My Favorite Event of The Year - Hoiday Brunch with My Besties!

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Every year I host a Christmas brunch for my college friends. Instead of a gift exchange we sponsor a family so everyone brings gifts for them. We eat a great meal, catch up, laugh a lot and play Santa's little elves wrapping gifts for the family. It's my favorite event of the holiday season. Read about my brunch from two years ago here.

I like to do something different with my tree every year. One year it was all silver and gold. Last year it was colorful with lots of colored balls. This year I didn't use any solid balls and did all bright and sparkly ornaments. I wrapped all my packages in shiny white paper and used jewel tone ribbons. Turned out pretty cute if I must say so.

After all that decorating and wrapping, I lost a little steam when it came to cooking. I decided to buy a few things, make a few new salads, and enlist the help of a friend for a fruit dish. Everything was delicious and quickly gobbled up.

The Menu:

Leek & Goat Cheese Quiche from Cafe Besalu
Pastries from Cafe Besalu (plain, chocolate and almond croissants, pear danish, orange brioche)
Ali's Spinach Salad with Apples & Fennel (recipe below)
Jen's Mixed Greens Salad with Pear, Pomegranates & Blue Cheese (recipe below)
Tropical Fruit Kebabs with Lime Cream (thank you Marly!)
Mimosas
Eggnog from Golden Glen Creamery (get your hands on this if you can!)
Coffee (everyone ended up putting the eggnog in their coffee which was amazing)

Recipes...

Ali's Spinach Salad with Apples & Fennel

Baby spinach
Fuji apples, thinly sliced
Fennel, thinly sliced

Dressing (I didn't have exact measurements so do this, then adjust to taste)

1 T honey
1 T + 1 t Dijon
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 good olive oil
salt & pepper

Jen's Mixed Greens Salad with Pear, Pomegranates & Blue Cheese

Mixed greens
Pear, thinly sliced
Pomegranates
Blue cheese, crumbled (get a good one from a local farmers market if possible)

Dressing (I didn't have exact measurements so do this, then adjust to taste)

2 parts balsamic vinegar
2 parts olive oil
1 part freshly squeezed orange juice
salt and pepper
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A huge thank you to all my little elves. I love you and appreciate you so much!
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Breakfast Chez Moi

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One of our favorite things to do on weekend mornings is make breakfast and hang out in our jams. When the weather is cold and during the holidays (especially once the tree goes up), it's all the more fun and cozy. So, I thought I would share some links to all my breakfast posts from the past to inspire you to cook a breakfast with friends or family this holiday season.

Robbcakes

Dutch Babies

Granola

Zucchini bread

Bagel Sannies

Toasted Oats with Strawberries & Milk

Prosciutto, Cheese & Fig Biscuits

Pancakes or Waffles with Sears Famous Pancake Mix

Scrumptious Eggs

Scrambled Egg Toast

Baked French Toast

Individual Baked Eggs (oeufs plats variation)

Spinach & Cheese Strata

McMuffins

Orange Ricotta Pancakes

Urth Cafe Oatmeal

Aloha Oatmeal

Lynne's Joe's Special

Banana Muffins

Smoothies

Saveur's Breakfast Issue

What's for breakfast at your house? Frittatas? Quiche? Breakfast burritos? Any favorite recipes to share?

Oh So Talented

I came across Rifle while deep into blogland one day and instantly fell in love with the style of Anna Bond's artwork. She does custom illustrations for save the dates, wedding invitations, announcements and more. I think the above family tree would be adorable for a baby announcement (maybe mine!). Check out her website and blog to see her amazing works of art.

My Favorite Event of The Year - Hoiday Brunch with My Besties!

Every year I host a holiday brunch for my very best friends from college. It is my most favorite event of the year. Here are the details...

The menu:
I normally love planning a menu but this year I had "chef's block" and couldn't think of what to make. To remedy the situation I introduced a little contest. I asked all of my friends to submit menu ideas and whoever submitted ideas that I used would win a door prize. After receiving a ton of ideas I put together the following menu and awarded two different prizes from the Anthousa Bath & Body Collection.
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Lunch:
Croque Monsieur Sandwiches - absolutely delicious!
Butternut Squash Soup - my own variation on this recipe (coming soon)
Sauteed Brussel Sprouts - huge surprise that I made these, right?

Dessert:
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting - heaven on earth!

Drinks:
Mimosas & champagne cocktails (champagne with blood orange Italian soda mix), coffee, sparkling water


Party Favors:
Bags of homemade party mix (recipe posted Monday) with pretty ribbon and holiday tags

Setting:
David Monn, the celebrated New York event planner, was recently quoted in a New York Times Style Section article saying "People love the permission to be comfortable". With that in mind I went for a very laid back setting this year and created a little tree-side picnic. On my living room floor, in front of our lit Christmas tree, I threw out a nice tablecloth, a drink tray, flowers and centerpieces, sparkling pine cones and candles all on the floor. Everyone was asked to wear sweats and after serving up a quick buffet style lunch, we all ate siting on the ground, with the Christmas tree lighting up the room. It was quite festive and very casual. Everyone loved it and said we should do it that way every year. After busting out my old college photo albums so we could have some good belly laughs at our uglier days it was time to get to work...

The highlight:
For the last few years I've hosted this annual holiday brinch. A few weeks prior, I work with a local charity to sponsor a family in need. We circulate the list and all of our friends jump at the chance to sign up for gifts. The day of the brunch everyone brings their gifts and after we eat a great meal and catch up it's time to get to work. It's like Santa's little elves at work, as everyone shares the gifts they bought and wraps them up with Christmas wrap and ribbons. It is so wonderful to look around the room at your favorite people in the world, who are so fortunate in their lives, working together to make Christmas magical for another family. My most favorite part is to look at the enormous stack of wrapped gifts we've collected and think of the family opening them Christmas day.

Here are my little "elves" hard at work...



The fruits of our labor... (toddler beds & mattresses, bedding, highchairs, a TV with DVD player, clothes, toys, books, a stroller, gift cards and more. Nice work ladies!!!)



If you have a great group of girlfriends who enjoy getting together for the holidays, I highly recommend this type of holiday party. I have so much fun and love having all my dearest friends over for such a fun event.

Beautiful Custom Books

If you have a special occassion - birthday or anniversary for parents or grandparents - these are the most incredible custom books. Check out all the samples on the website. http://www.good-stock.com/



I ordered her custom printed family tree as a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. She loved it. Of course I couldn't resist getting one for my own daughter to frame in a beautiful antique looking frame for her room. (One day I'll get that done, right?!)