Take That, Martha Stewart!

Believe it or not, Mr. H and I hosted a small Christmas brunch for our parents today. I was planning my meal weeks in advance, cruising the internet for recipes, and generally figuring out where we were going to find table space for 10 people. I even got a little frisky and designed a menu with our house all lit up (It's a first year attempt--wait til next year with more time and planning: it will be like Clark Griswold crawled up there!). We were a few strands short because I did not seem to read the labels on the extra lights I picked up.

Logistics in place, I attempted two casseroles, some side dishes, ordered Mr. H to man the scrambled egg/pancake/Spam station, and begged Grandma to make Christmas bread and cookies for me. She was happy to comply and so we had a complete meal. Not too bad, either. This morning I had a brief moment of panic, worried whether the gas ovens would actually "gas up" hot enough to cook the monster casseroles. New to gas-powered appliances--and entertaining--I just didn't know what I was getting into. Luckily, our families are very laid back and would have been happy with anything we would have thrown at them.

Everything tastes great when you throw cheese on it

And to really impress everyone, I attempted some edible snowmen out of donut holes and various candies...eat your heart out Food Network!

Isn't he cute?