Christmas Festivities

Family style lineup of the gang

I kinda love giving parties.

Living here in Tarsus, I have been a little light on the party hostess duties.  I mostly host crepe parties on Sunday mornings...  While delicious, there is not a lot of preperation that goes into breakfast crepes.

I decided to host a little Ex-Pat Christmas Party a few weeks ago and show my Turkish friends what sorts of delicious nibbles we Americans (okay, me) like.

I made, with the help of Christy and Stephanie, a paper garland that stretched the length of the stairs and Christy set it off beautifully with tea lights.

This is my cozy little house with stockings, Christmas tree, and little German spinny thing (from the Christmas market in Munich this year).

Here is the living room looking into the kitchen with all of the food.

I made another garland, but this one was ribbon with paper Christmas trees.  They spell out "Merry Christmas" and have glitter sparkle.

The eats included homemade Chex mix, candied nuts from Germany, spinach dip, My MIL's salmon dip (with salmon that I brought back from the states in August-- How's that for planning!?), herbed cheese with dried cherries from Germany, Triscuts (Thanks Matt!), my mom's tarts, chocolate crinkles with peppermint chips, and date pinwheel cookies. 

The star of the show is the green jello salad!  I had to convince people to try it, but then they went back for more.  It looks a bit strange, but it tastes delicious.

There were also some veggies and bread, but they were primarily for getting Ranch dip to your mouth. 

I had a great time.  I even busted out a dress that I had made just for the holiday season.  I love the green and red print on the white background and the black contrast really pops on it.  The only thing I was missing was a sheer half apron like a 1950's wife would wear in an advertizement. 

I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time, and I was so thrilled to share all of my favorite holiday foods with this group.  Next time, I'll have a game to play, but the idea didn't come to me until the next day...