Playgroup Christmas Party

I am a member of a group of girls that for the past 3 years or so, have been getting together each Friday for some "oh, there's my identity" time. We all have children the same age, who have grown up playing with each other. Most of us have known each other pre-children, and so to go from that to post-children, it's been fun to see how each of us handles parenthood. Some of you probably remember my first post about my Friday Playdate group from my 1st blog that has since, been deleted.

We have an annual Christmas party where we invite the spouses, and kids of course and we have dinner, exchange gifts etc.

This year, it's at my house, which is great! I'm really excited! Usually we do this potluck style but this year, I really wanted to freak them out and cook it all myself. But we know how me and cooking...from this post, and also this one.

I'm pretty nervous...all of the sudden. DH's been considering helping out and doing a prime rib roast but if that falls through, I want to do lasagna, a favorite of mine that's tried & succeeded. However, I'm also making a shrimp-type appetizer with chipolte peppers and other funky things. Obviously I've never made this appetizer before. I hope it's good.

There's a spinach salad, and I'm going to make french bread because I actually can make bread. I've mostly conquered that mountain.

Lastly, because of the influence of Kelly, I've been watching The Barefoot Contessa and she made this dessert the other night called Croissant Bread Pudding that looked pretty good! She said it was her #1 most requested dessert. How can I go wrong with that? Even if the whole rest of the dinner sucks belly-button lint, at least I'll send them off with a great dessert!

I don't pretend nor do I want to be a foodie. I'll leave that to those with real talent. But I like to dabble a little, and who doesn't like to wow their friends? If I have just a few "WOW" meals in my recipe box, I can succeed at least on that front. I'll report