A Dallas Christmas in pictures

There was a little of this...

And A LOT of this...

Sidenote:

That is my sister's baby.

6th Annual Millspaugh Holiday Party

This was our 6th year in a row to throw a super fun Holiday Party! I usually make all of the hors d'oeuvres and ask everyone to bring something to sip on. It's always so much fun to have all of my favorite people in one place. I have the greatest friends!

Making tea sandwiches with green olives, pecans and cream cheese. Mmm...

It's been a tradition that on the night of the party Chris and I take head shots of each other. It's going to be fun to look back year after year and see how we have changed.

Kristin and Eric brought the cheese plates. Thank you!

Eric made kimchi and used the carved out cabbage as a bowl. It was delicious.

A few photos of some of our dapper friends:

It was such a great evening!

Ice

I pulled this layer of ice off of the pond the other day. I thought it was beautiful how the leaves were captured in this glassy sculpture.

Seed Saving

Remember these from a couple of months ago? They are called Oscar Milkweed and I got them at the Farmers' Market. I really want to grow them in our yard so I let them dry out and saved some of the seeds. They were so fine and fluffy that they ended up floating all over the house. The way that seeds are perfectly designed for floating on the wind is incredible. One of nature's spectacular miracles.

Foodie Club Round 2

Last Thursday was our second Foodie Club dinner party and it was so much fun!

Leah and I were in charge of the wine. She brought Prosecco and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and I randomly chose 3 different Spanish wines. They turned out to be a good match for the meal.

One of the wines was called Pinocchio.

Sean ordered this gorgeous farmstead cheese from The Merc and we were lucky enough that he shared it will all of us. The Rush Creek Reserve is made at Uplands Cheese Company in Wisconsin and is a young, creamy, earthy cheese. We all swooned over this cheese and its story. Thank you Sean for sharing!

Josh and Leah enjoying some wine.

Louis made these gnocchi from scratch!

The gnocchi dish was the first course.

A lovely, simple green salad.

Louis the chef.

Baked golden trout served over a bed of carrots and mushrooms.

Our dinner mate was so distinguished.

Sean made this delicious cake with corn flour, a wash consisting of coffee, Moscato & amaretto; and the cream was a mixture of the wash, crème fraiche, ricotta and sugar. It was a fabulous way to wrap up the meal!

Here's the group: Me, Nick, Josh, Leah, Chris, Sean and Louis (not pictured)

What a fun night!