Remembering our December 2013 HOLIDIVA DAY
The December day chosen for our annual Holidiva party was unusually cold & crisp at midday, just the right kind of weather for Christmas decorations and a feast with friends.
But first things first! The hostess may be Mattie, but the house also belongs to Barbie... the little dog was delighted to see her friend Diva Annie at the door.
The dining room with its dramatic red and black table decor was beautiful.
Annie, Karla, Sophia and I arrived close to the time on Mattie's invitation but where were the other three Divas? We weren't worried - they'd show up eventually!
We munched on delicious baked Brie & crackers served by Mattie and sipped wine provided by Karla and Mattie, enjoying being together and feeling the holiday spirit.
A couple of hours after the planned start time, Mindy arrived bearing Poinsettia cocktails and wonderful crab cake appetizers. Not too long after that, Sugar and Buffy showed up - Buffy brought something new - Pennsylvania Eggnog.
Mindy's crab cakes had two sauces, the Brie was delicious and the wine was flowing.
Let's move into the elegant dining room.
Sophia's Spicy Tuscan Soup with sausage and kale was a hit - and it was spicy.
Since we'd had quite a lot of Brie and Crab and Soup - maybe the main courses could wait for awhile? We headed for the long sectional sofa in the living room.
It would be a good idea to play the grab bag stealing game now - look at all those beautiful packages under the tree!
The cold day meant Mattie could make a fire - perfect! We settled back with our eggnog and the gift exchange began.
All the gifts had some kind of garden theme, like these sweet watering can salt and pepper shakers.
Two sets of terracotta pot feet can be both amusing and useful on the patio.
Buffy displays salad servers made to look like small garden spades.
Glinda (that's me) went home with a beautiful ceramic bell - here it is in my garden last summer- a perfect color with blue plumbago.
Buffy found this inspirational, handmade, fired terracotta wall art at a farmers market.
Not pictured are the New Orleans recycled metal art, a beautiful handblown glass vase and a charming glass knobbed wall rack. We were all happy with our fun gifts.
That game took a long time! We were ready to move on to the main courses. Mattie's entrée was very cool - cranberry-stuffed chicken breasts. The sides were great: Annie made mashed potatoes with wilted leeks, Karla brought asparagus with snap peas and Buffy's contribution was Spinach Casserole, Threadgill's style (heavy on the dairy, bacon & maybe ham?).
Sugar's spinach salad featured goat cheese and candied pecans.
What a delicious combination everything made on our plates
This was not a year for experimenting with dessert recipes - I baked the traditional Amaretto bread pudding, doubling the recipe for the Amaretto sauce.
Let's dish it up and celebrate a sweet end to another busy, garden-loving, friend-filled Divas of the Dirt year!
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