The Perfect Holiday "Party"

I had an idea. 

I'm sure that your holidays are as busy as mine are. You know with all the fabulous parties, dancing the night away, designer dresses and the last minute trips to Europe for that hard to fins gift. Wait... maybe that's not quite right... 

Let's try this: days of screaming over sugared children, work Christmas parties, stealing precious moments for shopping alone and trying to hide presents in crazy places to keep them from prying small eyes (husbands included).

So here's what I thought- I send out holiday cards, so do my friends.  So I invited a few of my friends over one evening before life got mad crazy. They came over and we can drank wine, ate snacks, and addressed envelopes together. 

It was genius. We all felt like we checked something off our endless holiday To-Do, but this way we got to see each other and have real conversations, not just do a fly by holiday kiss-kiss. 

Best. Idea. Ever. 

It was such a success we decided that we are doing it every year. 

Now for the food:

I made baked brie wrapped in Puff pastry with apricot jam.

•  Gently roll out one sheet of puff pastry. Place a round of brie in the middle and put 3 Tbs of apricot jam on the top. Fold the pastry over the brie by overlapping corners. Brush with an egg wash and bake at 375 until the puff pastry is golden brown. Yum-o!!

I also made a brand new dessert. I really wanted a chocolate caramel something. So here's what I did. 

• I made a graham cracker crust and pressed it into a mini muffins tin. I baked it for 7 minutes at 375, and let them cool. I then piped chocolate flavored whipped cream into the crusts. Then I drizzled caramel sauce over the top. So. stinking. good. 

Never made caramel sauce? Here's how:

This is from Ina Garten. Love Ina. You can find the food network recipe HERE

Ingredients

·         1 1/2 cups sugar

·         1/3 cup water

·         1 1/4 cups heavy cream

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves about 5-10 mins. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. You can also dip a pastry brush in water and use it to gently scrape down the sides. The mixture is SUPER hot so be careful!! Towards the end do NOT leave your stove, this can go from caramel to burnt nastiness super fast. Turn off the heat.

Stand back to avoid splatter and slowly add the cream and vanilla. The cream will bubble violently and the caramel will become hard. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. The caramel will dissolve and the sauce will smooth out, about 2 minutes. You can let it continue to simmer a bit for a thicker sauce, but once as it cools it thickens. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.