bloody brilliant!

My barrage of Christmas recipes has come to an end, time to let you know what we did for our New Year’s Eve Brunch.

I decided to host the brunch after my friends, Laura and Mary, and I was reminiscing about a fun annual Christmas cocktail party I used to host. I don’t recall why I stopped, but I’m sure it had something to do with feeling too overwhelmed, and then it fell by the wayside in the following years until it was forgotten. By the time I thought about hosting the cocktail party this year, it was too late, so I switched it to the NYE Brunch.

What made the original party unique, was that I would send out recipes to all the potential guests and they would choose a recipe (first come – first serve), make it, and bring it to the party. The concept is great because, as the host, you still have complete control over what is served and how it is set up. And as a pot-luck guest, you don’t have to “think” of what to bring.  And since you get all the recipes for every dish in advance, you don’t have to rely on someone to send you the recipe for that thing you just loved and want to make in the future. Plus, since everyone contributes, everyone feels completely invested and proud of how the party turns out.

For me, the #1 host benefit is that the RSVP’s come in, fast and furious! I sent out the email invitation with all the recipes attached at 3:00 PM on December 12th and everyone who could make it had responded by 6:00 PM the next day!  Here is what my email looked like –

Here’s how it works – Attached is a document with 10 recipes, the first two are no-cook for those of you who prefer it that way 🙂  There are a couple of baked items for you bakers and several main dishes. All can be done (or nearly done) ahead. I’ll have the ovens fired up if you need to finish or reheat something.

So pick a recipe and when you email me back to RSVP – be sure to REPLY ALL so that everyone knows that the dish you have chosen is no longer in the mix. Obviously, the sooner you Reply, the better chance you get to make what you want to make. (this is bloody brilliant – I should market it as a way to get people to RSVP!!!)

If you can’t make it, we’ll miss you, but now you have 10 new recipes to add to your recipe box – my Christmas gift to you. xoxo

As the host, I didn’t plan on making a dish for the buffet. Instead, I set up the drink stations and set out a few sweets, all purchased at Trader Joe’s.  But at the last minute, I remembered I had two layers of carrot cake (my seriously amazing carrot cake!) in the freezer, so I ended up the frosting and decorating that and setting it out with the sweets.

The top photo shows all that was left of it after I sent home “doggie bags” with anyone who couldn’t eat another bite after the scrumptious brunch buffet. (Yes, the color is correct, I purposely made the carrots red instead of orange!)

Tomorrow I will share with you my elaborate Bloody Mary Bar and then throughout the next week – dishes that all my fabulous friends made for the brunch!