Thursday evening was the Christmas staff dinner for our church and it kept Leann and me very busy all day…my hubby was the “fetcher of the pies!” He went and picked them up so I could keep cooking…They were made by a dear lady at our church. I can’t even begin to tell you how good they were…a cherry pie and a banana cream pie! Absolutely amazing!!!
Then another lady from church made a red velvet cake…stacked 3 layers high and equally delicious!
I forgot to take pictures of the desserts! Oops!!
(It was too late when I got home to work on Noel’s dress set, so just think of this post as a commercial break until tomorrow!)
Leann and I did the rest… and instead of describing them, I DID take pictures of what we made…
Who’s hungry? Want to see what we had?
We had chicken salad on croissants…
Turkey sliders on King Hawaiian bread…
Teryaki chicken wings…
Meatballs…
Egg rolls…
Spinach dip with pita chips…
Pasta House salad…
Peach pie filling Fruit salad…
Mini quiches…
Tortilla pinwheels…
Cheese and crackers and salami…
Queso cheese dip and chips…there in the middle in that crock pot…
Bacon wrapped asparagus..
…oh, and punch…
Well, I stayed up too late sewing last night, so I really need to get to bed…I’ll be back with more on Noel’s Christmas dress tomorrow…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Well, I don’t know about the rest of the sofa sisters, but I’d gladly fill my plate at your table any day, Jeanne! Everything looks delicious!! How did you do the bacon-wrapped asparagus? I can almost taste it…
HI Charlotte,
I asked Leann how she did the asparagus since she did that… this is what she said..
She used about 1/3 to 1/2 strip of bacon and wrapped it around the asparagus stalk, then she laid them on a baking sheet. She baked them at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until it’s as crispy as you want… She said she put hers under the broiler for the last 3 or so minutes…
Thanks for asking…
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks, Jeanne! I’m writing this one down!
You and Leann MADE all that in one day??? Good heavens! What a delightful spread you had there Jeanne! I suppose no one is watching their waistline! I could do the cheese and crackers for you next year if it gets to be too much! LOL
Now you should also make a cookbook with all these yummy recipes, in addition to your other sewing book!
I have an idea ladies! Why don’t we each send Jeanne some pictures of our trees, dolls, villages, decorations, etc. so she can share them and we can give her a break? You could send just one or a bunch of pictures from this year or in the past, and she could pick out what she would like to show for a varied blog that day. That could be our Christmas gift to Jeanne, since this is a busy time of the year for us all.
Great idea! I finally got my village all finished last night. I’ll take pictures tonight. It looks so cozy at night.
Dear Linda, I echo Barbara. That is a great idea. I’m in!
HI Linda,
Well, we got it all “completed” in one day, but the planning and shopping and making took a little more than one day.
Okay, I’ll tell Leann you are in charge of the platter with the cheese and crackers. I’ll be sure and write that down for next year! :o) Thanks Linda!
Okay, I’ll add cookbook to my list of things to do…
I LOVE your idea of helping me out with the pictures… I have some already I can start with… bring them on ladies!
Blessings to you, Linda!
~ Jeanne
That sound like a great plan, Linda. I know you’ll have you dolls dressed beautifully. Dressing dolls for Christmas isn’t going to happen this year, but I could do some decorations.
Wow! What a delicious buffet! You deserve a “commercial break:)”!
HI Shara,
I AM taking a commercial break… but I’m going back to the Food Pantry this afternoon to try and finish getting all the presents wrapped up today… their big day for giving to the community is Sunday, so there is lots to be done…
I’ll rest one of these days….
Blessings, Jeanne
That was a lot of work making all that and it looks absolutely delicious!!
Thanks Christine,
My hubby said the food last night was over the top good and the best ever! That was echoed several times last night. YAY!
I am mailing your fabric this afternoon… Rebecca was going to mail it for me yesterday, but I forgot to give her the customs form…
Thanks Christine,
Blessings, Jeanne
Good to know that the food was as delicious as it looked! Thanks again for getting the fabric for me. I will send you pics of the custom outfit it’s for when it’s done. 😀
Just curious. How many are on the staff for the party? Looks like enough food to last for several days. 🙂 And then those desserts too? Definitely no diet food there. But then, it is the holiday season. 🙂
Unfortunately, we are back with the bay area in shut downs starting tonight at 12:01AM. The hospital bed availability has decreased. Thought we might be able to continue with at least outdoor dining, but not until January 9th now. Maybe. Stores are supposed to be limiting the number of patrons so there will be lines once again. 🙁 I feel so sad for those affected with the virus.
