You all know how busy we all get during the holiday season. Great googly moogly there are a lot of parties and get togethers happening.
One must take it easy or one might….catch a cold and be on the couch for a few days. Like I have been earlier this week.
So my greatest piece of advice this holiday season is to stock up on echinachea and orange juice and get plenty of rest where and when you can (go ahead, use up those sick days – you have parties to rest up for!)
Now, full speed ahead for this year’s Black Tie Christmas Party – there’s two pork shoulders to cook and shred for bbq pork sliders, turkey to chop and mix up with dill, mayo and other ingredients for dilled turkey salad sliders, potato chips to drizzle with chocolate for that one bite of something sweet. Our decorator will be here at 2:30 on Saturday, just passing me as I leave to get my hair done, which will mean we will be passing each other when I return to have my makeup done by Richard at 5ish. Champagne needs to be chilled and the table needs to be dressed. So much to do!
My dress is picked out and Eric’s tux is ready to go (I think…), shoes have been matched perfectly and accessories gathered.
Should be a perfect night. I am also debuting a little surprise of my own…
xoxo, Patti
Today blogging to Mary Poppins – Stay Awake (go ahead, take a nap, Darlings)
We are finally recovered from Thanksgiving (I think). It was a wonderful time with fabulous friends and I bet you want to hear all about it. Lets do it!
Just between you and me, I had no intention of hosting Thanksgiving Dinner, but when bestie Diane said she was coming home, I knew that called for something special. We bought the turkey, planned a few dishes, invited a few friends, bought a case of bubbly. Then our incredible friends from Black Tie Barbecue told me they were holding a smoked turkey with my name on it, I decided to go ahead and roast the turkey we had at home and freeze the meat for the Christmas party nibble ingredients.
Do you remember the photo of those smoking turkeys? Unbelievable.
I just received a bottle of the finest vanilla made – Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla. Mmmmm. So today I am baking up some gorgeous pumpkin bread to take to some of my sweeties.
I love pumpkin bread. It means it is time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My recipe is from a well-worn cookbook called “Betsy’s Sweet Treats” illustrated by Betsey Clark, creator of the the very popular Holly Hobbie dolls from way back when. My brother Jackie and his lovely wife Linda bought this for my “hope chest” when I was a girl. It’s amazing that it has survived all my moves through the years.
My hope is that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do every year.
Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from Betsey’s Sweet Treats
3.5 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsps baking soda
1.5 tsps salt
2 tsps cinnamon
2 tsps nutmeg
1 cup cooking oil
1 tsps NMV Madagascar Vanilla
4 eggs
2/3 cups water
2 cups pumpkin
Sift together dry ingredients in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour into 3 greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes.
Devour like hungry badgers. Or just eat with some cream cheese for breakfast.
Nom, nom, nom. You know, you could bake these into cupcake tins and give them to your guests as they leave Thanksgiving dinner so they have something special the next morning. Yum. Or you could go to the NMV website for some mouthwatering recipes to create your own delicious stir!
I love the holidays. I love get togethers. And food. So get togethers revolving around food, friends and the holidays are the greatest.
Our besties, Crystal and Teague, throw a big Friendsgiving party every year. It is for friends and friends that are basically family. This year about 40 friends (some old, some new), got together for the annual pot luck. Crystal and Teague provide all the meats and this year that meant pork shoulder and two turkeys! Everyone else brings the sides and desserts and a beverage. It is the best fun and a sure sign that the holidays are under way.
I love a fun night out with the girls. It has kind of taken me a long time to come around to this idea. Eric and I are just crazy for each other, but even oh-so-in-love couples need guys and girls time with their buddies.
Adorable Tami Reed of Talking With Tami recently invited me to a Girls’ Night Out sponsored by O.P.I. nail polish – you know them – with their scads of colors and adorable color names (“I’m Not A Waitress” comes to mind), well, I knew I could not say no. Plus it was held at Pampered Nail and Body Spa (341 Nelson Street Southwest Atlanta, GA 30313; 404-521-2873), just minutes from my house. Really, this event was calling my name.
Our friend Esther, from NYC, sent me these recipes – did you know you could bake with absinthe? Me, either! But bake you can! These treats are made with Lucid Absinthe, the first legal and legitimate absinthe sold in the United States in 95 years. This my dearies, is the real deal.
This morning I was going to talk about quick and easy Halloween costumes, but I have got to share these shots taken of me last night by my friend and out-of-this-world photographer, Richard Tomas.
Don’t you just love wine? Me, too! I was so excited when my good pals Doug and Sharon Paul from Three Sisters Vineyards asked me if I would like to represent them at the city’s premiere wine event held at The Georgia Aquarium. If you read the blog with any regularity, you know I am a BIG fan of their wines and jumped at the opportunity to pour for them.
All dressed up in my favorite sweater dress (it is autumn, after all….) and cute brown slingback pumps, off I went to participate in this fab evening. I met with Doug and Sharon earlier in the week to make sure I knew all the particulars about the winery. I even memorized the wines used to blend their Fat Boy White and Fat Boy Red. Corkscrew in hand I was ready to meet a bundle of new friends!
But first, one of my favorites – Mr. John Walker, king of special events at the aquarium. I rung him up right before the throng arrived and we had a chance to quickly catch up.
We have a winner of the Bookswim Giveaway – it’s Quinn!!
Quinn, please send your email address to me at Patti@anatomyofadinnerparty.com and I will forward your info to Bookswim. Look for their email and you are on your way to enjoying three full months of fabulous books!
The rest of you sit tight – more giveaways to come! And some fun photos from Aqua Vino last week.
