I can still taste my mother’s delicious appetizers she would make year after year. It all started back when my Nana would hold her famous Christmas Eve parties. This was before I was born. Tables were packed with food, drinks flowed, people laughed and danced to Christmas music all dolled up in their party best! The party wouldn’t stop until the wee hours of the morning. I can picture my grandparents full of happiness and.. well, adult beverages.
Times changed, grandchildren were born and Nana and Bubba’s Christmas Eve parties became mellow, yet just as fun! One of my happiest childhood memories is going to their house on Christmas eve, sitting around the living room, listening to Christmas music, exchanging gifts and simply being together.
When I was young, my mother would throw a Christmas party in early December for extended family we rarely saw, but once they stepped inside, it felt like we had never been apart. As the years passed, the guest list became shorter, life became busy, and eventually the annual extended family Christmas party came to an end. I can still remember the feeling of our warm inviting home dazzled up for the season. It’s one of those magical feelings that will always live inside of you. Karen Carpenter’s voice filled the living room with joy, Christmas scented Yankee candles softly flickered, and the scent of home cooking coming from the kitchen made mouths water.
The kitchen island was packed full of Christmas party food, but the following are my top five favorites:
Do you have any family favorite recipes? Please share! I’d love to know what they are!
Happy cooking!
xoxo