Three Christmas Parties in One Week: Part Three

So... last Saturday night we had our final (in a series of) Christmas Parties. This one is the party I look forward to all year. We have held it annually - for 7 years now! We try to invite everyone we can think of and we crank out some holiday cheer! Here is what I think makes our holiday party a success... 1. Good friends (45 came this year- our biggest ever- yeah!!) 2. Good game (we play Dirty Santa and most people get into it) and 3. Good food and drink (see recipes below). Hope you get to celebrate and rejoice in the Savior's birth as festively as we did.

All the presents waiting to be fought over. The big items that were fought over this year... an LED snake light you wear around your neck as you work with your hands, pajama pants, a multi - tool, a sweatshirt, Attractions books (local book of bogo free coupons), gift cards, bath and body works hand soap... I am sure I am forgetting something...


Brooke makes her selection...

Sorry the lighting is so terrible.

Here was another big hit - not sure who ended up with it - but Amy is holding up a "Give Thanks" tray - super cute.

The dessert table.

Here were the two recipes people asked for and that seemed to be enjoyed by all...

Buckeyes (Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Balls)

Ingredients:

3 cups creamy peanut butter

1 cup butter softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 cups 10X powdered sugar

2, 12 oz. bag of choc chips

4 tablespoons Crisco

1. Mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla and sugar by hand until you get a smooth dough like mixture. Hint: add the sugar last, one cup at a time, until you reach the desired consistency, I actually only added 7 cups this last time, but it always changes. You don't want the dough sticky (not enough sugar) or crumbly (too much sugar).

2. Refrigerate dough for about an hour.

3. Take dough out of fridge and roll into small balls. You should use about 2 teaspoons per ball. Place balls on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate.

4. Wait about 30 minutes.

5. Microwave the choc chips and Crisco in the microwave. Do 30 increments - stirring each time until thoroughly melted and smooth. (You can throw it back in the microwave if it starts to reharden)

6. Take balls out of fridge- using a toothpick dip the balls in the choc. Leave the tops exposed so that it looks like a buck - eye.

7. Refrigerate until hard (about 30 minutes)

8. Enjoy!

The picked over- "real" food. We used to make all the food - but then we wised up and now everyone brings an appetizer. I made an old classic - the cheese ball. I have made this probably close to a hundred times: good, easy, always a good bet. Here is the recipe...

Party Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

2, 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 Tablespoon chopped pimento

1 Tablespoon onion

1 Tablespoon chopped green pepper ( I usually leave this out - only because i do not want to buy a whole green pepper for 1 tablespoon - still tastes great without it)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

finely chopped pecans

Directions:

1.Combine all ingredients - except nuts. Mix well with your hands- make sure it is thoroughly blended.
2. Chill for about an hour

3. Shape into ball and roll in chopped nuts.

4. Enjoy with crackers of your choice.

Millie and Ida.

Elisabeth, Stephanie, Anna, Kari and Brooke.

Our good friends, Mark and Emily who have lived here for about 6 months. They moved from VA and having them here has been such a blessing. I insisted that we get a new picture of the four of us because all of our pics are from CWR days (when we were so tan and thin and looking at them is just depressing - not because of CWR - but because we are not the tan and thin folks we used to be - well at least not the all of us!).

So that concludes another successful Christmas Party. My advice is to spread yours out a little... three in one week is too many!!

Okay one last recipe... the punch. Several of you have asked so here goes...

Christmas Slush Punch

Ingredients-

3 small packages of jello mix (I used lime this year and it was a huge hit- I have also tried strawberry).

9 cups boiling water

4 cups sugar

9 cups water

2 (46 oz) cans of pineapple juice

2 cups lemon juice

4 (2 liter) bottles of ginger ale

Directions-

1. In an enormous bowl - mix the 3 packs of gelatin and 9 cups of boiling water together.

2. On the stove in a large pot, boil the other 9 cups of water- once boiling dissolve the 4 cups of sugar into it.

3. Add the sugar water to the gelatin mix and mix well.

4. Stir in pineapple and lemon juice.

5. Mix well.

6. Divide the concoction into 4 1 gallon size freezer bags- or in pretty bundt pans to freeze. About 8 - 9 cups of the mixture will go in each bag.

9. Freeze for several days

10. To make punch, remove one of the gallon size bags about an hour before serving. Empty contents into a punch bowl. Add one bottle of ginger ale.

11. Enjoy!