{gingerbread spices}
{L&B xmas party 2012}
{GB party 2012 - Circe}
{GB party 2012 - candy canes}
{Daniel's snowman!}
We celebrated a family birthday on Saturday and then immediately went over to one of our oldest (in terms of how long we've been friends, not her age) friend's houses for her annual Christmas party. Her table of appetizers was gorgeous and there was an impromptu music session. Amazing.
The gingerbread house party on Sunday wrung me out and now I feel silly for thinking about posting a high and mighty set of instructions for throwing the perfect party. I'll still post it later, but I'll note that sometimes, despite all your planning, things just happen and it isn't perfect and that's fine.
Either my candy thermometer was off or in my somewhat frantic state I did something truly bizarre because ALL THE WINDOWS FAILED TO SET UP. The recipe I use is basically foolproof, or so I'd been led to believe by several years of perfect windows. I ended up having to stick all the pieces in the freezer in order to get them off the aluminum foil and set up enough that we could glue the houses together. Within 15 minutes all the colored sugar oozed out of the window holes. You know I cried but luckily I'd thought to pack my current favorite bourbon for spiking the apple cider and it helped convince me that we would all survive. We did. No one else really cared or they were too polite to say so.
I think there's a really easy way to avoid this disaster. When the thermometer hits 160 take a spoon and drip a little bit of the sugar syrup on a piece of aluminum foil. It should become hard and glassy almost immediately. If it doesn't, you should cook the syrup longer. I'll be doing this every year from now on.
I have a couple of holiday cocktails to share. I still haven't managed to grab a picture of one of them and while I've considered making one at 8 am when there is actually light in my house I can't quite bring myself to start my day with hard alcohol. And I couldn't just throw it out, obviously. Oh, blogging dilemmas.
Start your Saturday with hard alcohol, it's a little bit more acceptable. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing for doing a gingerbread house party every year! I would love to hear more about it! Once you are all rested up of course!
xo
Ha! I might have to do that! I'll definitely get more GB stuff up, although I wonder if it'll be too late for everyone this year?
DeleteI adore how honest you are. I love throwing parties but the truth is they are sometimes exhausting and stressful. I threw a Hanukkah cocktail party this year. Just as guests were arriving something must have dripped on the bottom of our oven and smoke started billowing out. Lots of fun! Luckily no food was actually burning!
ReplyDeleteOh, Melanie! That's such a bummer! I've had that happen and I hate it, but of course it isn't such a big deal to the guests.
DeleteSeriously, I can't even imagine all the work that goes into a gingerbread party. Sounds like a ton of fun!
ReplyDeleteYour honesty and candor is so refreshing. I laughed out loud at "You know I cried" because it was just so perfect. I like to do a lot of hosting, even though it stresses me out every time, and hearing about your trials and overcoming them gives me hope that my parties will be fine too. And the packing of the bourbon is genius. I've been drinking Bulleit recently, but I would love to hear what your new favorite is.
ReplyDeletenugicalmusings.blogspot.com
I've been drinking Bulleit too!
DeleteI have a tiny bottle of Baby Bourbon that I really love as well, but the Bulleit is available at Costco for a ridiculously good price. Yep, we totally go to Costco and ONLY buy alcohol. It's so much cheaper there!
(you poor babe, you're really getting hit by spambots lately, boo!)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about the windows! But sometimes the things that go critically wrong become stories to laugh about the next year - and that's great. Making meatballs from 40 pounds of meat in a giant plastic tub and taking forever to make (literally) the first year I did Midsommar is still something I giggle about. :)
Also - as far as 8 am drinks go, isn't that what canning jars are for? Looks pretty, lets in light, has a cover? Then it's ready to be enjoyed out of the fridge when you get home!
The spam has been ridiculous the last couple weeks! I'm flagging all the time. So weird.
Deleteyou just helped me figure out why my honey nuts have been turning out gooey and not that perfect crispness lately. i've been doing bigger batches, but not roasting them longer in the oven to compensate. and like your windows, the honey wasn't getting cooked enough. a super easy concept, but you know i'm not the best at science ;)
ReplyDeleteKris, it *might* partly be the weather! Damp weather is so bad for candy making, which is essentially what we're doing anytime we want sugar to harden up. Increasing the cooking time will probably help but don't beat yourself up if they keep coming out a little gooeier than usual until the weather dries out again.
DeleteYour gingerbread party sounds like so much fun in spite of the window situation. I hope you share pictures and instructions. Don't get me started on the lack of natural light in my house this time of year- I NEED more light! I cast my vote for the 8AM cocktail I love your past cocktail recipes and would love to see more.
ReplyDeletethe party looked so lovely, window disaster and all!
ReplyDeleteyour friends' appetizer spread is beautiful (and making my mouth water!)
and i can totally relate to the good light/attempting to take blog photos in the morning before work struggle, especially now that it gets dark at 4 pm here in chicago! so much gets crammed into the weekend, it can get a little crazy especially this time of year! :/
I would love the cocktail recipes, preferably before next Friday, which is when my Christmas party is... :)
ReplyDeleteGood tip on the candymaking, though! Sorry they didn't turn out.
i like all of your posts, but the ones in which you tell us about something going wrong and the very reasonable way in which you manage to regain your footing and keep going are the ones that fill me with popsicle sticks. (and make me feel crafty-structured when my own plans go awry and i need to be straight, straight!)
ReplyDeleteIt's very difficult for type A people to come to terms with party throwing, I think. On the one hand, you can be assured there will always be more than enough food and drinks. On the other hand, we tend to crumple a bit when things go awry. No crumpling!
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