So how was the party of the year?

The family party at my house was this Saturday and it was a humdinger! Everyone arrived around 2 and they didn't leave until 10! The house was mostly clean. It was not quite perfect as I still had the cold and was feeling pretty crappy. We had brushetta and bread w/dipping oils for an appetizer. The bruschetta was a loaf of basil bread from a local bakery cut up and toasted on my grill pan. I topped it with fresh bruschetta mix from Trader Joe's. I also topped some with an olive tapenade from Trader Joe's. The bread with dipping oil was a loaf of white bread dough that I rolled into balls and then baked in an angel food cake pan with some herb butter. I used the other bread dough (comes in packs of 3 loaves) to wrap lil' smokies ala pigs in a blanket. Those were for the kids, but they were playing so much that I don't think they ate much.

Dinner was a traditional meat lasagna (I used genoa salami) and a pesto asparagus lasagna. I used Trader Joe's noodles in the meat lasagna (I usually use Creamette noodles) and I did not like them. The pesto asparagus lasagna was fabulous. I used frozen asparagus from Trader Joe's and a jarred pesto. You make a white cheese sauce and stir in the pesto. I used the Creamette noodles and they were great as usual.

We played the Wii, Rock Band, Singstar, and Pictionary. Even my mom and dad got into the Wii! It was really nice.

Sunday was the Packers game. The defense sucked and lost the game (my opinion). I made hot wings which turned out SUPER hot. I broiled them in the oven and then put them in crockpots with 2 different sauces (bottled). Well normally the wings are cooked, tossed with the sauce, and then eaten (at BW-3). The wings sat in the sauce for a couple of hours, which made them almost too hot to eat. Oops!

My Christmas decorations are not all put away yet. I left them up for the family party. It seems the bag I bought to store my tree in, might not actually fit my tree. I also need another box to store ornaments in. I think I could use a whole separate room to store my decorations.

My office's big shin-dig party is this Friday. I bought a dress yesterday (the first dress I tried on, which usually never happens). We are staying at the hotel which is connected to the place where the party will be. It will be fun, especially if this darn cold would go away!