click the sorbet picture for more).

Menu:

• Gorgonzola Fig Loaf w/crackers (Cindi)
• Spiced Nuts (Amy)
• 1st course: Crab-stuffed Mushrooms (Bruce K.)
• 2nd course: Roasted Acorn Squash & Sweet Potato Soup – Cindi (Cindi)
• 3rd course: Salad Tower of Fresh Vegetables with Buttermilk Dill Dressing and Parsley-Chive Oil (Keri)*
• Intermezzo: Amy’s Lemon-Mint and Cranberry Sorbets (Amy)
• 4th course: Salmon over Harvest Grains with a side of Celery, Apple and Fennel Slaw (Susan)
• 5th course: Grilled summer vegetable terrine (Wendy)
• 6th course: Barbecued Turkey – Pamm (Pamm)
• 7th course: Trio of Mini-bites: Chocolate-Orange Cheesecake, Pecan Pie Squares – Mary J., and Cranberry Meringue Tartlets (Mary)

*Keri says here’s how:  Layer (in molds/empty soup cans) chopped yellow peppers & fresh parsley; steamed carrots with buttermilk dill dressing; sun dried tomatoes in olive oil; barbequed corn with fresh chives; and steamed asparagus — served with a dollop of the buttermilk dill dressing and a squirt of fresh chive/parsley lemon olive oil.

click for more pictures!

For those with the money to do it (I’m talking well over a thousand per room per night), I hear that the Blackberry Farm in Tennessee cannot be beat for a very, very special (and did I mention, expensive?) getaway, with to-die-for cuisine.  Pamm challenged us to create our own little evening of food-pampering, and we began to understand why a place like this charges what they do:  this food takes TIME to create!  But look at it: it’s gorgeous!

The recipes we used came from various websites, so you can find them here by clicking on the dish:

(Pamm made her Carolina Caviar for a starter – I need to get that recipe and post it here, because it’s a go-to for parties.)

Butternut Squash Soup with Spiced Seeds

Bourbon and Orange Glazed Ham

Roasted Carrot Salad with Muscadine Vinaigrette

Wild Rice with Apples

Haricots Verts

Honey Buttermilk Rolls

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Blackberry Meringue

And that Chocolate  Buttermilk Cake with Blackberry Meringue was gorgeous too, even after it succumbed to gravity and fashizzled all over the electric knife.  We laughed and ate it anyway.  Julia would have been proud.

If you’re hosting a dinner group, pick a favorite inn or resort and use their menus and recipes for inspiration, decorate as they would, and enjoy and evening of the very best… without the sticker shock.

Oops. Yum.

Keri never serves ordinary cocktails. (Hurray!)

I do have one recipe from the evening:  Pamm sent me the recipe for the green beans she made:  12-10 Oregano Green Beans