A Dinner Party Before Thanksgiving

Tuesday fun times are here again. It's Tabletop and tea time!
Thanks to all our gracious hosts for all these fun events:

Marty for Tabletop Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

Lady Katherine for Teatime Tuesday at http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/

Martha and Terri for Teacup Tuesday at http://www.marthasfavorites.com/

Wanda Lee for Tuesday Tea for 2 and Wednesday Teatime at http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/

Sandi for Teatime Tuesady at http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/

Wanda Lee and Pam for Tea Things Tuesday at http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/

Last Friday, I had a dinner party for 8. My ex co worker, Gwen from Florida, drove to visit us and I invited our neighbors, Dr. Lauer and Vicky, John's pingpong buddy, Clyde and an anaesthesiologist from out of town, Dr. Engleman, to join us. I always try to limit my sit down dinners to 8 so we can just all gather around the formal dining table. Sometimes if I have kids over, I also set the round kitchen table for them but this night was for adults only.

For my coffee and tea, I used my pewter set, one of my favorites. I like to use pot warmers so I can get the drinks ready in advance and keep them warm.

I set the desserts and drinks on the kitchen table.

I bought a doz. rose buds from the grocery (sad to say they were dry the next day) and added holly berries from our bushes for fillers.

I baked a rum cake, a yucca with coconut dessert and pecan fudge.

I had the food laid out buffet style in individual warmers on the kitchen counter.

But I set the table in the formal dining room with the shrimp cocktail all ready. You must have seen this for Tablescape Thursday, without the food of course. I just added the dragon fly place card holders.

I also added fresh holly berries to my centerpiece, which I cut up from our bushes along the driveway.

And here we were, all ready to eat. After we ate the shrimp cocktail, I took out the Rocksharp cyrstals I got from Bill away and passed Caesar salad around. And after they were done with that, I had the guests get up to get their food from the buffet. I served crawfish stuffed baked chicken (I like serving this because I buy it already stuffed and ready to bake and it is easy to just stick it in the oven to cook), chicken with soup with green papaya and spinach, stir fried veggies with shrimp and beef, baked catfish with the rosemary I picked from the garden.

We all had a great time, socialized in the living room for a while before dinner, ate, got up for dessert afterwards and socialized around the dessert table and then in the family room and then back to the kitchen for seconds, lol.

Thanks so much for stopping by. And thanks again to our lovely hostesses!