Radvent 12/17: Entertaining

I consider the above photo to be epic in its epicness. I mean, we look rough. We look really, really rough. And you know what? The party the night before was one of the best I've ever been to in my 30 years. Truly.

It's interesting that today's topic of journaling is discussing parties. For one, I'll be attending a pretty fantastic NYE party at our good friends' house. I'll be frank with you, any party that is based upon appetizer creativity is right up my alley. We'll be play Rock Band 3, noshing on good eats, and imbibing in our favorite cocktails. I really can't think of a better way to spend my NYE.

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Write out some ideas for a party that you want to host in the next four weeks

Who will you invite?      What will you do?     Where will it be?

What will you serve?       How will you decorate?

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Shannon and I are obviously not hosting our friends' party, but that doesn't mean that we're absolved of all responsibility. Since we don't have to plan everything, I'm going to talk about what I am responsible for. I say "I" in as much of a couple way as I can seeing as Shannon will not participate in the making. He will participate in the eating, though. We (I) are (am) in charge of bringing our appetizer and dessert selections to share with the rest of the gang. We (I) couldn't be more stoked to stretch our (my) appetizer muscles. We (I) have tossed around ideas ranging from the good to the horrible, but here are some of the things that are hanging out in our (my) appetizer brain right now.

• fried macaroni and cheese balls
• spinach and artichoke dip
• homemade roast red pepper hummus
• vegetable tartlettes
• goat cheese and cranberry-stuffed jalapeno poppers

I'm most excited about the idea of stuffing spicy peppers with creamy goat cheese and sweet cranberries. I might try this tomorrow just to see how it all turns out. It could go a few ways.

Let's be honest, though. Any (or all) of these ideas could be created in my kitchen in the next few days. I have very few qualms about spending my vacation time putting around in my kitchen. It's one of the delights of my time off, really. Of course, I know there will be plenty of baking that will happen as well. I have a laundry list of cookies that I still need to make. With that being said, I've already determined which dessert will be accompanying me to the NYE gathering.

RUM CAKE.

I don't need to say anything more than that, do I? This is how I feel about rum cake.

I might also feel this way about running. I was getting ready to run my first 5K when that picture was taken. So, yeah, I feel very thumbs uppy about rum cake and running. Maybe in that order, maybe not.

Either way, I'm taking a rum cake. THUMBS WAY UP!