For Whom the Belle Tolls 12/18/23 For Whom the Belle Tolls 12/18/23

Let’s Christmas Party Like It’s 1979

We all know how much I love Christmas—it’s the most magical time of the year. Unfortunately, it can also be the most hectic, and if I’m not careful, it will rush by me before I get a chance to fully savor the moment. I really love having friends come over during the holidays, to enjoy some quieter moments in our home with our decorations, some good food, and each other’s company. This year, we decided to have a few couples over and get a little creative with a “retro” Christmas theme.

I have gotten tired of serving up—and being served—trendy dishes from Pinterest. I’ve done charcuterie every way possible: on skewers, in individual cups, wreaths, candy canes, trees…at the end of the day, I know what salami tastes like and it’s fine. It’s an adult Lunchable. I cannot get excited any more about Lunchables. I have moved on. We’ve done fashionable and fancy, and frankly, we’re bored of it. Nope, it’s high time for a change.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my mom, Clint, and I had a fabulous time pouring over her Junior Woman’s Club 1984 “Christmas Gems” cookbook. These were best-loved recipes sent in from women all over the state of Georgia (including former first lady Rosalynn Carter) from the days when a hostess really knew how to entertain. Our biggest problem was narrowing down the menu to just a handful of vintage options. I think we came up with some pretty great ones.

Ladies and gentleman, I present our holiday happy hour retro buffet. Yes, there were Fritos paired with hot spinach dip.

I have to say, the shrimp tree was the star of the show. It was everyone’s favorite.

Lobster spread, made in a vintage gelatin mold (and it was surprisingly good).

*Southern Living* calls these “fancy pigs in blankets.” Which is fitting, because we are quite the fancy crowd.

Toffee, bourbon balls, cheese wafers, spiced pecans, and white chocolate covered strawberries I decorated to look like old-fashioned Christmas lights.

Another crowd pleaser: my mom’s infamous whiskey sour punch! Talk about holiday spirits.

I will tell you, I had moments of doubt both when conjuring and when preparing to serve all this retro food and libation. As we made the punch with orange juice concentrate, a bottle of maraschino cherries—and their juice!, some genuine Real Lime, and several quarts of 7-Up soda, I started getting nervous as we live in an age of craft cocktails and agave nectar that currently rules our world. “Can we really serve this to our friends?” I asked, as I poured in the entire fifth of bourbon. “It looks like we’re about to,” Clint pointed out, ever pragmatic soul that he is.

Do you know what happened? They loved it. And drank it in generous amounts, asking for the recipe and swearing it was going to become an annual holiday tradition. I saw pretty quickly that people like food that’s fun (also, food made with lots of mayonnaise and/or cream cheese), and they like to snack on art. Hey, I can do that. You want a dessert that looks like it was made for kids? I’ve got your white chocolate light bulbs right this way.

While we are making a spectacle and having a jolly old time, why stop with the food and drink? Wouldn’t you like a little show to go along with your mayonnaise, er, I mean, hors d‘oeuvres? Like any practical party planner would do, I bought a champagne saber and convinced my hubs to learn how to use it to saber the cork off a bottle of bubbly for our guests. All it took was a little internet research and a couple of practice runs, and we had ourselves a pretty neat parlor trick. I have to say, the women enjoyed it, but the men: the men folk were enthralled. A man using a large blade to slice open a glass bottle…ooh, ahh, show us how you did that, can we hold your knife, show and tell ensued. It was quite a moment.

If he looks extremely pleased with himself, well…he was.

Cheers to great friends, happy holidays, and a fantastic year ahead!

Meanwhile, back inside: it wouldn’t be a Christmas party without two little snowballs in jingle bell collars making the rounds.

And convincing guests to ditch the human interaction to snuggle on the couch.

The greatest gift you can have is friends like these.

Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind.

Prancer, Cupid, and Vixen…we’ll let you decide who’s who….

We truly had the most fun and festive night, spending time together, listening to Christmas music, telling stories, and laughing so, so much. It wouldn’t matter what the theme, because it’s the company that really makes it special, but my heart was full by the end of the night and I was grateful for the chance during such a hectic month for an evening to eat, drink, be merry, and Christmas party like it’s 1979.

And to all a good great night! Merry Christmas!

For Whom the Belle Tolls 12/4/23 For Whom the Belle Tolls 12/4/23

We Still Do (In Vegas, With Elvis)

We celebrated our twenty second wedding anniversary on December 1, but in a way, we had already marked the occasion in a very memorable way months before. When we took our trip to Las Vegas for the Lionel Richie concert back in October, I told Clint I wanted to do the most Las Vegas thing I could think of while we were there: go to a chapel and get married by an Elvis impersonator. And because he is my partner in life, he was fully on board with the idea. Vegas vow renewal, here we come!

I had no idea what to expect but the whole experience turned out to be a lot of fun and much sweeter than I could have predicted. The morning of our ceremony, the Little Chapel of Hearts limousine picked us up at our hotel and drove us down Las Vegas Boulevard to our destination. I picked out my bouquet and we talked through our preferences for the ceremony—song options, whether or not I wanted to walk down the aisle with Clint or alone (I chose to have him walk me down the aisle this time, just to keep me company), and the like. Our Elvis greeted us and chatted with us for several minutes to break the ice, and then it was time for the service.

As we walked down the aisle, Elvis sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Surprisingly, he did a great job with the ceremony and it was very genuine and warm . We did have to laugh when, during our vows, Clint had to promise to always “love me tender” while I, in turn, vowed to never leave him “stranded at the heartbreak hotel.” We exchanged our rings again and Elvis pronounced us husband and wife—what a moment in a marriage!

Outside the Little Chapel of Hearts, right on the Las Vegas strip.

We took our wedding pictures, I turned in my rented bouquet, and we walked out the chapel doors and onto the strip. A group of tourists spotted us and collectively clapped and yelled out their congratulations, which added to the fun and spectacle of our moment. Never one to shy away from attention, we pumped our fists in the air for them and I called out, “We do!”

Our fantastic limo driver offered to take us to the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign for another photo opp, and we enthusiastically accepted his offer. It turns out (and luckily for us) photography is a hobby for him, and he took some great pictures.

We decided to keep our little re-marriage a secret for the time being, so we came home and managed not to tell our families or friends, choosing to surprise everyone with our Christmas card photo this year instead. What happens in Vegas…winds up on your Christmas card!

The only thing that did not seem right was that our other immediate family members—our dogs—were missing from the event, and we couldn’t allow that. So we did what any normal dog owners would do: bought the dogs Elvis jumpsuits, glasses, and a wig, and took their picture for the back of the card. Nothing but a hound dog? I don’t think so.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but this picture? Priceless.

Sure, it was unconventional, and I supposed some may even use the word tacky, but life is too short to be taken seriously. We got lots of joy out of the vow renewal and the Christmas card, and I hope you do, too.