Open House Festivities

After a couple of months of preparation and planning, our Open House at work turned out really nice and the food table in the boardroom was magnificent. I figured you would be mostly interested in the food, right?? We used a local, well-known caterer, Kathy G, and they really had spread it out nicely. They know how to do it up right! We chose a Tuscan theme for the food and decor and our boardroom table was filled with delightful tidbits. We ordered these 3 floral arrangements from a local floral design place in Homewood, called Dorothy McDaniels, and they did a fabulous job as well. The table was beautiful!
We had a nice variety of food, from paninis, imported cheeses with crackers, marinated olives & artichokes, mini-BLT's, stuffed mushrooms, mini-tenderloin beef sandwiches, Thai chicken tarts, and a nice array of sweets. I didn't get a great shot of all the florals lined up, but they really created a WOW when you walked in the room.

Enlarge all the pics & you can really see the food up close. Are you hungry yet? Yes, it was a good as it looks.
Pita chips & various dips, along with the artichokes & olives. Pasta salad also.
Paninis & tenderloin beef sandwiches.
The other 2 floors in our building participated too, so it was quite the event. The caterer put out food on all 3 floors, as well as beverage stations. This floral arrangement was on one of the other floors & it was very pretty too.
It was quite a spread. Wish you all could have been there too. We had tons of food left and ate on it for 2 days. Very yummy!

Some of you asked me if I ever get tired....oh yeah, I sure do. I'm always in bed by 9:30 or 10 each night & luckily as I've gotten older, I don't require as much sleep as I used to. But, some days I just crash & can't do another thing. Like many of you working girls, I struggle to keep the house clean, do laundry, and cook meals each day. It's a whirlwind. The projects are fun for me though & I'd rather do those than housework any day! I could use a few extra hours in the day some days, couldn't you?

A Caterer's Holiday Open House

At my office, we've been shopping caterers for a big Open House we are doing in October. So we were recently invited to a Holiday Open House by one of the caterers here in Birmingham that we have used several times, Kathy G's & who we are using for our party. They put on a big spread (and you know how I love to eat!) & me & the HR Manager went after work one night to check it out. It was held at a local restaurant & they really did a great job with it. As we walked in the door, this is the Christmas tree arrangement that greeted us. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was beautiful...softly lit wrapped golden packages with an array of faux trees.
There were all sorts of tasty food temptations out for us to sample all we wanted! This was mussels on the shell, with sauteed shrimp in the middle.
This was the dessert table (which is always MY favorite..with my sweet tooth!). They had creme brulee, white chocolate covered strawberries, white chocolate mousse, & tiny red velvet cakes. I ate plenty!
More of the dessert table, those strawberries were fantastic!
Tenderloin & potatoes. This was really yummy too.

Here's an arrangement on one of the tables that we especially loved.
She was serving polenta with sauteed wild mushrooms on the side. Delish!
This was some sort of fish & chips dish...we didn't care for it all that much.
Pink flowers & lots of candles on the display tables.
More tasty tidbits. I think this is more of the fish with potatoes. Another tablescape shot by the polenta table.
One of the tablescapes with a centerpiece.
Gold trees & red apples on another table.
This beautiful centerpiece was all real fruit & flowers & just breathtaking. It was huge too, which you really can't tell from the pic. Probably at least 3 feet tall.
Another display of real fruit. Now, who's ready for Christmas?? I can't quite get into it yet. I love to drag my stuff out around Thanksgiving.

We will be using this caterer for our shindig! I'll definitely show you more pics of that event in late October. Did I mention, I love my job?