Holiday Open House

Yikes! What a mess! What is going on here? Well, it was time again for our annual Holiday Open House!
Our entire congregation and some neighbors are invited to come over for an evening of fellowship and LOTS of food! This year I decided to try mostly all new recipes, and with a huge amount of help from Kaitlynn, we made the biggest mess in the kitchen yet getting ready for the party.
By 5pm that night, everything was clean and all the food was ready! Below are the strawberry brownie bites. They were really yummy!
Dee Dee's Delights. These are a yearly staple. Fun to make AND fun to eat!
Dana's Crock Pot Candy Clusters were new this year. Pretty easy to make and very tasty!
White and Dark Chocolate Oreo Truffles. Not to hard to make, but a really messy process!
Jewel Bark. If you like dark chocolate and dried fruits, this was an interesting taste.
The champagne and wine bar. Sam set up lights all around it on the stove and I thought the reflection in the glasses was really pretty.
Shrimp and salsa stuffed deviled eggs. I never tried them, but heard they were VERY tasty!
The hardest and most time consuming recipe of the year: Crab and wassabi Won Tons. Didn't try these either, but they sure disappeared quickly.
Taco Dip. Easy. Tasty.
My NEW favorite dip recipe! Leek and goat cheese hot dip. YUMMY!!!!
A new tangy punch recipe with the yearly frozen punch ring.
Fig and Brie cups. Were good, but were better when they were warm and the cheese was gooey.
Party Ryes. Didn't get eaten a lot this year. May put these on hold for the next few years.
Buffalo Chicken Dip. I did try it, but it was spicy!
Parmesan Cheese Rounds. REALLY tasty, but cooled off quickly. Was better when they were hot.
And the finished table!
We had exactly 50 people show up, if I didn't miss anyone in the counting. It was a fun night, ending with guitar playing, singing, and lots of talking and laughing and getting to know people better.
It was a great way to end 2009!