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#holidayentertaining

A Holiday Table and Menu Idea for You

December 24, 2021 By kimwheeler 15 Comments

Hello and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! I hope everyone is able to enjoy the holidays and take a break from the day to day and be with those you love. Cooking, eating and just being with my family is my favorite part of the holiday and I can’t wait to have my guys all here. We do Christmas Eve dinner and then sit by the fire after and exchange gifts with my father.

I think I’ve written about this before, but my family has a tradition my mom began which is staying in our own homes in our pajamas on actual Christmas. The hardest thing this time of year is thinking about my mom and missing her, but my dad and I started a new tradition where we exchange food after Christmas Eve dinner here. He gives my his famous cinnamon rolls to have for Christmas morning and I give him a lasagna to cook on Christmas day. We’ve done it now 6 years and it makes for a very relaxing day and so nice after all the rush. My dad’s cinnamon rolls are amazing and we pop them in the oven when the kids first get up and we only let them open stockings. Then we sit down to have rolls and juice and coffee. No presents until we have cozy breakfast with candles at the table!

Tonight we are trying something a little different for the Christmas Eve meal. My husband has always loved cheese fondue, but it’s a lot of bread and cheese and I often feel like it’s a bit much with all the Christmas treats. A week or so ago we had some friends over for a dinner exchange we do and we tried out a new menu and set a Christmas themed table. It was the same night I tried out this holiday cocktail on this post that was a hit with my friends. The dinner was so easy and had something for everyone, non meat people also, so we are replicating it tonight and I will set the same table.

If you need some ideas for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve menu and festive table this is what we did..

The Table

I had just put up a pink tree in my little den and liked the idea of continuing the theme in the table with pink bulbs scattered on juniper and evergreen branches that I laid out in the center. I added clear votives and a mix of the pink Christmas bulbs I had on hand, small and large and different tones. I found the branches at the grocery store in the floral department, but you can look in your yard or trim your own Christmas tree if you have a live one. I also added pinecones to this mix, which looks great, but I forgot to photograph it.

I don’t have red napkins, so I used some black and pink napkins I bought at Pottery Barn and with the black table, some pretty vintage glassware from my friend Elizabeth, my new plates from Anthro and a cute San Francisco made gourmet chocolate bar as a little gift on each place setting.

The napkins are here-now on sale and these red and green paisley ones would also be cute for a holiday table. I love the idea of taking regular napkins and making them work with the just the addition of matching bulbs in the same colors- so shop your tree (literally) and don’t limit Christmas to just red and green! I used these mini wreaths I found at Joanne’s as napkin rings and tucked a cutting of greenery in each.

The Menu

  • Ginger Marinated Chicken Breasts Sliced and plattered (we do both meats on the grill.) A recipe here.
  • Tri-tip with a rub. We often buy it already rubbed at the store, but this California recipe looks good.
  • Butter lettuce, pear, persimmon and toasted pecan salad. I whisk together a vinaigrette of 1/4 C olive oil,1 T pomegranate or any fruit vinegar and 1 T maple syrup and a squeeze of any citrus plus sale to taste.
  • Julia Reeds’s Gratin de Macaroni (a fancy and so easy take on baked mac and cheese everyone will love.)
  • Dessert is Christmas cookies and chocolates we have received on a pretty platter.

As we lost the wonderful Julia Reed in 2020, it’s hard to fins her recipes online and she never had a website. The book I take this from is called Julia Reed’s South and it’s a beautiful book filled with her actual dinner parties and great inspiration. It was a gift from my pal and fellow blogger Juliet who writes Make Mine a Spritzer.

I am copying this directly from the book with her own words to describe. I will never make the usual mac n’ cheese again as this is so much easier than the roux route. Also, if you want to eat lighter, you can change out the whole milk for a lighter fat content and when I made it, I used a whole box of penne (1 pound) and just 1 cup of creme fraiche and it was still super yummy..

Julia Reed’s Gratin de Macaroni

Butter for greasing the
gratin dish
½ pound penne pasta
1½ cups crème fraîche
1½ cups whole milk
1 cup grated Gruyère
cheese
¼ cup finely chopped
Italian parsley leaves
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black
pepper
2 tablespoons grated
Parmesan cheese


“My mother used to make a noodle casserole with egg noodles,
butter, sour cream, lemon juice, and Parmesan. Neither of us
can find that exact recipe, but I discovered something similar
in-of all places- an out-of-print book on French bistros. This is much
lighter and far speedier than a proper macaroni and cheese made with a
béchamel sauce, and I prefer it, especially with daubes and stews. Feel free
to get creative with the cheeses. I like the way the Parmesan browns on
the top, but I’ve substituted everything from Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
to Thomasville tomme (a buttery Pyrenees-style cow’-milk cheese from
Georgia’s Sweet Grass Dairy) for the Gruyère.
170
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter a shallow glass or earthenware gratin dish
or casserole.
Cook the penne in boiling salted water according to the directions on
the box. Drain and place in a large bowl. Fold in the crème fraîche, milk, and
Gruyère. Stir in the parsley, salt, and pepper, and taste for seasonings.
Spread the mixture in the prepared dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cheese is browned on top and the liquid has
been completely absorbed. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.”

from Julia Reed’s South cookbook.

