We had a great party last Saturday in our condo building's swanky lounge, and I did something I've never done before with an event: I totally relaxed. No decorations (well, pretty much), no stress about what to make, no last minute runs to the Ballard Market for something forgotten (we did however wander over to the brand new Whole Foods that afternoon, its about a mile from our house, to check it out & of course bought way too much for the party)... it felt great.
What we ended up serving:
Mini pumpkin spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting & I dusted them with nutmeg. I so badly wanted to purchase a mini cheesecake pan, but have been working on using what I have... for now I"ll keep dropping shameless hints for Christmas.
I was really wanting to use my peppered pumpkin jelly for something, so while at Whole Foods picked up a couple baguettes & an amazing fancy type of Brie, thinly sliced the bread & toasted for a few minutes then added a slice of cheese over hot bread to melt a little bit & a dollop of jelly- delicious & quite a hit.
Daniel's favorite new dip (which he insisted on making once he saw the pretty apples that afternoon): a caramel brown sugar dip for apples, which really is just much easier than making caramel apples.
A few boring gluten free/vegan items (WF did disappoint on the attempt of purchasing a vegan/GF dessert): chips & salsa as well as hummus & crackers
Regular Apple Cider (no trip to the liquor store for Brandy) along with Pumpkin/Apple Cider/Good Earth mixed iced tea... and a great mix of wines and beer. Perfect beverages I think.
Guests also brought a tasty array of treats: three cheese artichoke dip with homemade crostini, stuffed mushrooms, a shrimp platter, and more drinks than necessary... our pantry is packed with wonderful wine & beer (a great feeling I might add).
Over all, it was a total success & we had so much fun (not to mention clean up was a breeze because we didn't have it in our home!). Needless to say, I forgot to take pictures.
oh laurie beth, the first thing i did when i saw this post was scan for pictures.... only to remind myself, "laurie never remembers to take pictures, of course there aren't any pictures..." your party sounds like it was wonderful, friend... and isn't it the BEST to have people bring drinks and then to claim the remnants? we have SUCH a good fun collection after the few anthro parties we've held. :)
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