Winter Wonderland Party

Written by and Photographys courtesy of Jim Norton

What could be better than a beautiful birthday dinner for a beautiful friend with a pretty table and delicious food? Not much if you ask me! Recently, I hosted one of these dinners for our sweet friend, Singer/Songwriter Kelly Lang. From my table to the food I wanted everything to be perfect and that included the guest list! Laughter flowed all evening with stories from Kelly’s husband, Country Music Legend TG Sheppard, along with Priscilla Presley, Jack and Leighanne Soden, Pat Kerr Trigrett, Dr. Jonathan Ellichman and his wife Nicole, Dianne Norton, and Robert Walden.  

Guests arrived around 7:00pm and were escorted back to the bar to start the party off with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.  About an hour into the party I asked guests to follow me to the dining room to be seated for dinner! With it being winter and pretty chill here in Tennessee I wanted my table to reflect that. I decided on a Winter Wonderland themed table with tall crystal trees, flocked evergreen, and touches of soft purples to bring in a little color. One of my favorite touches of the evening were the menu cards I made for each guest. Easy to make and definitely beautiful, I purchased the glitter card stock at a local craft store and cut it to the desired size. I printed the menu on a pearlized paper, cut it a tad smaller that the glittered piece and glue it on top. To finish, I attached elegant snowflake stickers to add color and depth. Time consuming? A little. But well worth it as every lady at the table asked if they could take theirs home. 

To start the evening I served a guest favorite, my Filet of Halibut atop Cream Cheese Grits with Country Ham topped with Wild Mushroom Marsala Broth. One of the guests, who has eaten at restaurants around the world, said he had never had a better halibut course. Next, I served a delicious Mixed Greens Salad with Granny Smith Apples, Dried Cranberries, Red Onion, Candied Pecans, and Goat Cheese topped with my homemade Sweet Blush Vinaigrette. For the entree I made Prosciutto and Sage Wrapped Pork Tenderlion with Buttered Shallots, Creamy Mushroom Risotto, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Applewood Smoked Bacon. Needless to say, I don’t like for my guests to go home hungry! 

Dessert was the showstopper for me! For the birthday girl I didn’t want to do anything expected. So, instead of a traditional birthday cake I had a little fun! I made each guest a hollow white chocolate ball, about four inches in diameter, and embellished it with edible flowers I dusted in pink and yellow edible dusting powder. To top them off I used melted white chocolate as glue and attached beautiful dragonflies made of edible wafer paper...the birthday girl loves dragonflies. Hidden under each embellished ball I placed a tower of decadent carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Once a dessert had been placed in front of each guest I circled the table with my hot butterscotch glaze, pouring a liberal amount over each ball causing them to melt and reveal the hidden dessert beneath. 

We finished the evening with a delicious port to accompany the dessert as Kelly opened her birthday gifts. It was the perfect evening and I think everyone had a wonderful time. Especially me as I love nothing more than having guests around my dining table.