Holiday Wine Club Recap

Wine Club finished out 2015 in classic fashion, starting with our annual Holiday party, hosted by Erica.

 Her house looked so perfect, I said Lauren looked like a Christmas ad!

In addition to prime rib, green beans and a mashed potato bar, Erica set out this adorable cheese tree...er, tray...and it was so picture-perfect.

She also made and decorated brownies and rice krispie treats, which I seriously couldn't stop shoveling into my gullet. 

With a fire raging on the television, we started our annual Wine Club white elephant. We bring only fabulous gifts we all would want, so this year, the gifts up for grabs included movie tickets, scarves, earrings, ornaments, a card game and more.

Ashleigh takes the first present (which happened to be mine).

Our holiday party always features a line-up of sparkling wines. By some Christmas miracle, none of us were hungover messes the next day!

We met up again at my house on Dec. 30 to have our annual holiday movie PJ party. This year, we watched none other than....

The Holiday!

 Since the characters in the movie switch houses in California and England, I figured we'd have cuisine inspired by the two locations. Bad blogger I am, I completely forgot to document my process at all. That must mean I actually finally know what I'm doing!

I served up a California tex-mex taco ring made with cheddar-topped crescent rolls filled with chicken, pico de gallo, crumbling queso and sour cream, guacamole and salsa on the side. For dessert, I made British-inspired Earl Grey mini bundt cakes, covered in a limoncello glaze and sparkling sugar.

 But, if I do say so myself, the piece de resistance is my popcorn, made in my beloved Whirly Pop stovetop cooker. I made two variations: sea salt honey butter...

...and Rosemary Garlic. I'm proud to say both bowls were literally licked clean.

This marked our sixth year of Wine Club holiday festivities and I can say with certainty, it is the best thing in my adult life.