Holiday Craft Party

Recently I hosted a holiday craft making evening at my house where a few friends and I shared a warm meal, good conversation, and craft time! This month I am so thrilled to be partnering with EILEEN FISHER on a series of posts around holiday entertaining, staying centered during the hectic season, recipes, and style. Rachel Craven who helped oversee the crafts was inspired by a lovely book called A Greener Christmas
by Sheherazade Goldsmith, which teaches one how to make all natural ornaments for the holidays. I wore a black lace dress provided by EILEEN FISHER which is perfect for any holiday party. The flowers were done beautifully by Kristen Caissie from Moon Canyon Designs who filled a pumpkin with autumn flowers for the centerpiece. I decided on the menu after I paid a visit to my local Farmer’s Market. I chose to make a vegetarian minestrone soup inspired by a recipe from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food,
roasted butternut squash with bacon and toasted pumpkin seeds, roasted potatoes with fresh herbs, salad with pomegranate and manchego cheese. I cooked mulled wine in a pot for several hours so the house had a holiday aroma, and I served vegetables and crackers with a couple home made dips. For desert my mom who was visiting, made an apple galette and we served it with pistachio gelato from Sweet Rose Creamery. For the ornaments I ordered the herbs in bulk from Rose Mountain Herbs and collected some leaves from the garden. The recipes will be posted under nourish this week. Photos by Mel Blanchard.