Holiday Cheer

Tonight I'm off to an informal little Christmas dinner party with "The Girls". We really must come up with a better name for ourselves. It's 5 of us (all 40-somethings with teenage kids). We get together every other Wed night for dinner out. On alternate Wednesdays, 3 of the 4 others have joined the knitting group at church that I started.

Tonight, in celebration of the holidays, we decided to dine in. We're having dinner at one girl's house and we're all bringing dishes. I made a giant cheese ball (because that's what they wanted) and then I made my very special caponata, which takes 3 hrs to make. Needless to say, I don't make it often anymore, but the minute I tasted it today, I remembered why it was worth the trouble. I'm assuming "caponata" is italian... it's got eggplant, onions, black olives, tomatoes and pine nuts, all sauteed separately in olive oil, then together in red wine vinegar and seasonings. I serve it with triangles of toasty pita bread. Yum. I'm making myself hungry! I'm glad I get to leave in 20 minutes. :)

After dinner, we get to exchange gifts. I'm making them open my gift tonight because I can't wait to see their faces when they see what I made for them. I'll take a picture tonight or tomorrow and then post it for the world to see!