I also wanted to take the time to say thank you to everyone who subscribes and visits. I truly appreciate you reading and being here and it’s what keeps me going on this blogging journey of almost 11 years! The connection with you all, and the community that comes from doing this is everything to me. I have finally had more time to devote to this with my sons on their own and I hope it will be more fun and interesting to read in the coming year..

Thank you and I wish you a wonderful holiday season and let’s hope an even better and healthier 2022 for all of us.

Much love and happy wishes from my little spot here in Northern California,

Kim

If you’d like to get an email when I post, please subscribe to the blog here for a post in your inbox a few times a month! Thank you so much, as Bloglovin seems to have stopped working and I no longer post as much on Facebook and plan to do less there.

Some links will generate a small commission. Thank you for supporting the blog!

Filed Under: Holiday Entertaining, Uncategorized Tagged With: #christmas, #christmasfood, #holidayentertaining, #holidaytable, #juliareed, #newyears, #pinkchristmas, christmasmenu

Drink Station Ideas for the Holidays

December 16, 2021 By kimwheeler 8 Comments

Today I am excited to join the most fun group to share our own ideas for holiday drink stations.

Some of us are back to entertaining in a small way and some of us are just doing close family with us. Either way, having a drink station is such a smart idea.

Reasons to love drinks stations:

  • They take the pressure off you to serve others.
  • They add a festive atmosphere and fun.
  • They let guests create drinks their way.
  • It lets you move people out of the kitchen and to other spots in the home.

I personally get excited when someone has a drinks bar, as I usually am picky about what I drink, and I like making things my own way. I also think it puts guests at ease right away and lets them move about the home when many times gatherings tend to congregate toward the kitchen or another spot. Having a drinks bar on another wall, or in another room, is a great way to get more flow going at your gatherings.

Obviously thanks to Covid, we aren’t having any Christmas party. Our last big party we had was Christmas 2019, our first back in this home. We set up our bar with a special drink and instructions so people could serve themselves. We had other options waters, wines, etc, to the side, but having a drink and the fixings for it, seemed to be a real hit. People like to try a new drink and a holiday cocktail feels festive!

This year, I had the opportunity to try out a Winter Spritz Bar when we hosted a small dinner party for two couples we do dinners with occasionally at each other’s homes. I feel like I have to mention that we are all vaxxed and boosted and are all very careful, so it felt safe to do this indoors

I am a huge fan of Aperol Spritz’s and have been since I first had one in Venice many years before they became popular here. I used to try very hard to find it in shops and now it seems to be THE drink. The Spritz has a bitter orange flavor about it which grows on you. The Winter Spritz is slightly sweeter with the addition of Vermouth which gives it an almost Manhattan taste, but a little brighter. This drink is a little ode to my mom who loved a good Manhattan and I so wish she was still here and could have one of these with me.

The fun part is having a different choice of an herbal Italian liqueur, called amaros, which to change them up. Amaro means bitter in Italian and these are light in alcohol and are considered digestives, which are good before or after dinner. Averna has a chocolate licorice and orange taste and the addition of sweet vermouth changes the Spritz drink to something more deep and wintery. Add a Luxardo Cherry and it’s the perfect winter sip. More about the interesting history of amaro or amaris and what they are here.

Creating a Winter Spritz Bar

You’ll need:

Italian herbal amaros like Apero, Averna, Campari, Bruto Americano or others like St Germain

Sweet Vermouth. We like this one.

Prosecco (it’s nice to stay with the Italian theme, but any decent champagne or sparkling wine can work.)

For garnish:

Luxardo Cherries

Sliced oranges or clementines

Tools:

Ice Bucket

Champagne coupes (similar to mine here) or low cocktail glasses

A slate board like mine for instructions and chalk pen.

It helps to have the instructions written on a slate near the glasses and ingrediants in their order of adding, think assembly line if you have the room.

