Christmas Dinner

I had meant to post this earlier, but things got crazy at work last week and I had to cut my vacation short to go in and deal with some issues. But, I'm off (hopefully) for the weekend and have some catching up to do.

Christmas Day my mom, stepdad, sister and her fiancee came over for dinner with my husband and I. We had a great time and everyone loved the food. The table settings were pretty simple, it looks plain in the photograps, but the placemats were a real pretty ruby red sheer fabric over a shiny satin. I got them on clearance at Pier 1 last year.

I tried to keep the cooking simple. Got a ham from the Honeybaked Ham company, so all I had to do was make sides.

Menu

Honeybaked Ham
Twice-Baked Potato Boats
Green Beans with caramelized shallots
Rolls
Chocolate Ganache Tart



Dessert was by far the best part. I got the recipe out of Every Day Food by Martha Stewart, November 2005 issue. Here's a shot of the finished product:

All in all, a good day was had!

The best thing a girl can find under the tree...

Is a blue Tiffany box... My sweetie gave me a beautiful heart necklace for Christmas, what a surprise!!

Christmas Kitty

Had to share this too-cute picture of my cat Katie. She loves sitting under the Christmas tree.

Christmas Cards

This year I had the bright idea of making my own holiday cards. Last summer I was down at Paper Source http://www.paper-source.com and picked up a card making kit. I sent a few out and everyone loved them. I decided to keep up the creativity and made a few cards here and there and thought "Hey - why not do this for Christmas". Well, making one or two of a card is fine, but 30? Whew, I'm glad I'm done. They were pretty simple, just time consuming, I cut out large circles, used my sewing machine and some silver thread to sew a design on, then used an eyelet to make it look like an ornament. On the inside I stamped a sentiment in silver, and I tried to emboss it, but I could not get the embossing powder to raise. It just kept brushing off. So, I cancelled the embossing and went with it. It's a little faint on the inside, but still readable. Got them mailed off on Saturday. If I make cards again next year, perhaps I should get an earlier start.