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The holiday season means having friends and family, neighbors and business associates, and even those people whose names you forget right after the invitation goes out, in your home. We at diabetic-lifestyle.com are always looking for easy and yet elegant ways to entertain and here is our suggestion for the season. This year think about having all of those people in for a Holiday Brunch. Most of the food can be made ahead of time and you won't have the expense of roasts or seafood for a large party. If you want to splurge, hire some people to help the day of the party so that you can enjoy your guests. The help should be able to refresh trays, serve drinks, pick up used plates and glasses, and then leave your kitchen clean when they depart. All you have to do is to figure out what to do with leftovers and you're done for the season.
To plan a party, first, get your guest list together and decide on a date. If you've waited this late, you may not have time to send out printed invitations, so get your pen out and fill in the spaces on ones you find in the stationery store. Make sure you mail or deliver the invitations 2-3 weeks before the date as this is a very busy season. The brunch we have planned would be great for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or any time in the middle of the day that you find comfortable. You can decorate the house with your favorite holiday decorations whether for Christmas, Hanukah, or just for the winter season. Flowers displayed around your home will make it look elegant, and pine cones you collect in baskets will bring the outdoors inside. This is the season to bring out those family decorations you inherited from your mother and to show off those family things you have collected over the years for your family. Do look at your serving pieces, dishes and glasses well before the party. You may decide to rent them so that everything matches and you don't have to polish, wash etc. before the party. Less formal? Purchase plastic or paper products. Or, if you're like me, get out the sterling, fine china, white linens and go for it.
If you look at the pictures for this piece you'll see decorations we want to share with you. Before I start, let me say, that I am not an arts and crafts sort of person. Working 70 hours a week never left me time to develop my glue gun technique, so if you see that I can make something, anyone can come up with results better than mine.
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Tomato Tree
You'll need:
Styrofoam globe
base
florists' pins
toothpicks-not painted
parsley
cherry tomatoes
vegetable florets
ribbon for decoration
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Place the Styrofoam globe on its base. You may need some florist's clay to make sure it stays put. Mine stayed because I selected an oriental wooden base made for the sphere I selected.
Cover the form with parsley, using the florist's pins. Use a scissors to snip off any sprigs that stick out. Now comes the fun. Using the picks, make rows of your cherry tomatoes and fill in with the florets. Now you can decorate your vegetable tree any way you like, and the good thing is that once you've got the parsley on, you can change the decorations depending on what you have in the house. Try mushrooms, radishes, yellow cherry tomatoes, olives etc.
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Fruit Tree
You'll need:
Styrofoam tree
candle holder the right size for your form
moss in sheets
florist's pins
picks, different sizes--not colored
fruit of your choice
ribbon or other decorations
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Place the tree form on your base. Mine has a pin which holds the form in place. If yours doesn't, use some florists' clay. Using the pins, cover the form with moss and you're ready to decorate with fruit. Please note that mine has a ribbon on the top. My mother used to say ,"do as I say, not as I do" when it came to doing things exactly as a recipe dictated. I was late for a three mile run and needed to change so I filled in the tree with the ribbon to save time. You can continue with more rows of fruit. I had large grapes and very small apples for those rows. If you don't want to use whole fruit, use cut pineapple, the symbol of "welcome". I have also used kumquats and cranberries as fillers. If you make two of these you can use them as centerpieces and light the table with small candles in cut crystal bowls. I like to surround these trees with holiday decorations, ribbons, crystal fruits etc.
Now you have the table and home decorated, it's time to talk about the food. Our menu is all make-ahead, and will please everyone who comes because it will fit all kinds of diets, even those who say they are not on one. One word to the wise: decide on what you will serve to drink. Hot coffee and tea are always nice, but you may want to offer a sparkling wine to your guests.
(for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)
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