Christmas party prep

A very [belated] merry Christmas, folks!  It’s been such a cozy Christmas here in Sicily.  My three siblings and my parents arrived on Saturday morning and we’ve been savoring all our favorite parts of Christmas: family together, holiday music, roaring fires, hot breakfasts, homemade wassail, thoughtful conversations, no schedules, group games, and tables laden with good food.  My sisters have been documenting almost every moment, so there will be many photos to share soon.

I wanted to share some photos from our Christmas party last week.  Unfortunately, we were too busy hosting to think about photos during the party, but we got some shots beforehand.

I spent the day before baking and preparing.  This little cutie and I had fun in the kitchen!

Elliott and I eagerly prepared our house for this event, and I think we gave the impression that we are [almost] settled in!  Elliott had a fire going in our “hobbity” fireplace to keep our guests warm:

The other half of our living room:

I made a Christmas tree cheese plate and added sundried tomatoes from the local market and green olives grown and harvested by our neighbors.  The “star” atop the tree is a mushroom; I used the tip of a knife to press the star shape into it.  This was a huge hit!  After the party, not a scrap of the tree remained.

And many desserts, including the sweetest mandarins from our neighbors’ groves:

I did hours of research on recipes before this party.  Here are links to some tried-and-true goodies:

• Peppermint Bark
• Harvest Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
• Christmas Tree Brownies
• Spicy Gingerbread Men
• Pretzel-Kiss Candies
• Christmas Wassail (set up on a crockpot on the table… also not a drop left at the end of the party)