Christmas with the Sock Sisters
Well, last night was girls night out and we had an absolute blast! Instead of going out to dinner like we usually do every other Wed, we decided to have a big Christmas pot-luck party at Carolyn's house. Her house always looks beautiful, but last night it was spectacular - she had all her Christmas decorations up, the tree was lit, Christmas CDs were playing, and she had candles burning everywhere. It was so beautiful that I almost started crying when I walked through the door. (Yes, I'm a wimp!) She can find a piece of furniture in a dumpster and turn it into something you'd see in a home decorating magazine. It's no wonder that we call her "Martha".
We ate so much of the "finger food", that we barely had room for dinner. We had spinach dip, cream cheese w/pine nuts, carponata (see my previous post... it was excellent, if I may say so myself... and I just did!) And then there was Corlis (the Southern Belle) of the group, who brought her brand new recipe for pepper jelly. It sounds disgusting, but believe me, it was TO DIE FOR!!! She used some weird kind of pepper that I've never heard of. It must be really hot because she said that she ignored the warning to wear rubber gloves while mincing the peppers and her hands were on fire for the next 24 hours! Anyway, the peppers must be yellow or orange, because the jelly was pale yellow, with little tiny specks of orange (the peppers). She served it over cream cheese. To my surprise, it was very sweet. It wasn't "peppery" at all, but it had a surprise little *kick* at the end. I LOVED it! Corlis is so sweet. I told her that my dad is a gardener and that he loves to grow his own fruits and veggies and then can them or make jelly and that he would LOVE this. She asked if I was going to see my Dad on Christmas. I said yes. Then she told me, in her beautiful southern drawl, that since she couldn't spoil her Daddy anymore (he died a few years ago), that she'd help me spoil mine. She promised to give me a jar to take with me when I go to see my Dad. Of course, I almost cried again.
Carolyn had all her fine china out, with more candles and poinsettas on the table. We all took turns praying, thanking God for all of the blessings that He's brought us, for the challenges He's faithfully brought us through, for our families and our health, and especially for our friendship and the ways that He showed His love for us through our love for each other. Then we pigged out some more!
For the main course, Martha (I mean Carolyn) fixed a huge salad with her signature secret recipe salad dressing which is AWESOME - no kidding - she's started selling it! Then she served lasagne which was also great. For dessert, Corlis brought "Cherries in the Snow" which is a dessert that as I child, I swore that my Aunt Mag made up just for me. It seemed as if she made it every time she heard a rumor that I was crossing the VA state line on the way to her house! I don't think I'd had it in 20 years!
After dinner we exchanged gifts. Although we didn't plan it that way, we all made gifts for each other, and each had a special significance to the group. It was pretty awesome.
Here's a picture of 4 of the 5 of us. Carol's taking the picture, so she's not in this one. :( I'm the goofy-looking one in the green sweater. As you can tell, these women, not cameras, are my friends!
Here's a picture of us in our Christmas socks that Corlis gave us last time we ate out. She made everyone promise to wear them, but of course, she was the only one who didn't. She elected to wrap her Christmas scarf around her ankle instead.
And last, here's a picture of my gift to the group. I took this picture outside of my house and it's not very good. I couldn't quite get the lighting right. I'm going to keep trying (the fact that I haven't figure out how to use my new digital camera isn't helping), but at least it'll give you an idea. I know it's corny, but I kinda liked the shadow of the tree that's superimosed on the image. Believe me, it wasn't intentional.
I knit the scarf on #3's, I think. Which is the approximate size of the needles, which I made myself. The writing says "Live. Love. Knit." I made 6 - one for the 4 girls last night, one for my other knitting buddy who I'll see next week, and one for me :). They're all signed and numbered like the real artists do. I really enjoyed making them, and my friends seemed to love them, so that was great.
We ate so much of the "finger food", that we barely had room for dinner. We had spinach dip, cream cheese w/pine nuts, carponata (see my previous post... it was excellent, if I may say so myself... and I just did!) And then there was Corlis (the Southern Belle) of the group, who brought her brand new recipe for pepper jelly. It sounds disgusting, but believe me, it was TO DIE FOR!!! She used some weird kind of pepper that I've never heard of. It must be really hot because she said that she ignored the warning to wear rubber gloves while mincing the peppers and her hands were on fire for the next 24 hours! Anyway, the peppers must be yellow or orange, because the jelly was pale yellow, with little tiny specks of orange (the peppers). She served it over cream cheese. To my surprise, it was very sweet. It wasn't "peppery" at all, but it had a surprise little *kick* at the end. I LOVED it! Corlis is so sweet. I told her that my dad is a gardener and that he loves to grow his own fruits and veggies and then can them or make jelly and that he would LOVE this. She asked if I was going to see my Dad on Christmas. I said yes. Then she told me, in her beautiful southern drawl, that since she couldn't spoil her Daddy anymore (he died a few years ago), that she'd help me spoil mine. She promised to give me a jar to take with me when I go to see my Dad. Of course, I almost cried again.
Carolyn had all her fine china out, with more candles and poinsettas on the table. We all took turns praying, thanking God for all of the blessings that He's brought us, for the challenges He's faithfully brought us through, for our families and our health, and especially for our friendship and the ways that He showed His love for us through our love for each other. Then we pigged out some more!
For the main course, Martha (I mean Carolyn) fixed a huge salad with her signature secret recipe salad dressing which is AWESOME - no kidding - she's started selling it! Then she served lasagne which was also great. For dessert, Corlis brought "Cherries in the Snow" which is a dessert that as I child, I swore that my Aunt Mag made up just for me. It seemed as if she made it every time she heard a rumor that I was crossing the VA state line on the way to her house! I don't think I'd had it in 20 years!
After dinner we exchanged gifts. Although we didn't plan it that way, we all made gifts for each other, and each had a special significance to the group. It was pretty awesome.
Here's a picture of 4 of the 5 of us. Carol's taking the picture, so she's not in this one. :( I'm the goofy-looking one in the green sweater. As you can tell, these women, not cameras, are my friends!
Here's a picture of us in our Christmas socks that Corlis gave us last time we ate out. She made everyone promise to wear them, but of course, she was the only one who didn't. She elected to wrap her Christmas scarf around her ankle instead.
And last, here's a picture of my gift to the group. I took this picture outside of my house and it's not very good. I couldn't quite get the lighting right. I'm going to keep trying (the fact that I haven't figure out how to use my new digital camera isn't helping), but at least it'll give you an idea. I know it's corny, but I kinda liked the shadow of the tree that's superimosed on the image. Believe me, it wasn't intentional.
I knit the scarf on #3's, I think. Which is the approximate size of the needles, which I made myself. The writing says "Live. Love. Knit." I made 6 - one for the 4 girls last night, one for my other knitting buddy who I'll see next week, and one for me :). They're all signed and numbered like the real artists do. I really enjoyed making them, and my friends seemed to love them, so that was great.
posted by Syd at
10:04 PM
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