Christmas dinner = lots of leftovers!

Centerpiece

The festive dinner table

Ham with grape and sage leaves wreath

L-R: Shirley, Jeff, Allie, Charles

Place setting

Handpainted ornaments, one for each person.

Me posing with the ham, after dinner-this whole plate didn't get touched!!

Wow. After nearly an hour and a half of washing dishes I'm not quite done. I've got two 'yucky' pans soaking and just a few plates and serving dishes left.

Here's how it went down:

At 1 pm I got a call from one friend confirming that her and her boyfriend would in fact not be coming (I had been pre-warned that they might not come, but had prepared as though they would-wanted to make sure I had ornaments and stuff for everyone...).

At 3 pm I got a call from another friend who was hoping to drop by after work saying she wasn't going to be able to after all.

Somewhere between 10 am and 5:30 pm I did almost everything to get ready. Thank goodness Jeff and Shirley showed up when they did (just after 5) to help with the last minute things-the cranberry sauce that WOULD NOT boil down, carving the turkey and setting out appetizers. You guys rock so much, thank you!!!

After dinner Paul and Jen dropped by for a visit and stayed until the end. It worked out perfectly because they got to take home the ornaments the other couple would have got-worked out nicely. :)

Tonight's menu:

Appetizers:

Antojitos (Mexican Pinwheels)

Cheese 'Assortment'-cheddar, marble, bocconcini, brie

Bocconcini and grape tomato skewers

Crackers and Dips - Lemon Dilly and 3 Onion

Punch (thanks Shirley, it was sooo good!)

Dinner:

Ham with a festive wreath of grapes and sage

Turkey

Roasted Herbed Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes with Brown Butter

Buns

Cranberry Sauce

Stuffing (homemade)

Dessert:

Apple Pie

Cherry Pie

Vanilla Ice Cream

Glazed Gingerbread Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Chocolate Truffles