Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Thanksgiving is basically the gateway holiday to all of the fun and festivities that Christmas and New Years bring. When I was growing up, Mom used to throw "Cookie Parties" for me and all of my friends where we would take baked cookies and decorate them with frosting, sprinkles, and other sorts of fun candies. I think I always took advantage of this growing up, because once I was in high school and college and wasn't having any more Cookie Parties, I really began to miss them. So what's a recent-adult to do? Throw a party, of course!

Without much thought as to how to pull off a Christmas party, I decided to go ahead and creative a Facebook event and throw what I hope to be my first annual Christmas party. I definitely told Brian about my plan after I created the event...oops. I think I created the event a little over a week before the scheduled date, which gave me approximately 7 days to not only plan a Christmas party but also to actually execute my plans. Cue a week of intense cleaning, decorating, shopping, cooking, and more cleaning.

Saturday was ridiculous in terms of errands. Brian and I woke up early and made our list of errand goals: Sam's Club, Walmart, Aldi, Petco, A Cleaner World dry cleaners, Starbucks, and Wells Fargo. Our first errand was to pick up our dry cleaning at A Cleaner World in Hickory. I have nothing but good things to say about them! They have great prices, frequent sales (check out their Wild Wednesdays!), and they remember me even though I had only been there twice before. So great! We also stopped at Starbucks, where the barista managed to scramble together the very last Caramel Apple Spice for Brian because it's the only thing he will drink, and they only had enough for one. They had even been telling people they were out all day, but they pulled one together for him. Chase had an appointment for his first ever grooming at Petco Saturday morning, and I can honestly say that the whole experience was incredible. From the moment that we walked in the door, the staff was polite, welcoming, helpful, and an absolute dream to do business with! The groomer was absolutely incredible. She automatically made Chase feel at home and comfortable, and even waved to us as we were walking through the store. Chase received the holiday package bath, a shave and a brush-out, and a nail grinding. He came out smelling like sugar cookies with perfectly shaped nails, more even eyebrows, a lovely little ascot, and clean ears, all for $31. He's a good 50 lbs, and considering the time, effort, shampoo costs, and amount of cleanup it would have cost me to bathe him at home, I will be making grooming at Petco a much more frequent purchase. If your dog needs to be groomed, especially if you live in the Hickory area, go to the Petco on Highway 70/McDonald Parkway in the same shopping center as Olive Garden, Michaels, Rack Room Shoes, and Ross. Everyone there is incredible and I will definitely be taking him again. Chase also got the added bonus of visiting with a few volunteers who knew him when he was up for adoption at the shelter. He got some good social interaction and attention from people, and we are definitely going to be making weekly trips to Petco to help socialize him.

After dropping Chase off to be groomed, Brian and I did our grocery shopping at Aldi, then went to Walmart and Sam's Club for the rest of our Christmas Party needs. Unfortunately, our trip to Walmart had to be repeated because we didn't buy enough tree lights and our stand broke and leaked water everywhere, but everything turned out great. I bought enough cookie dough to feed our entire town, and so all of our neighbors and coworkers will be getting Christmas cookies for the holidays. Sorry to ruin the surprise if you're reading this.

I ended up making about 50 Christmas cookies, included crushed peppermint, red and green sprinkles, red and silver sprinkles, green and silver sprinkles, and sugar cookies filled with different flavors of Hershey kisses. If you like cookies, you should let me know so I can send you some! Chase also learned that when Mommy makes cookies, she does so on parchment paper spread on the coffee table, and that sometimes she leaves sprinkles unattended. This caused a rather big ruckus when Mommy heard a licking sound and came around the corner to find Chase with a red beard from eating sprinkles. Looks like everyone was feeling festive that day.

