A Christmas Party

[flea]

I am hosting one. On Sunday. Less than 48 hours from now. My level of preparedness: low.

I have made 3 batches of cookie dough. I should start baking tonight; there are lots of cookies to be baked. I need to run by the YMCA to pick up a form to register the kids for the out-of-school days coming up (they take PreK students, Halleluia!). I was going to make latkes for dinner but I think we have no onions. I could make latkes without onions, right? It's not like my (nonexistent) Jewish grandmother would be ashamed of me.

Tomorrow we need to rake some leaves, pick up the tree, set it up, hang some lights, generally prep the house, and grocery shop like mad, at both the Kroger and Trader Joe's. And bake cookies.

Sunday I am going to make lasagna in the morning, for lunch, on the grounds that that will reduce cookie-eating. (Not that lasagna is notably better for you than cookies in the saturated fat department, but I think it wins on sugar.) I need to bake cookies. I need to make frosting.

Aside from cookies, I am not sure what I will be serving. The party is tree trimming and cookie frosting; most of the cookies will be our spice roll-out cookie recipe, with butter-and-powdered sugar frosting. About half of the planned 30 or so guests are children. I also want to have popcorn and whole fresh cranberries available for making garlands. I will have a batch of seriously addictive gingersnaps (the cookies I bring to parties and everyone asks for the recipe).

For drinks, I was thinking good apple cider in the crockpot, cocoa on the stove. Unfortunately I only have one ladle. I think we have about 12 little mugs from Michael's grandmother's dishes (plus our everyday ones) so we don't need to buy paper ones. I was going to put out some Kahlua if an adult wants to add some; I was not going to get wine or beer, I think. It's a Sunday afternoon. Is that chintzy?

I have hummus, so I was going to put out hummus and carrot sticks and pita chips. (Side note: Stacy's pita chips are a seriously addictive food for me.) What other food? I was going to throw myself on the mercy of Trader Joe's. I am not sure what and how much to get.

I have 2 Christmas CDs and we can alternate them in the dining room, where the cookies will be happening, and watch Prep and Landing and The Grinch on the TV in the living room, where the decorating will happen. I have a nice smelling candle (I don't think anyone coming has big scent issues.)

What important thing am I forgetting? Oh, we have to put the table back together - half of it is currently out on the front porch. We can do that tonight, I guess. (My tablecloth will cover for its current lack of finish.)

Okay, I talked myself into a plan.

Comments

[veejane]

Silly rabbit, latkes are made from freezer boxes! (Actually, I bet Trader Joe's carries them if your grocery does not.)

TJs will also provide cheeses if you think you need more than hummus for the adults. And they might have fried/dried green beans, which are a hoot as well as delicious (I mean, aside from the whole fried issue).

I would also go with a cold drink to complement the two hot ones; a half-gallon of cider in the fridge would probably do. Have you got mulling spices?

[flea]

I have a lot of spices (cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, etc.)

Backup plain milk to counteract cookie sugar is a good idea, and backup cool cider.

The idea of a local grocery in Athens GA carrying frozen latkes is very amusing to me. I told you about the lackof lamb legs at Easter! I suppose TJs might have them, but certainly not the regular grocer. (In Atlanta, maybe, but even metropolitan Atlanta only has an estimated 120,000 Jews out of a population of 5.4 million.)

[veejane]

Now see, the problem is how slowly it catches on that latkes are awesome irrespective of origin. Do pierogies have such a market-penetration problem? Surely TJ's carries its abominable taquitos in every branch from here to Higginsville?

(I live for the day that TJ's starts carrying (a) good frozen samosas -- I can get okay ones, that are a little too spicy, at the Indian grocer's on my street -- and (b) thick-dough Chinese dumplings, also frozen, the ones they call "Peking ravioli" on takeout menus.)

[flea]

We also do not have pierogies in Georgia. Or keilbasa, even though it is made of pork and thus a natural! We do have sauerkraut. Taquitos, yes - if they sell it as fast food you can get it here. Also we have lots of actual Mexicans (and Guatemalans, and Salvadoreans, and Peruvians. I wish I liked South American food more, or know more about it.) I have never heard of Peking ravioli - different from potstickers? M hates Chinese so we never get it.

[veejane]

Trying that again!

I think they vary a lot from place to place; sometimes "Peking ravioli" are dumplings in thin wonton material, like gyoza only a slightly different shape, and sometimes the wrap material is really thick, like a stretchy bread, and the whole dumpling is twice the size of gyoza.

The thinner ones are potstickers (though I usually see them square-shaped, not half-moons), but there's this great place in My Town that has the thick ones, which are round and awesome.

I also like Bao: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baozi but can't get it take-out anywhere. I presume the things are too fragile to survive transport, so I get them on dim sum excursions.

[flea]

Well, although potstickers are not really appropriate for my party, I think i will have them for dinner! I have some veggie ones in the freezer. Latkes tomorrow, when I can acquire an onion.

[flea]

Those are potstickers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi - apparently Peking ravioli is a Bostonism), and TJ's has them frozen! My Kroger has those frozen.

[kate_nepveu]

Stacy's pita chips are a seriously addictive food for me.

Us too. It is those, and not potato chips, that have the unadorned status of "chip" to SteelyKid.

[flea]

I am so bad with them; I like them so much that I junk-food-eat them (as opposed to healthy, eat-until-you-are-full eating).