The holiday season is in full swing - our tree up, the lights lit. I love our eclectic mix of decorations - this is the African pot-bellied Santa who hangs on our Christmas tree, a gift originally found at UBC's Museum of Anthropology.
Last week, Scott and I used the holiday season to stretch our hosting and culinary skills and had the holiday party for a volunteer group that Scott is involved in, here at home. I really threw myself into party planning mode and found all kinds of delicious recipes, many from my friend Amy's cookbook: mushroom phyllo rolls, savory spinach balls (Scott's favourite, along with it's accompanying spicy mustard sauce), smoked salmon blinis, plus tonnes of cookies and sweets. The unintended menu theme became retro-chic: this was the perfect opportunity to pull out Scott's "partycrock" for a great white bean dip, and I also made another well-known favourite dipper featuring artichoke and crab (below). Judging by the speed at which it disappeared, it was the hit of the party - I'm making it again Christmas day!
But here's the party secret that really made the night a success: I called up a local caterer and had them put together a few knock-out dishes for me. Not only did the additions round out the menu, I figured if my own edible experiments crashed and burned, I had backup. Delicious, little effort and easy to pass off as my own amidst the other dishes: "Yes, of course I made it! The recipe? Uh, a family secret..." Luckily, every bit of the menu came off without a hitch and the night was a lot of fun. I might even offer to do it again next year.
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