Annual Christmas Dinner Party

This is the motley crew that we hang out with-some singles, some families, some loonies but they all have something that we really enjoy about them! :) This is our second annual Christmas Party. Last year we had a white elephant gift exchange and then went down town to the Old Market Passageway to this upscale place called V Mertz. After needing to take out second mortgages for our homes, we decided this year to tone it down this year just a tad :) So, everyone came over for the white elephant exchange before wqe went out to dinner.

Now, we all have very differing ideas of what a white elephant gift exchange really is. Bill and I thought it was bring something random but still something nice. Other people (cough, cough) think that you just dig something out of your garbage can or some good will reject, throw it in a gift bag and bring it! So, needless to say we had a hodge-podge of things........last year I got stuck with some cow boy belts....and our friend James's family had this tradition of always hiding some of the white elephant gifts around the home of the host....so later that night after getting home, we found all sorts of 'treasures' stashed in our shower, in our bed, under our sink and in our washing machine. But the worst one of all was some vile smelling imitation Paris Hilton perfume. Now, I've held onto this bright pink bottle of stink for an entire year so that I could try and give it back to them at our party! And I was pretty proud of myself that I still knew where it was last weekend. :)

After the crap exchange, oh sorry, gift exchange....those of us dressed for the occasion, went out to Biaggis for a really yummy dinner! A slight damper on the evening came about when I went to pull out my ID for my drink, and it wasn't in there! UUUGGHH! How annoying! Anyways, Bill and I started out with a Shrimp and Crab Arancini (A Sicilian classic of Arborio rice, shrimp, tender crab and a blend of spices shaped into balls, lightly breaded and fried for a crispy and creamy combination.) Then we shared these two meals pictured above. The one on the right was a CHILEAN SEA BASS (Fresh fillet of moist and flaky Chilean sea bass brushed with herb-garlic oil and seared on iron. Served with couscous ratatouille, clams, mussels, a garlic seafood broth and a touch of saffron aioli.) SO GOOD! The one on the right was one of the specials, a New York strip topped with onion rings, with garlic green beans and potatoes Au gratin.......YUM.

Dessert is what I was looking forward to the most. My friend Laney and I couldn't make up our minds so we decided to order two and share. I got the fabulous Tiramisu and she got the Chcolate Lover's cake ala mode....D-Lish!

After dinner we ended up at James and Arliss house with a movie and wine. The guys had stopped to grab some cigars and they sat out in the backyard, around the fire pit. It was such an enjoyable evening together and I'm excited to see what we'll end up doing next year!*

Note: The next morning I pulled our silverware drawer open to get a spoon for my yogurt and there it was......the bright pink bottle of imitation Paris Hilton perfume.

I'm warning you James~My sweet revenge is about to rear it's ugly head!