• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
What'sCookin'Chicago?
  • About
  • Recipe Index
    • By Cuisine
    • By Holiday
    • Collections
  • Recipe Videos
  • Vegetarian
  • Winter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
whatscookinchicago-logo

What'sCookin'Chicago?

  • About
  • Recipe Index
    • By Cuisine
    • By Holiday
    • Collections
  • Recipe Videos
  • Vegetarian
  • Winter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Home » Ethnic: Italian » Happy Holidays Dirty Santa!

Happy Holidays Dirty Santa!

December 16, 2007 · WCC Administr@tr · 3 Comments

It’s time to bring cheer and holiday spirit, as well as look forward to a new year of more food, fun and friends in 2008! I am amazed how time flies by and how many friends we have all made within my cooking group. Its also no wonder that food definitely ties all of us together in some way, shape or form…. and food helped us enjoy the year with our many group events.2115564408_2b6f7ba7ba-3420179To celebrate the holidays and our groups success, we hosted holiday party where I’m cooked up a special feast! I left up to our guests to bring their favorite appetizers, drinks/libations and/or desserts to the party;whereas I covered the main entrees and side dishes! Here are some appetizers some guests brought in & enjoyed while I made some finishing touches to the dinner table:2114785103_577b807b90-6800599Thai Chicken Meatballs w/Sweet Chili Sauce
2114784029_57d4d3e78d-2020653Hummus Plate & Pita

2114784123_35046e395c-4306892

To offer something different for holiday eating, I’ve planned an ITALIAN INSPIRED MENU for the event. Here are pics & recipes of what I prepared for our holiday dinner — joanpics468-8908066joanpics466-7193809joanpics469-9492804joanpics467-5320672

Beef osso buco

joanpics462-9266779

Salmon w/lemon & herbs

joanpics463-2581087

Rosemary garlic chicken w/balsamic glaze

joanpics447-6799669

Shrimp oreganata

Italian pork roast

Chicken Florentine


Caprese salad
joanpics440-3391416

Italian green salad
with Red Wine & Sherry Vinagrette Dressing

joanpics438-5526823

Italian Sausage & Pasta Minestrone Soup

joanpics445-9927876

Roasted Asparagus
with & without proscuitto

joanpics441-6159901

Roasted Mixed Vegetables

joanpics446-8804222


Bucati carbonara

joanpics454-3506467

Parmesan Artichoke Orzo

Three cheese vegetable lasagna

joanpics455-7565348

Tri colored tagliatelle Alfredo
with broccoli

joanpics443-6122698

Mushroom risotto

joanpics457-7020222

Here are some of the desserts folks bought in to sweeten things up!

Bouche de Noel
joanpics472-7343353Gingerbread Cake with Vanilla Sauce
joanpics471-3709360Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcakes
joanpics470-8589620Pannetonne Bread Pudding
with Cinnamon Glaze
joanpics477-5518564White Chocolate Chip & Espresso Cookies
joanpics476-9042947Rum Pecan Cheesecake
joanpics474-7943934Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

joanpics473-9622638
For added fun, we did a “White Elephant/Dirty Santa” food/cooking/baking related gift exchange. What’s a White Elephant/Dirty Santa exchange? Well, everyone who attended brought an unlabeled wrapped item they don’t want anymore and leaves with something new. More importantly, no one leaves empty handed (or hungry! ). As for the Dirty Santa, while we exchanged gifts, each person has the option to “steal” a gift that was already opened. It was a lot of fun and full of laughs!2115567010_874f17dce0-50141502115567264_85bc2245f9-8408788
2115567406_fe0440fac4-96858712115567670_b6a18004c8-43436922114786699_1b0cb3796d-84884172115567534_99cbbb7c5e-4619438
2115564616_7c009f140d-53752602115564898_b4e90587ef-5818605
2115564764_073642ec11-74509282115565134_ed2ecc08ae-30046502114785483_6c72726cb5-1829365

Ethnic: Italian, Food Feasts, Holidays, Menus, Party Ideas

Previous Post: « Holiday Cookie Swap 2007
Next Post: Holiday Treat Gifts! »

NEVER MISS A POST

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Carrie says

    December 16, 2007 at 11:54 pm

    I want to move to Chicago to come to your partys, they always look WONDERFUL!

    Reply
  2. Jaime says

    December 18, 2007 at 3:51 am

    you never cease to amaze me joelen! this holiday party looks awesome!

    Reply
  3. Robin says

    December 31, 2007 at 6:11 pm

    Wow, what a spread! My mouth is watering!

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

me
Hi, I'm Joelen! Welcome to What's Cookin, Chicago. My goal is to share my culinary adventures in hopes to inspire you to embrace life in a delicious way.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Footer

whatscookinchicago-logo
Welcome to What’s Cookin, Chicago. Our goal is to share our culinary adventures in hopes to inspire you to embrace life in a delicious way…

NEVER MISS A POST

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

SEARCH THIS SITE

  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Wine & Dine
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · What's Cookin' Chicago