This past weekend we hosted our annual holiday party. I’ll admit that with everything that has been going on lately, it felt a bit like a farce putting up festive decorations, prepping everything, and generally acting cheerful. Once party time rolled around though, it turned out to be exactly what I needed. Having so many wonderful friends and people I love in one place, all mingling, joking, and having fun – it was good for me. (Also watching IU beat Kentucky in the last seconds of the game and hearing the deafening cheers fill my living room…totally awesome. Go Hoosiers!)
I didn’t have quite as much fun planning this party as I normally would, but I think the end result was still very nice and everyone had a great time. Since I was short on time, energy, and enthusiasm I made mostly old recipes with just a few new things thrown in. As far as savory fare went, I wanted to be sure to include some classic comfort foods in miniature forms and I’m happy to say this went over very well. The highlight was definitely the mini mac and cheese in small mason jars. So many people commented on how much they loved it and I can’t say I’m surprised – it is mac and cheese, after all. Our full menu was as follows:
Savory Appetizers
Mini Twice Baked Potatoes
Roasted Tomato Basil Soup Shots
Mini Mac and Cheese
Chevre and Roasted Bell Pepper Crostini
Pizza Bites
Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls
Sweet Treats
Peanut Butter Fudge
Cappuccino Fudge
Cherry Hazelnut Fudge
Chocolate Espresso Macarons
Peppermint Brownies
Mini Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes
Mini Eggnog Cheesecakes
Mini Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
Mini Gingerbread Cupcakes
A huge thanks to Molly at The TomKat Studio for the lovely party printables. Little details like coordinating printable tags, signs, etc. make such a difference in creating a finished look and pulling a party together.
I’ll be sharing a few new recipes from the party in the next week or two so be sure to check back for those. In the mean time I’m trying to figure out what to do with all this leftover fudge because fudge is sort of like my personal kryptonite…