I like Linda’s idea of holiday photos. Always love seeing everyone’s displays. Not sure about sending anything from here. Tree still in the box. Picture we were going to move to a new location is not hung. One trip to Home Depot for hardware and hopefully today another to return and buy the earthquake hardware we should have purchased the first time. 🙂 And I definitely need a trip to Joann’s for some more stuff. They are not essential, so will probably be closed. Definitely need more glue. The paper cutouts I’ve been working on are almost finished though. Maybe I can set them up and get a pic of that. 🙂
Joy, do you have anything from the years past? Pictures don’t have to be from this year!
Joy, I’m so sorry you’re about to shut down again. I too am sad for those who have been terribly affected, not just by the virus itself but all the collateral damage. Our numbers are going up some here, but we have an amazing county judge who asks the right questions. He’s discovered that the tests are picking up on everything that is going on at this time of year, not just COVID. That is why all of a sudden children are getting sick. It’s actually the flu or other Coronaviruses like colds, but everything is being attributed to COVID.
HI Joy,
I think there are 19 people considered on Staff…and yes, we did have enough food for an army. We gave everyone a plate at the end of the night and they all took stuff home…
I cut the cakes and pies into slivers of pieces.. .of course some took “several slivers” but as you say, this is the holiday season… I was pretty good! :o)
So sorry you are going to be in lockdown again… I bet you are so ready for this to be over…
If you can find any pictures that would be great… I’m going to need them AS, JOY, I’M PLANNING ON PAINTING MY KITCHEN CABINETS! Can you believe it? Now that I’ve come out and said it , I’LL HAVE TO TO DO IT!
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, hurray!! The cabinets? I can’t believe it. Yes, I can. Yay! Now when I see yours, I can start in prodding other person yet again about getting the buckled kitchen floor replaced. We had a water heater leak awhile back. Need cabinet paint and new doors too. And while this happens the adjoining dining room floor should be replaced to match as well and hopefully, the living room and hallway too. And so it goes… Hope you get lots of pics of the painting progress. I bet it will go much faster than you think. This is so exciting. 🙂
I did make it to Joann’s today. And of course, found some adorable fabric that I don’t need. Also picked up some scrapbook paper as it is on sale. I would like to make a cabin/ski hut prop. A-frame style. Not sure other person would like me taking over the dining table again like I did with the tent though. Still in the thinking stage.
Sounds like the party was a great success and much larger than I thought. You and Leann are the cooking whizzes. I’m sure everyone was very appreciative.
That all looks delicious. I just love spinach dip.
Hi Carolyn,
Quick recipe here… Go to Sam’s… that’s where this came from… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
Well done, I am sure you are exhausted now. The food looks great.
Oh dear, Joy, so sorry you are in lockdown again. We keep hearing the numbers who have died on our news every night, both in US and other places and sometimes it is easy to forget that each one of those deaths represent a loved one to someone.
Queensland (Australia) have opened their borders to NZ without quarantine so now only Western Australia is still closed. Unfortunately we are not open so anyone who travels there still has to quarantine for 2 weeks when they return and plus they have to pay for that so makes it an expensive holiday. (Quarantine is free for returning residents and citizens but not when you have been away for a holiday!)
Linda, I haven’t been collecting the dolls long so don’t have any pictures and my decorations are very ordinary. Actually there was a lot of chatter yesterday about Dept 56 which I had never heard of so had to look it up and see what everyone was talking about. They were lovely but I have never seen them here.
I am decorating a cake for Ashley’s birthday party on Sunday. It isn’t her birthday till 29th Dec but by then most of her friends are away on their summer holidays so Sam is having the party early. My niece used to do the same for her daughter (in UK) as her birthday was on 6th August so she had her birthday for friends on 6th July. The cake is not what you would expect from a 10 yr old girl! It is from Minecraft and has grass on one half and purple (representing Mycelium fungi) on the other side and ‘Join the Revolution’ on it!!!! Whatever happened to hearts and flowers and pink and purple!
I can totally relate to the idea of having a birthday party other than the day of your birthday. I wish my family had done that for me. Having a birthday the day after Christmas ensured that everyone would be off to grandma’s for the holidays. My sisters had birthdays in March and July and could have parties with gifts. If I had a party it was a Halloween Party or one year I had a Sadie Hawkins’ Day party. It was when I was in junior high and it was the best way to get the boys to come, since the girls were much more comfortable asking a boy to the party than a junior high boy is asking a girl. I laughed at the description of Ashley’s cake. I have the same problem with my granddaughter. While she loves butterflies, unicorns, and things “Frozen”, she was a Ninja warrior for Halloween and loves Skyy’s Legos more than the ones I would pick out for her.
