Friday, December 18, 2009

Gingerbread House Party and Happy Holidays!




Seeing as this is in fact a Blog About Food, I figured it would be only appropriate to post my gingerbread house party. This is the second one I've done in a row, and I'm really hoping it becomes an annual thing, it's so much fun, especially since the entire thing is involving food!

About a month before the party I make the gingerbread houses, which are the same houses my mom has been making for us our entire lives. They are small and simple, but made out of real gingerbread and are so cute. I freeze them, and then the day before the party, I assemble them with hot glue. It's probably not the most traditional way to assemble them, but it's non-toxic, peels right off, and ensures the fewest broken down houses. I also provided the frosting and piping bags, and then everyone brings a different candy to decorate with.


And here you have the fabulous people that came! You'll notice there are no kids, I think adults should be able to have some good, old fashioned Christmas fun too, don't you! I love these girls. Lots of laughing, eating, and staying up way too late, so fun!

And on to the food.

In the crockpot are Li'l Smokies, dressed in a very complicated sauce of ketchup and mustard. Sounds a bit too simple, but trust me, it's fantastic, and everyone is surprised when they find out that's all it is. There was also a veggie tray with a side of ranch dip (gotta keep the veggies around during the holidays!)

Alissa, from Spunky Girl Eats, brought her fabulous stuffed mushrooms, which disappeared SO quickly. Oh my gosh these were good!

I made Melanie, from My Kitchen Cafe's fantastic cheesecake cookies, bejeweled in a strawberry and blueberry pie filling, how pretty are these, great cookies Melanie!

And of course I had to make cakeballs. I made dark chocolate and mint chocolate cake balls, both made with chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. The mint cakeballs are coated in a mint-chocolate shell using the Wilton candy chips. They were good, but not quite minty enough for me, next time I'm going to put some chopped Andes mints right into the cakeballs.

We had other people bring fantastic treats too, but unfortunately I didn't get pictures of it all. Suffice it to say, there was plenty of food to go around!

I'm so happy with the way things turned out, and I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year. Thank you so much girls for making it a fun night!

And now we're getting ready to board a plane tomorrow to Idaho to spend two blissful weeks with my favorite people in the world. Because of that, I'm probably going to be signing off for the year 2009, it's been a great year hasn't it! So a toast!



My family does an eggnog toast every Christmas Eve, but inevitably they get really silly and by the end of the toast we're all in stitches. Since eggnog is so rich, I can't drink a lot of it, but my friend suggested thinning it out with a bit of Sprite or 7up. It might sound a bit crazy, but it's really delicious and cuts the thickness without losing a lot of flavor. I also love that it's bubbly! So here's to a wonderful holiday and a promising new year! Thank you everyone for all of your support and willingness to read throughout the months, it has made food blogging so very enjoyable. I'll see you all in 2010!
Cheers!

41 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

SUCH a fun party!!

Enjoy your holidays!! :)

Erica said...

oh my gosh! How fun is this?? Best party idea. And the food looks just incredible

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Your hard work really paid off, what a wonderful party! Everything looks top notch and so festive!

Alissa said...

K I stole your mushroom picture and the mushroom recipe is UP on my blog! aren't you proud of me?! lol! I really should give your nog concoction a go, maybe it will kindle a love for nog in my nog-hating heart:) Love you girl! have a great time with your fam!

Kim said...

What a fun idea for a holiday party! I tried twice to make a gingerbread house and each time it collapsed. I'm thinking hot glue is the way to go! I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year! Safe travels :D

Sara said...

What a GREAT idea for a party! I want to do that next year. By the way, I made your French Dip sandwiches last night and they were great! My hubby and I loved them.

sanjeet said...

How fun is this?? Best party idea. And the food looks just incredible

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Jenn said...

This is a great party idea. Bringing people together and having fun. I want to make a gingerbread house now.

Amanda said...

Wow your party looked like it was a lot of fun!! It’s for sure the time for gingerbread houses, I just did a post about them myself!

