Mrs. Grinch Enjoyed the Holidays After All

It's no secret that I have been a total Grinch this year -- I bemoaned all the work and my lack of enthusiasm to everybody unfortunate enough to mention Christmas preparations.

I declared to everyone who would listen that this was my last year to host this party.

And then it was party night and guess what? Despite my poor attitude, I really enjoyed the evening!

My nieces said they have been watching Martha and learned that proper etiquette requires they bring a hostess gift, so I was the recipient of this fruity wine wrapped in a very cute cloth wine bag.

Wine was a bit of a theme in my gifts this year. The same niece did this very original wrapping, which was the gift I got in the exchange.

Since I had not done any baking, I decided to make a peppermint swirl cake for the party. It's a white bundt cake with a pretty red swirl in the center. The swirl is flavored with mint extract.

So I got the cake batter made and grabbed the mint extract. I only needed a half of a teaspoon full.
Talk about bad luck! There was exactly one drop of mint extract in the bottle--just one stinkin' drop. I had to do some quick thinking. I found a bottle of orange extract and some orange food color and decided that my red peppermint swirl would be an orange citrus swirl.
And it turned out just fine.

My mother brought an exceptionally delicious cheese ball. I put it on my century-old Austrian ribbon candy -look alike Jester-head plate. Something about this plate really appeals to me, yet I rarely use it. I must remember that it works great for a cheese ball.

I have had this George Briard green vinyl ice bucket for twenty-five years. This is the first year it matches the holiday decor. (I never heard of George Briard until I googled him after finding his signature on the bottom of my ice bucket. I was not surprised to find that he was a designer of the 50' - 60's and his items are now collectible)
Here are a few of the attendees on the treasure hunt. I hide 20 items and when they find them all they get a small gift.

One of the items was a real turkey wishbone. It was right in plain sight, but some people had difficulty finding it. Do you see it?

Did you see that sticker on her back? We played a new game this year. As they came in I taped the name of a character in a Christmas show on their back.

This one was Charlie Brown. They could ask every guest just two questions with yes or no answers to get clues to who they were. Questions like, "Am I a male?" or "Do I have a flesh colored face?" I thought that was a good question. That person happened to be the Grinch and was the first to guess who she was.

My sister, Tammy, knitted (knit?)socks for all of us. Mine are the all blue, 100% wool in the center. I made them all stick their sock-covered foot among the presents so I could get a pic for the blog. I cannot tell you how many feet in the air pics I have seen on other blogs. Not being a person who knits, I never thought you would see one here. Never say never.....


Oh. look Santa brought me an orange tote bag! It has a wonderful zipper across the top--my favorite kind.

Do you also see the fun orange/pink necklaces hanging on the tree above it? Can't wait to wear that one with all the little squares.

So it's been a wonderful Christmas after all.

I have a turkey in the oven. I am having my Mom & Dad over for dinner in three hours. I am cooking the turkey in the convection oven for the first time. Hope it turns out good!

I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas!