Christmas Dinner Party '08

After returning from Utah for Thanksgiving, we got right to work on final preparations for the Christmas Dinner party we were hosting. D told me at the end of the summer that he wanted to have such a party and it evolved over the fall months into an intimate dinner party with a few of our close friends - 7 couples total.

Some of our closest friends traveled to be with us! Chris and Nicole were in town from Reno, NV; Nicole's sister, Whitney and her husband Ryan drove here from Santa Barbara; Doug and Christine drove up from Newport; Brett and Krystle, who got engaged the day before our party, came from San Diego (btw- Krystle wowed the crowd with her hilarious story of running into Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer at the grocery store in Palm Springs over Thanksgiving and sharing her Ralph's club card with Jenn). Our two local couples were Jay and Christine and Chad and Cass.

Nicole attended culinary school in Pasadena before she and Chris were married and she has taught D and I many things in the kitchen. For the party meal I used 3 of my favorite "Nicole recipes" - spice rubbed pork wrapped in corn husks, spiced pecan salad, and her fantastic bread pudding and homemade caramel sauce for dessert.

I made the paper stockings above for place settings. I finished them with each person's name and a button and ribbon. (My mom sewed them together when we were in Utah) D and I filled them with a few treats for each of our guests. Sadly, I didn't take a pic of the table, as my mom requested.Doug and Christine (who is also expecting, as Doug's hand placement indicates). They moved back to North Carolina the week after our party, so it was our last opportunity to see them until who knows when. So sad to see them go - we miss them and their cute little boys!
Ryan and Whitney - always the cute couple.

D and I had a great time with our friends. We kept saying after the party how well things work when you have good food and fun people together in a room.