christmas nibbles

Our first Christmas party was a success! A fun, little, semi-civilized, low key success, which is kinda how I roll these days. I don't think anyone even spilled anything (I did hear someone calling for a cloth at one point, but I never saw spillage so it doesn't count). I got the instant camera out - the one that captured my fave wedding pics - & managed to catch some of the fun for posterity, but I'll have to bribe someone with a scanner at work to make them digitable for me. Until then, let's look at the food.
The baking started days before. As did the laundry, apparently. These were simple sugar cookies in festive shapes. Some stacked as sandwiches with chocolate hazelnut spread in the middle.

I like that some of them are wonky.


Some half dipped in semisweet chocolate with crushed candy canes.


These were absolutely yummilicious! Definitely my favorites. Super intense double chocolate (a delicate & crumbly chocolate dough with giant chunks of very dark chocolate thrown in just to push them over the edge). I sort of ended up adapting both the smitten kitchen recipe & the food network version. To die for, I think.
Chocolate mini cupcakes with my own frosting, chocolate with chilli & cinnamon.
Dessert station.
These were only some of the sweets! (Almost forgot to mention my chocolate dipped pretzels.) Do you like my homemade cupcake tower? A vintage cake tin, a mug & plate. Classy.
These ones didn't fit onto the sweets table. Crispy, totally bad for you almond florentines, with un-artistic chocolate drizzle. I also drizzled the salt & pepper bowls and the counter in the process. I like the composition here, although obviously the best companion for Guinness would be the chocolate cookies.

It wasn't all gluttonous sweets, mind you. We had this unusual thing - carmelized onion & apple tart.
Plus husband's wonderful mediterranean quiche (sundrieds, olives, spinach & feta), his curry paste marinated chicken breast, chicken fingers, cocktail sausages & Quorn spicy "chicken" nuggets, my favorite. Do you like the Santy table cloth & scary clown paper plates? Neil picked those.

Speaking of cocktail sausages...
Please look at what her feet are doing. Too cute.


Pre-party living room, all nice & clean & full of pup. 
Notice our new tree topper? My dream of an all pint-of-Guinness Christmas tree is happening very slowly...
Homemade felt Guinness pint ornaments.
I've made a grand total of three. Merry Christmas!

friday yumminess

Happy Friday, world.

I forgot that when I first started this makeshift-online-journal-project-thing, I had hoped to start some repeating posts, like Friday Loveliness (or Bowie Fridays), Curry Saturdays or Sausage Mondays. Cause it sounded fun. Yet I haven't really. Oh well, I'm not very consistent.
I am however completely consumed by baking at the moment. And here's why: tomorrow, the husband & I are hosting our first ever soiree as a married couple. What fun! Remember our first Christmas tree? Yep, this is the first Christmas PARTY. And as homesick as it makes me to miss the annual Howley Jowley Christmas Bash back home, I was reminded recently about how things don't stay the same & how that's a good thing. I think of that in reference to the new change to my lifelong routine, the infamous Trading of Holidays, which most married couples have to deal with.
As much as I fear change in general & love the fact that I'm nearly thirty & still wear my flannel lollipop pajamas everytime I go home, I'm no longer 100% sad about staying in Dublin for the holidays. New traditions & all that. (Though I still cry when anything vaguely related to "Home" or "Holidays" features in a sitcom - and god help me if that 80s Hallmark ad comes on!)
Hence, I'm going whole-hog for this Crimble gathering. Our house is tiny & basically a cramped dump hole, but we've gone all festive, threw tons of tinsel around the place & I'm going cookie mad - starting tonight! (well, technically yesterday) I shall report back on the success or failure of the following sound-like-they're-to-die-for recipes:
* melt in your mouth chocolate sable cookies from smitten kitchen
* shout out to the old country Italian festive florentines
* various dunked & non-dunked shapes of sugar cookie
* & my own concoction of pretzels, chocolate for dipping, broken candy canes & whatever nuts I have on hand
*oh & probably peanut butter stuck in somewhere for good measure ;)

There will be plenty of non-cookie food too, of course. Namely, Neilo's famous quiches. Delectable (I hope) photos to come.

Season's Eatings!