Spryte said...

Wow!!! I'm having a gingerbread house party tomorrow night, but it doesn't look half as cool or organized as yours!!!

Anonymous said...

What a great party!! Have so much fun on your two weeks off - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Donna-FFW said...

What a blast. Hope you have the most wonderful holiday!

Sasha said...

Looks like you guys had a good time ; )

♥peachkins♥ said...

This is a very cool idea!

Julie said...

Looks like a fabulous party all around! Wish I knew some people so I could have a party like that...HA!

theUngourmet said...

How fun! I want to come over to your house next year and decorate a cute little house! :D What a great girls night!

Anonymous said...

i absolutely love the idea and would love to have a gingerbread house party myself! wonderful!

Katy ~ said...

Teresa, this has to be one of the nicest ideas I've seen. What a super fan-tabulous time this must be. I can just hear all the chatter and laughter and sharing. Oh my gosh, this sounds like such great fun. And gingerbread houses are one of those ideas that just fill me with such wistful thinking and longing. I don't know what it is or how to describe it really. It seems to symbolize the season in so many ways.

Many many hugs and blessings to you my friend. I hope the joy, peace and love of this holy season is fulfilled in you.

Judy said...

Terrific idea for a fun party. Love your photos too. Good job.

Reeni said...

What a fun party! Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

Thinning eggnog with sprite or 7up? Oh my....that is genius. I can't wait to tell my egg-nog obsessed friend about it!
And what a great time! I love decorating gingerbread houses!

Lara said...

I just baked all my gingerbread tonight and wondered how to "build" them solidly enough for the kids. I'm really liking the hot glue idea.

Looks like fun!

Kristin said...

Looks so great! I really do still want the recipes and templates. I'll have to get them from you sometime. Have a wonderful holiday!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, that looks like a ton of fun!

Teresa hope you have safe trip and the Merriest of Christmases!
~ingrid

Joanne said...

This party looks super fun! I haven't decorated a gingerbread house in ages!

Have a fun holiday and a safe flight and I'll see you in the new year!

MaryBeth said...

What a fabulous looking party, I bet everyone had a great time. I know that I would of.

Melanie said...

Your party looks like so much fun! I'm glad you liked the cheesecake cookies - yours looked so pretty with the two different fillings!

Debbie said...

Oh that looks like so much fun. I'd love seeing all the different houses. Great idea. The food all looks delicious.....

Stephanie said...

How lovely! You are inspiring me for next year. I love traditions and I haven't done any gingerbread houses since grade school...
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Kathleen said...

I did Gingerbread house parties for my daughter for over ten years. I never thought of doing it with girlfriends... I think you are brilliant!!!

Unknown said...

You have an award waiting for you on my blog. Merry Christmas:) Great idea for the party. I may have to give that a try with my grandchildren and their friends next year. (Already planning....tee, hee.)

Barbara said...

Now here's a GREAT idea for a party. Especially since I've never had the nerve to try a gingerbread house on my own.
Going to steal your party idea for next year!

Elizabeth said...

Oh my! This looks like such a blast. I love the idea of taking an otherwise children's tradition and excluding it to adults only - you are right, we deserve some fun too!

Barbara Bakes said...

Your party sounds so fun! Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! What a fabulous party! I'm impressed at how you pulled this together!!!

Happy, happy, muy happy New Year!

Christo Gonzales said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOURS!

kanishk said...

it will kindle a love for nog in my nog-hating heart:) Love you girl! have a great time with your fam!

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Melody said...

What a fun party and that is a great idea for the egg nog. Hope your holidays were great and have a wonderful new year!

Carrie said...

That is the coolest party idea ever!!! I love it!

Lynn said...

Your party looks like it's a blast. And a neat idea, to have it adults only :) We grownups need to have fun, too. Every year we do "gingerbread" cottages made of graham crackers and stuck together with store-bought frosting. It is always big fun.

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