Here is a picture of some of the appetizers: Sturgeon caviar, foie gras and smoked salmon.
We also had artichoke dip but people ate it so fast that there wasn't a chance to take a picture of it! Next came the main courses and this was about the time when people started drinking... (namely Thom and my auntie Sara!) Here are some pictures from dinner:
Alright, so pictured here are Jenna's brussel sprouts with Pancetta, my mom's 2 casseroles, the salad, my aunts bitter greens, Thom's chicken wings and the honey glazed ham. The mystery food in the covered dish is the eggplant from my mom. (confession: I didn't actually eat any x-mas eve night! eek. But i did eat some a few days later and, to my mom's credit, they were excellent!)
Another close-up view of the food for your viewing pleasure. Ok, so even though I was pretty sick, I managed to somehow eat tons and tons of food. In my mind, the sicker you are, the more you should eat... because eating 'nutritious' food will make everything better. Ha. Good one. Anyways, X-mas Eve only improved when we moved on to desserts. My auntie Sara FORGOT the two pies/tarts in her fridge at home BUT we were saved by the timely goodies from Thom, Jenna and yours truly. Jenna brought her homemade apricot, almond cookies, while Thom passed along homemade fudge, pecans and cookies from his girlfriend, Mimi, and I made the awesomely RED, red velvet cupcakes.
Here are the homemade treats in the nice holiday tin!
Jenna's Apricot, almond cookies
My red velvet cupcakes!After we were all desserted up and had thoroughly watch A Christmas Movie about 7 times, it was time for the 3rd... or 4th annual gingerbread house making contest! This time, the stakes were upped as Jason and Brad were joining in on the activity. Luckily, the two kits that we bought ended up having about 7 small houses within them. Apparently, we were supposed to build some sort of gingerbread village! The group got started and it was Jeff (the one most excited to build) and me who got stuck with the train building kit. Oh well!
Jenna's house is to the right (perfect, i know!) while Brad's house is to the left. I can't tell you how funny it was to watch his roof slide off time and time again!
This is Jeff's Train. For some reason the front was supposed to be constructed by stacking the pieces one in front of another... kinda stupid. I think he did a good job with the pieces he had! And not to mention that we (me and jeff) got gipped out of the materials: icing, candy, etc. Not pictured: the 'butt' end of his train.
Here is the culmination of our little village. In the front row is (left) Erin's house, (middle) my weird box, and (right) Kristen/Jason's 2 story house with accompaning alien at the top. I don't remember what that actual creature was supposed to be...The rest of the night went swimmingly as usual with the occasional laugh and scare. We exchanged presents and drank more wine and hot apple cider. People ate 2nds and 3rds of the desserts while some even went back for more dinner food! (Jeff and brad!) I love the holidays and Christmas especially. It's so fun to get together with the fam and share memories and stories. Even though I was sick, I enjoyed everyone's company and hopefully didn't get anyone sick. Ready for Christmas day and more fun to come!
