What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Eve

I really love entertaining. I don't have a magazine home, or magazine furniture and can't afford magazine presentations for feasts but I really enjoy the process, the challenge of using limited resources and the fun of having guests. After two years of offering to host Christmas Eve, my mom finally gave in (thanks entirely, I believe, to her bum leg) and let me have it at our house this year. And I am SO glad we did. It was a lot of work but so worth it. Especially since I got red roses and white tulips out of the deal.

Dangle fresh flowers in front of me and I am liable to do pretty much anything.



And it all went by without a hitch! Because so many people (and children) were coming, I knew I had to make it as organized as possible beforehand.

I took ALL the toys upstairs to the childrens' room so we grownups could mingle without being drowned out with the sound of playing or stubbing toes on an entire box of blocks scattered.

I set up two tables and arranged all the highchairs and boosterseats. I made placecards for all the seating which added not only charm, but was a HUGE help in getting everyone seated quickly and without question. Awesome. Never going without placecards again~ placecards and I, we are BFF.

The only thing I ran out of time to do was fold napkins. I really like folding napkins and wanted to dress up the disposable Chinet we used. (Hey, I don't have a dishwasher, okay?!?) I realized that a little after I started eating. oops.



I bought a bouquet of red roses and a bunch of white tulips and knew it would never be enough flowers, but that is what I was able to do. So I bought a bag of cranberries and poured them into the vases. The cranberries held the flowers right where I put them, so I was able to stretch two bunches of flowers into four different vases and do so beautifully.


I made as much food as I could ahead of time. On the menu:

For starters:
  • Bruschetta
  • Apricot-topped Brie
  • Candy Platters
Others brought seafood stuffed shells, Buffalo Chicken Dip, cake and truffles among other things.

For Dinner:
  • Apple Rosemary Pork Tenderloin
  • Caramelized Onion Tart
  • Butternut Squash with candied pecans
  • Christmas Salad
  • Applesauce
(Recipes are forthcoming, as soon as I make them again during the day to get photos worth sharing...) oh man, was it good stuff.


Looks like two Browns will have to be moved to the childrens' table next year.... :-)




It was a full house and a fun night!


My oldest brother stayed after everyone left and we put the children to bed and then relaxed and visited~ that was SO nice. And my younger (but still older than me) brother baked us a cherry pie as our Christmas gift! Two of the highlights of my night.

10 comments:

Discovery School at First Baptist Heath said...

The entire thing.. from decor, to tablescape, to menu, looked pretty magazing magnificent to me. You have a beautiful home! and more important, you can tell that it is filled with LOVE!

Tracy said...

Sounds like a wonderful time. For the first time in 12 years, my family was together for the holiday, and it was wonderful!

Bonnie said...

Beautifulness! I'm going to have to come back so I can admire the details in all the pictures.

Anonymous said...

I know that you don't need me to say this but...YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!!!!!! I love all that you have done and I am so thankful that you went to the trouble to share it all with me!! Thank you and God bless you all in the New Year...Mumofeight

Terri said...

I love the table decorations! Beautiful and frugal. You can't beat that!

Unknown said...

*dangling fresh flowers in front of Rebecca whilst chanting* You will do all of this for your online friend Amy in WI for Christmas in 2011.

Did it work? Are you convinced? ;)

It's lovely!!

Unknown said...

I just noticed a tiny baby foot sticking up presumably out of the swing at the bottom of the last picture!! SOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!! Is that a foot of the Judah variety? :)

Nanci said...

Looks like a wonderful evening!

Brianna said...

That food looks so deliciously yummy. How did you learn to cook so well?

Rebecca said...

Brianna~ through trial and error. I thought cooking consisted in opening a box of Hamburger Helper when we first got married. (No, not kidding.)

Ooooohhhhh the stories I could tell.....