A Romantic Christmas Eve

I was going to call this "A Very Paisley Christmas" in honor of the Red Caroline Paisley from Pottery Barn that captured my heart a while back.  You can see a little bit of the napkin here in this Valentine's tea post from last February.

But then, I decided to fold the napkins à la fleur-de-lis to show off its gorgeous pattern . . .

The centerpiece from Teleflora.com had pretty red roses in a mercury glass container . . .

 I love the look of mercury glass . . .

But the arrangement seemed a bit too dark to me, so I added some Baby's Breath . . .

 

Suddenly, the romance of it all struck me . . .

It reminds me of a Victorian-era table . . .  Hmm . . . would Mr. Dickens approve . . . ?

Each little box contained Godiva truffles.  Everyone should wake up to truffles on Christmas morning, don't you think . . . ?  The little packages were tied with red ribbon and I added a Christmas ornament, to be hung on the tree later on . . .

We had a toddler in our midst this year, so we dug up the table and chair set that my boys used when they were little, and set up a proper table for this young man . . .

Oliver, my brother's first grandson, and my great-nephew, stole the show, in the same way that he's stolen our hearts.  What a cutie!

Here's the family, as we sat down to say grace.  The menu:  Waldorf Salad on Baby Romaine, Filet of Beef Au Jus, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli . . .

And for dessert a Cookie Tower.  I became a baking fool this Christmas with the help of my son, John, enabler and invaluable assistant.  The phrase "visions of sugar-plums danced in her head" could have been applied to me!

The tower included Cranberry Pistachio cookies, Magic Bars (Chocolate Chips, Butterscotch Chips and Coconut with a gooey center), Double Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookies, Pecan Butter Balls, Almond Cream Cheese Cookies, Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps, Chocolate Chip Cookies, with semi-sweet chocolate drizzles, Almond Raspberry Thumbprints, Potato Chip Cookies, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Blossoms . . .

A closeup of the Almond Raspberry Thumbprints, Potato Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Chocolate Blossoms . . .

The chocolate chip cookies are on the right, because it isn't Christmas around here without your basic CCC, and to the left . . . Pecan Butterballs, recipe from the Silver Palate Cookbook.  Let me tell you, those Butterballs are the essence of winter, they are kissed with HONEY and seem to melt in your mouth . . . fabulous . . .

Here you can see the Chocolate Espresso Snow caps and the Almond Cookies a little better.  These are not the best pictures but I was snapping away as fast as I could before the cookies were devoured . . .

The Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps were a new addition to our cookie repertoire, I found them in Pinterest but they are Martha Stewart's.  The were delicious and so pretty, too!  Here is the link for the recipe. 

My sister-in-law, Kathy, also brought a gorgeous, delicious flan to share!  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  It was a beautiful thing.  It can be tricky to bake a flan to a proper consistency, but hers was perfect!  Oh, if only we could slow events down a little bit so we could capture everything on camera!

And here is the photo that still makes me smile:  My son, John, trying to hold on to a slippery Oliver, and my other son, David, in the background with a half-smile on his face.  He seems to be thinking:  “Better you than me, bro!”  Oh, what a wonderful Christmas Eve!  I hope yours was, too!

I'm joining Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch and Let's Dish! at Cuisine Kathleens!  Please stop by for inspiration!

Tea Bread Tuesday: Sweet Potato Bourbon Bundt Cake

WARNING:  This cake could become highly addictive.  DO NOT bake unless you have a house full of willing tasters!  It's too dangerous to have this much deliciousness just sitting around your kitchen counter! 

Since this was a trial run for Thanksgiving, we savored a portion for dessert, saved a piece for my husband for breakfast, then packed up the rest and took it to work to share with my co-workers, who didn't lose any time in gobbling it up!

 

Sweet potatoes, bourbon and pecans:  Could anything be more southern?  This bundt cake is very moist to begin with, and then, on top of that, you serve it with a delicious bourbon syrup!  I'd never cooked with bourbon before.  Actually, I had never even tried it.  Wow!  This is strong stuff!  Of course, the alcohol is evaporated in the cooking process so you won't get tipsy!

 

 

Look how the cake glistens with the sugar syrup!  The syrup was brushed on after the cake came out of the oven.  And I love how the pecans show up on the surface of the cake, like little promises of what's waiting inside!  This is a Martha Stewart recipe.  Good ol' Martha, she never disappoints me!  Click here for the recipe.

Thumbs up!  I'll be making this again tomorrow night!  Calling all tasters!