My best friend Annie and I were mulling (pun intended) putting together a holiday party. Every year I make a plan to have no party as there are a million reasons why it’s just too challenging to entertain during the holidays. However, if you get infected with the Holiday Spirit, it’s really difficult to hold yourself back. If you have the half-baked inclination to host a festive event this year, here’s a few tips at keeping it simple, joyful and fun.

1. Plan a Party with a Friend
There’s so many things to figure out for a holiday party that are trickier than any other time of the year; date, invitees, food, drink, etc. Invite a friend to share in coming up with all the ideas. Annie is one of the most diplomatic people on Orcas Island (most days). Not only do we get to brainstorm on the event together we also get to help each other out with the expense of hosting a party.

2. Send out a Feeler via E-mail to a Few Key People
Have you ever planned a party and then were disappointed when someone key couldn’t make it? We were able to find out within a day what dates (and we don’t mean from the fruitcake) would and wouldn’t work for the friends we felt would be indispensable for the festive event by sending a quick e-mail note to five or so of our favorite folks.

3. Consider a Brunch
There are so many things competing with each other this time of year. It’s impossible to find out when everyone’s office parties, holiday concerts and many, many sides of families are getting together. We were thinking Sunday Brunch and here’s why: Most events are at night, so your event will be a little different, your guests won’t have to drive home in the dark with all those others who may have had a little too much cheer, brunch food is so darn easy to make.

Even if your baking abilities are limited to locating the oven and the doohickey that makes it hotter on the side, you should be able to make these with no problems.

Buck Bay Farm Holiday Scones
or Orange, Cranberry, Walnut & Lavender Scones

1 Package Buck Bay Farm Lavender Scone Mix
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans
3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg white
a little bit of flour & sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour the scone mix package in a large mixing bowl and add the cranberries and walnuts. Mix in the orange juice. Dough will be a little sticky. Place dough on a floured surface (the counter is just fine) and knead 7 - 8 times. Divide the dough into three pieces and pat each into a circular dome. Cut each circle into four equal pieces and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush an egg white on top of all the scones and then sprinkle a bit of sugar on each. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the scones are starting to turn a golden brown color.

You’ll get a dozen beautiful, holiday inspired scones and more time to enjoy your guests!

Happy Holidays

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 1:39 pm and is filed under culinary, lavender, recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.