Neighborhood Holiday Party 2014

WOW!  Only 8 more days till Christmas and I am NOT ready!!

HELLO FRIENDS!

Well I think I've finally recovered from our Annual Neighborhood Holiday Get Together and thought I'd share just a few (too busy talking being a good hostess to take photos) peeks at the good time we had!  I'm THRILLED to say that ALL those invited came!  Some just had time to POP in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas, some stayed for a short while, some stayed even longer and so happy to say that our friends from the Toledo, Ohio area made the trip and spent the night with us!  

THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING THE TIME!!!

Of course Mark went CRAZY with the menu again this year!  So we had lots of left overs and shared with whomever wanted to take some home with them.

The menu this year included:

Bar-B-Q Meatballs & Cocktail Weiners

Mark's Personal Best Mac & Cheese

Fried Chicken (purchased)

Cold Cut Sliders (purchased)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Crab Dip

Artichoke & Spinach Dip

Shrimp Coctail

Pinwheels (Ham, Turkey, Salami & Roast Beef)

Meat & Cheese Tray

Mark's Personal Best Cheese Ball

Mark's Personal Best Mushroom Salad

Christmas Deviled Eggs (colored Red & Green)

Fresh Fruit Salad

 AS WELL AS DESSERTS 
 Peanut Butter Fudge
Brownie Bites
Varies Oatmeal Cookies
Varies Chocolate Chip Cookies

and dishes brought in from a few of our friends/neighbors!

Greens, Meat & Cheese SALAD
Homemade Hummus
Pepperoni Rolls
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Pumpkin Cheese Cake

LIKE I SAID ... we had a TON OF FOOD and it was all  SO GOOD!!!

 By the time EVERYONE got here we had people in every room and I LOVED IT!!!  

Everyone was thrilled to meet our newest member of the neighborhood ... little Miss Lily Shamp.  It was at our party last year that Travis & Christy announced that they were FINALLY pregnant and we are all so over joyed with their news!  Fast Forward to this years party and little Lily had everyone's attention!  She was so good ... and SO CUTE!!!

We all had our turn holding and playing with Lily!  As you can see in the photo one of the favorite spots was on our livingroom floor where Lily was with her Mom & Dad!

I was lucky enough to snap this fabulous photo of little Lily and neighbor Christine (who has 2 beautiful daughters of her own ... you've met them here on my blog ... Miss Olivia and Miss Emily).

We are certainly blessed with friends, family and a fabulous neighborhood! 

Now that I've caught my second wind, I think I'd better concentrate on Christmas shopping and getting my cards in the mail!

NOPE I don't have them done YET ... another blessing ... I've sold so many of my holiday cards this year I don't have enough for myself!  LOL! 

 I fear they may be a tad LATE being mailed this year!  Eeeks!  LOL!

Okay so there you have it!  

Our Christmas Party was a huge success and I am truly looking forward to next years.  But I do have to talk to hubby about this menu ... I think it might be just A LITTLE out of control!  LOL! 

Have a fabulous week everyone and thanks for stopping by!

As always and until next time . . .

Ooops! ALMOST FORGOT TO SHARE THIS!
I recently purchased a stamp set from 'My Craft Spot' called Christmas Friends & Neighbors and used this stamp to make a quick treat for each of my guests this year.  Yep, you guessed it!  Inside was a full size Snicker's bar! 

Neighborhood Holiday Party - 2012

Hello dear blogging friends!

WOW!  Are you as busy as I am???  YIKES!

Just a few quick things to share with you this evening!  First of all our Neighborhood Party was a HUGE SUCCESS!  We had 25 adults and 8 kids.  We had food & people in nearly every room!  LOL!  Here's a few photos to share . . .

 Our menu consisted of:

BBQ Meatballs ... Buffalo Chicken Dip ... Artichoke/Spinach Dip

Bacon Wrapped Short Ribs ... Crab Rangoons ... Shrimp Cocktail

Mini Sandwiches ... Antipasto Platter ... Meat/Cheese Platter

Hummus ... Spinach & Cheese in Filo ... Chips/Dip

Cookies ... Fudge ... Fresh Fruit Salad

 * * * * *

I also wanted to share with you the great news that I was PUBLISHED AGAIN in the December Edition of Paper & Pixels Online Magazine!  How thrilling for me to have them showcase my work in the last three editions!  If you're not familiar with this publication, you will really want to check it out!  It is jam packed with fabulous crafting information, samples & tutorials!

 

How to get your copy of Papers and Pixels:

Current magazine subscribers will receive a separate email with the download link.  Newsletter readers and everyone else can purchase a copy in our Shop for a $1.50.

And remember:

Visit the Papers and Pixels blog and/or facebook page each and every month on the 10^th through the 14^th for sneak peeks of what you’ll see in the next edition.  Sneak Peeks are also posted in the Forum.

Well that's it for me this evening!

I hope you are all as excited about Christmas as I am!  OH ... and I hear we are getting 2-3" of snow the end of this week and colder temperatures!  Maybe we will have a WHITE CHRISTMAS after all!  (during our 'Christmas' party I had the doors open and the furnace turned off ... what's up with that!!??!!)

okay ... catch you later and as always ...

Neighborhood Holiday Party

Well, I'm happy to report that our Neighborhood Holiday Party was another wonderful success!  

Great Fun!

Great Food!

Great Friends!

Over the years, we've tried to have a Get Together around the holidays for our neighbors.  It seems that everyone is so busy all summer long with their kids sports & vacations, that no one has time to just sit and chat!   And it's come to be a time we all look forward to.  Of course, I LOVE to entertain (I'm a huge PEOPLE PERSON) and Mark (though he won't admit it) loves visiting with everyone too!  He's always great at helping me prepare the menu and doing the cooking.  I really think he should have been a chef!

I didn't think to have everyone get together for a Group Photo like I did last year, but I did grab the camera and snap a few shots here & there.  This year our menu consisted of Swedish Meatballs, Fried Chicken & JoJos, Spinach Dip in Pumpernickel Bread Bowl, Shrimp Cocktail, Cheese & Meat tray, Mushroom Salad (recipe at bottom of post),  Fruit  and my wonderful Jordanian neighbor Hala brought homemade Hummus and Spinach/Cheese Pie.

Within a few hours, there were 25 people throughout my house and the chit-chat was buzzing!  A little later in the evening the men were in the livingroom watching the football game and the ladies were chatting around the kitchen table.  What a wonderful relaxing evening!!  It's so fabulous to have good neighbors who you can also call your friends!!

Here's that MUSHROOM SALAD RECIPE I promised you!

4 - 7.3 oz. cans/jars of Button Mushrooms

1 - 14 oz. can of Hearts of Palm (cut in pieces if whole)

2 - cans of Artichoke Hearts (halved or quartered)

1 cup small black olives (pitted)

1 bunch green onions chopped

6 cloves garlic (minces)

Cubed Pepperoni

Cubed Mozzarella Cheese

DRESSING:

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tblsp. Italian Seasoning

Mix all  ingredients (except pepperoni & cheese) together, place in large zip lock bag ... add dressing and let marinade in refrigerator at least 2 hours.  Shortly before serving, add pepperoni & cheese to mixture.  Pour into serving bowl & top with a little shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (optional).

Mmmmm ... so good!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you've been enjoying some of the recipes I've been sharing with you through out the past week or so.  Now to get some crafting done!  Why is it I just can't seem to get caught up?  Too much partying I suppose!  LOL!!

Happy Day Everyone!!

Hugs,

Darlene