A Winter Wonderland - Christmas continued

We were busy at our house this December, this time, hosting my son, John's friends from NIU - Northern Illinois University.  Now that they've all graduated, it gets harder and more complicated for this tight group to see each other, so Christmas break seemed to be the perfect time - the only time actually, in which this group could get together.

I needed to cleanse my tablescaping palate, after all the reds, greens and gold that we used earlier in the month (plus my cream-colored tablecloth was still at the cleaners), so we went with a silver and white color scheme . . . with a teensy bit of red thrown in . . .

It was so exciting to be able to go to my stash and pull out all the elements of this table without having to spend a cent!  I had all these things in my basement from previous Christmases.  What a delight to be able to use them again.

The snowflake napkin rings have been around forever.  I still have the original Marshall Field's box in which they came.  Now that Field's is gone, I can never get rid of the box!

Every guest received a box of Frango Candy Cane mints.  The boxes were so pretty I didn't feel they needed any additional wrapping.  I love the pop of red against all that white and silver.  What do you think? 

The menu:  Crab cake on a bed of arugula, served with lemon wedges and tartar sauce, chicken noodle soup, served with oyster crackers, filet of beef au jus, served with Roman potatoes.  There was no point in serving a green vegetable to this bunch, so I saved myself the trouble.  Dessert was Coconut Flan, Oreo mini-trifles, and a tray of cookies, including Pecan Butterballs, Potato Chip Munchies and Double Chocolate Chip Candy Cane cookies.  Then we served coffee, and, since I'm still on a Venetian high, I served shot glasses with limoncello.

And here's the Motley Crew, including my son David, who showed up at our house unexpectedly on Christmas morning, on a second short leave from the Army, giving us the best present we could have hoped for this holiday season!  I am so grateful to have had all these young adults around!  They are such genuinely nice people . . . and they keep me young!

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  Don't miss the talented tablescapers who join this fabulous party!