HI Anne,
I’m sure you can come up with “something” Christmasy to send my way… Dolls, trees, flowers, decorations, cakes, etc… just something from you…
Even a picture of your cake you are making…after all it’s being made in December.. so it counts as Christmas decorations…
Blessings, Jeanne
That’s pretty funny about the birthday cake, Anne. Our just turned 10 grandson would love it. He’s into Minecraft too. 🙂
Beautiful doll and dress yesterday! Delicious looking food today! I just recently discovered we have a Dianna Effner doll! Snow White. It is exciting, but I wish her eyes were painted like your dolls. I think she just has glass eyes.
HI Karen,
Congratulations on discovering you have a Snow White doll… She’s quite pretty and her history of being from Dianna is wonderful. She does have glass eyes, but still very pretty…
Thanks Karen,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, just one word “yummmmm!” Everything looks delicious.
I hope you got some much needed rest.
I look forward to seeing Noel’s dress.
HI Dorothy,
It WAS delicious last night… too bad I limited myself to just small samples of most of it… but hey, gotta watch it…
I’m working at getting the last of the toys wrapped at the Food Pantry today…I’ll rest tomorrow… :o)
I was looking for shoes for Noel… and trying to figure out what to make her hat…
Thanks Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
I also think you should do a cookbook with all your wonderful recipes. You could sell them. I would definitely buy one. All that food looks so delicious and to make matters worse, it’s lunchtime here while I’m reading this.
Our governor said no more lockdowns in Texas. I saw yesterday where the state is about to take over control of the city of Austin. The city management has gone off the rails in things like defunding the police, allowing people to live on the streets and raising tax rates, among many others. People are leaving Austin in droves. I didn’t know there was a way to stop a city from overzealous behavior but I sure felt there should be. Austin used to be rated the best place in the U.S. to live. It was the least expensive city to live in, it was clean and was a great place for music events, etc. I know if I was a parent thinking of sending my child to UT right now I would rethink it. Austin used to be a very safe city but it’s going downhill and becoming more dangerous.
I’m hoping to get the rest of my decorating done today. I told hubby last night that I feel like I’m just decorating for the two of us. We go to Sean and Dionne’s to celebrate Christmas. The best I can hope for is to get them out here on New Year’s Day for our annual fondue. Since I keep our decorations up until January 6 (Epiphany and David’s birthday) at least someone else does get to see them for a short while.
HI Barbara,
A cookbook would be fun… when I worked in the Cinema and Photography department at SIU, I was in charge of putting one together and I still use it to this day…
Things are so complicated everywhere… just think…one of these days, this will all be over…
We are just doing our family for Christmas this year… no family is coming in so it’s kind of sad around here… my kids miss being with my brother and sisters…
Oh well, there’ll be next year hopefully.
Blessings, Jeanne
What an amazing display of food, Jeanne. Cooking for a crowd can be challenging.
I remember the year we had 10 people lined up to do the Christmas lunch down at the homeless shelter. Everyone had to back out for one reason or another. My friend, I, and our two daughters managed to put it all together. The mini quiches look good and I love asparagus except I make lemon butter for it.
HI Laura,
We are expecting 300 families to be at Sunday’s event… that’s a lot of prep work that has to be done… They normally give out food in boxes AND have a meal and the parents can pick out a toy from what they see on shelves, but this year we’ve had to change things up and box up most everything and wrap the toys with just descriptions written on them… to make things flow better and quicker… it should be an interesting day…
The mini quiches WERE good… I made them and they are very easy… I had a few for breakfast this morning…
Thanks Laura,
Blessings, Jeanne
Snow covers everything here, but just barely.
Next time, buy a lot of dry ice and pack some if those leftovers to share with us. What a giveaway that would be!
I’m sorry about Joy’s lockdown, but I imagine that’s what it will take, along with vaccine, to make us safe again. Thank heavens for blogs, dolls, painting projects, and all the things we have to occupy us through the time we need to get rid of this plague. I gives me still more respect for the people who fought WWI and then the Spanish flu without computers and Amazon, and for my parents’ generation, who grew up with nothing and then fought WWII. They were amazing. If they could do that, we can do this. And then we can make meals like this to celebrate.
Hi Marilyn,
Snow…covering everything… just what December needed! I mean that. I bet it’s pretty there.
I do wish I could have shared the food with everyone…there was enough for most of the sofa sisters…I’m pretty sure…
It will be wonderful when this is a thing of the past, won’t it? It will almost be strange…
Well. I better get my post written for tomorrow…Noel was a good little girl for me again…
See you in a bit.
Blessings, Jeanne