To Make a Winter Spritz

1 Jigger Amaro (herbal liqueur)

1 Jigger Sweet Vermouth

add ice

top the glass off with a generous amount of prosecco

add garnish of your choice -Luxardo cherries and/or orange slices

Make it Festive

I like to make a drinks bar festive with holiday music, and some decor. I used battery operated strands of fairy lights, a vintage jewelry Christmas tree from my grandmother and a nutcracker and a few Christmas ornaments here and there. Keep the lighting pretty and low and sparkle factor high. If you have any vintage silver or crystal pieces, this is the time to trot them out! Have a tray of pretty glasses ready and the ice bucket full. It’s nice to have cocktail napkins near and a towel in case someone spills a little. I like toothpicks or wooden forks for the garnish and straws for mixing.

A few photos from our drinks bar at the dinner party..My cute friends Bari and E. The husbands got no photos!

A few things you might need for the bar..

Waterfall Coupes, Slate Chalkboard Sign, Lustered Coupes, Rattan Ice Bucket, Graham Bar Tools, Red Zebras Cocktail Napkins , Battery Operated Fairy Lights, I Believe in Cocktails Napkins,

Please visit these brilliant blogs for more drink station ideas..

Cindy Hattersley Design
Classic Casual Home
Most Lovely Things
Make Mine a Spritzer

You can pin this graphic below to save it to Pinterest

Thanks for being here!

Kim

If you’d like to get an email when I post, please subscribe to the blog here for a post in your inbox a few times a month! Thank you so much, as Bloglovin seems to have stopped working and I no longer post as much on Facebook and plan to do less there.

Some links will generate a small commission. Thank you for supporting the blog!


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: #christmas, #entertaining, #holidaybar #drinkstation #barstyle, #holidayentertaining

Holiday Appetizers

December 5, 2019 By kimwheeler 18 Comments

Need festive food for a gathering or upcoming party? Ready to try something new? Well you came to the right spot! Today I am joining a talented group of bloggers in a holiday appetizer roundup. Everyone is sharing something they love for this time of year. I am sharing my simple way to make pretty cheese board.

I find these boards are so popular that you can rely on them to fill most of your appetizer requirements for a gathering. It’s even better if you have a nice board to display it on.

I recently purchased this one from Crate & Barrel above, but I have my eye on these darling ones from Serena & Lily.. I like the leather straps to tote them and the whale spreaders!

I also like this one from Pottery Barn…

Having a good platter is half the battle.

Cheese boards are fun because you can make them seasonal. There is an easy equation to keep it simple- three cheeses, three fruits, and three kinds of crackers. I arrange those in a free-form fashion and fill in with whatever other nuts or salty treats I have on hand. Another touch that will make your cheese board popular is breaking up one or two dark chocolate bars and adding them in by the fruit. I copied this from an appetizer board at a tennis lunch and it’s been a hit every time I since.

The board on top photo was from my Blogger’s Lunch I hosted and it was in fall, so I used apples, pears, persimmons, walnuts and figs. I try and add three cheeses- one soft like a brie, a gouda or a manchego which are firmer, and a goat cheese which I like to drizzle honey and sprinkle almonds or pecans on. Mini apples are in the store now and look cute as a garnish on a fall board if you find them.

In summer I choose things like berries, peaches and apricots, the same cheeses and a little edible flower or two. Sprigs of fresh mint can look and smell pretty with the berries and the same cheeses and crackers.

In winter I like a pomegranate split on the board and the seeds sprinkled on top of a drizzle of honey on the goat cheese. Fruit is harder to come by so dried figs – the Turkish kind, can look pretty sliced in half, and of course citrus should be on a winter board. Clementines are very cute cut in little wedges or peeled and broken up next to dark chocolate. Candied nuts are a holiday touch you can add on a December board.

My go-to crackers are the unbeatable Rainforest Crisps, Trader Joes Pita Crackers, and any long Italian cracker. I also like to add Mary’s Classic Crackers as they are gluten free.

My formula is pretty simple and if you do these frequently it is easy to stock the basics in the pantry and pull one together on the fly. I worry often about them being neat, but sometimes just mounding them up and letting it all organically kind of fall together can look just as pretty, so don’t overthink it and have fun!

Now for more good ideas please stop by lovely partners in this and see what they have in store for you for holiday appetizers….

This is a link to each person’s blog and after their Instagrams so you can follow them there as well..

Melaine My Sweet Savannah @mysweetsavannah

Sheri Sheri Silver @sherisilver

StefanieBeautiful Living with Stefanie Wall @beautiful_living_wtih_stefanie

Mary Ann Classic Casual Home @classiccasualhome 

Cindy Rough Luxe Lifestyle @cindyhattersley 

Annie Most Lovely Things @most_lovely_things

I would love for you to share below in comments if you have a favorite appetizer for holiday get-togethers.

Cheers!

Kim

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: #appetizerboards, #appetizers, #bloggerroundup, #bloghop, #holidayentertaining, #holidayhomestyle, #serenaandlily

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@most_lovely_things - Annie
@classiccasualhome -Mary Ann
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@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
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Our links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns

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