Town and Country Mom: Entertaining: Not a Form of Entertainment

The days leading up to Christmas Eve caused my body to be in intense pain. My ankle felt like it was sprained, my back was killing me, and I could barely walk on Christmas Eve because my feet hurt so badly. You would think this was caused by a crazy workout. Don't be silly. This was because I was cleaning like a maniac for days. FYI - staying up to 2 a.m. multiple days while cleaning and baking does a number on your body.

You would think that I'm complaining but despite my body being in pain, I actually enjoyed every second. It was my idea to host Christmas Eve at our house this year and from the moment it was confirmed that we were hosting, my planning hat was on. I'm an entertainer at heart.

I recently came across a quote that is now one of my favorites "If you think it's easy to do something simple, it's not" -Unknown. I find this to be incredibly true from the work I do in career to something like putting together a party. Simply put, it's no easy task to make it come all together.

Before I went on Christmas break, I made 20 loaves (15 pictured) of cranberry orange bread to give out to people in my immediate office as well as some other friends. I don't think I'll need to reference the recipe ever again because I'm pretty confident that it's forever ingrained in my head.

On Christmas Eve Day I made up some cinnamon rolls with a maple icing with the intention to hand them out to everyone as they left our house. Did I remember to give them to anyone? No. I completely forgot. Apparently entertaining also turns you into an idiot. But I did manage to give them out to everyone on Christmas afternoon.

Kathryn and I also made up some iced sugar cookies that she could set out for Santa.

I also forgot to set these out with the other desserts. Nice.

Talking to Sally, the Elf on a Shelf, one last time before she headed back to the North Pole.

The rest of Christmas Eve Day was me running around (but actually staying right on schedule). E. J. was working an off-duty job and was gone a majority of the day, but I somehow managed to complete nearly everything. Nearly.

The Christmas Eve menu was:

Appetizers:
Pigs in a blanket (a must-have for E. J.)
Brushetta (it didn't happen - guests arrived 30 minute early and suddenly my kitchen was crowded and I couldn't prepare it, sadly)
Chutney
Cheese, crackers, and grapes

Dinner:
Lasagna
Green beans
Garlic bread
Scalloped potatoes
Salad
Beef tenderloin (the only picture I got of the meal, below - precooked, obviously)

Dessert:

Fudge

Peanut butter cups

Double chocolate cheesecake

Frosted sugar cookies (as previously mentioned, also forgot to put those out)

I was happy with how everything turned out, especially because I had never made a lasagna, scalloped potatoes or beef tenderloin before. Perhaps Christmas Eve at our house may be a new tradition. If so, I'm all for it, even if it means I'm unable to walk by the end of the night.

The only Christmas Eve picture from that evening. Cool cowgirl.