Sound Bites & Snap Shots

Every year the doctors at Bill’s practice take turns hosting the company Christmas party.  I had hoped that we would get a chance to attend a few more of the parties before it fell to us but something came up for the doctor whose turn it was and Bill volunteered.  Stepping up at the last minute was the right thing to do for many reasons but most importantly it meant I had a limited amount of time to obsess. 

Bill and I worked really hard to get everything together. We made a great team.  He tackled the home preparation and I managed the food and beverage.  I’m actually rather grateful that we hosted because it motivated us to do some of those home repairs on our list. 

I spent a lot of time mulling over the menu.  Bill suggested we cater but there was a part of me that wanted to see if we could pull off dinner for the staff of 25 and their guests.  In the end, I made most of the meal myself but I was  not afraid to take a little help from some “friends.”

Our spread featured the following (with links where possible):

Spinach dip with vegetable crudité

A large green salad with my homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Several prepared salads from The Fresh Market including lemon bowtie pasta salad, marinated cucumber salad, and marinated sweet peppers and olives

Vegetable Ratatouille topped with fresh cubes of feta

Chicken Marbella

Couscous

An assortment of Christmas cookies from Trader Joe’s and homemade spiced nuts

and the grand finale…cranberry orange cream truffle.

We served beer, wine, soft drinks and water and had decaf and regular coffee with dessert.  Bill and I invested in restaurant flatware, cloth napkins and plastic plates that looked like china for this party and the ones in the future.  We rented chairs from a local event supplier and set up some tables for dining.  In the end, we had closer to 35 and we ate leftovers for a week.  We all loved that too.

I’m so grateful for all my friends.  I had lots of offers for help and many who shared roasting pans, wine glasses, coffee urns, extra tables and plenty of support.  I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a great time and best of all, we are off the hook for another few years.