Even though the planning came down to the wire and included the help of some incredible friends (Kassie & JJ!), we did it! Our house was a winter wonderland, or at least as much of one as it could be in 66 degree weather, complete with various types of cookies, a South Florida-style Christmas tree, mom's famous Mexican dip, homemade hot chocolate, a veggie platter, salsa and guacamole, and good old fashioned lemonade. Some of our wonderful guests brought fudge, cheesecake, chocolate covered pretzel and cookie dough bites, and beer. I'll include some of the recipes at the bottom in case you want to make some of the same foods!

For the record, I would definitely do it again. Having a relaxing afternoon with all of our friends was an absolute blast. Here are some photos that we took to commemorate the occasion! Look for an update when I find my camera card reader and can upload real pictures, instead of the phones that I took with my iPhone.

Chase after his first grooming ever! Petco is incredible and I highly recommend it!

Our lovely South Florida tree :)

What can I say? I like sparkly ornaments!

The red sprinkles thief. 

Recipes

Mom's Famous Mexican Dip

1 round glass pie dish

1 package softened cream cheese

1 can refried beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can diced green chiles (I use mild)

1 cup shredded mixed cheese (I use the Mexican blend in the bag from Aldi)

1 can black olives 

1 grilled and shredded chicken breast

This is probably the easiest recipe ever. Preheat your oven to 350 deg. F. In your glass pie dish, spread the package of cream cheese on the bottom of the dish followed by the can of refried beans, then the chicken, then the tomatoes, and then the chiles and black olives. Top with heaps of shredded cheese and bake for around 20 minutes, or until the cheese becomes bubbly and a bit crispy on the edges. Serve with tortilla chips, veggies, crackers, etc. Enjoy! This dip is always a hit at every party that my mom has, and has become an easy dish that I serve as an appetizer as well. It's also the only Mexican food that Brian's grandpa likes that we know of. Win. 

Stovetop Hot Chocolate

1 large pot

1/2 gallon 1% milk

1 bag of mini chocolate chips

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 small can sweetened condensed milk

This is so easy. Place your pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk and about half of the 1/2 gallon of milk into the pot and whisk together until combined. Slowly add the chocolate chips making sure to stir thoroughly, especially at the bottom so the chocolate doesn't stick and burn. At first, the mixture will look like the chocolate chips are just breaking up and not actually melting, giving the mixture almost a speckled look. This is normal. Add the vanilla extract and keep stirring slowly. Turn the heat down to low, almost as low as it will go. Cover and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes or so and paying close attention to the bottom of the pot. After the mixture looks like a dark chocolate milk, add the cinnamon and cloves. Serve with marshmallows and Bailey's (only if you're 21!). This took me about 15 to make and was a pretty big hit at the party. I just left it covered on the stove with the burner turned off and turned it on occasionally if the mixture would get a bit cool. The spices gave it a nice nutty taste and added a tiny tiny bit of heat as well. 

Mild Chunky Guacamole

This makes enough for about 4 people to munch on

2 avocados
1 tomato
1/2 a sweet onion
Squeeze lemon juice
Minced garlic to taste
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper

This is super easy as well (if you can't tell, I like easy foods). Slice the avocados long ways so that you have two matching sized halves. Very carefully, use the knife to remove the pit. (I do this by taking the blade of my knife and hitting it against the pit, causing it to get stuck. I then turn the knife clockwise and counterclockwise loosening the pit enough for it to come out stuck to the knife. BE VERY CAREFUL. I do not assume responsibility if you cut yourself, and so I have provided a nice YouTube video for you to consult. How to cut an avocado) After removing the pit, use a spoon to scoop out the green goodness that is avocado. Place your avocado in a bowl, and using a fork, mash it until it is about 75% smooth and 25% chunky. On a cutting board, dice the tomato and onion into small pieces, or bigger if you like a chunkier guacamole. Stir in the onion, tomato, garlic, and the juice from about 1/2 of a lemon. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. The lemon, garlic, salt and pepper can be adjusted to your taste preference. I like more garlic and pepper, but it's really up to you. Serve with chips, on sandwiches, with crackers, as a dip for veggies, etc.