exchanging gifts

Last night was my friends' annual Holiday Gift Exchange Party. What a party! The apartment was beautifully decorated with red and gold ornaments hung from the ceiling with red curly ribbon, white lights strung up all around the room, and tealights providing soft illumination. The table was overtaken with food--French bread with eggplant dip, pita bread with tomato and basil hummus, beer bread with bacon dip, cheese (Brie, cheddar, jack) and crackers, crudites and potato chips with ranch dressing, tortilla chips with homemade salsa, jalapeno Poppers, mini quiches, spinach and cheese spanakopitas, bacon-wrapped prunes (delicious--who woulda thought?), edamame, and green olives. Libations consisted of plum brandy, Martinelli 2002 Pinot Noir, Babcock 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon (Babcock's first attempt at a cab--yummy!), and imported beers (Heineken & Corona). Dessert was served at the end of the evening--cream puffs, caramel Kiss chocolate cookies, and a fruit tart.

Each year, we play a game to exchange gifts. Everyone brings a wrapped $20 gift. We draw numbers to determine the order. The first person unwraps a gift and then the next person can either choose a gift to unwrap or steal the gift from the person before him. It's better to get a higher number so you can see all the gifts that are unwrapped. The game is ruthless, with friends stealing from friends and roommates stealing from roommates (you live in the same house!). However, a gift can only exchange hands two times. After that, the gift is "dead" and stays with that person. Two of my friends were especially creative with their packaging and wrapped their gift cards in feminine hygiene boxes. One unsuspecting guest unwrapped her gift to find a box of pantyliners. The crowd burst into laughter! Someone snatched the gift card that was inside, forcing her to pick another gift to unwrap--a box of tampons! Some people have all the luck. Inside was another Starbucks gift card, but someone grabbed that one as well. It was the most coveted gift of the evening. Other gifts were a spa set, a sushi plate set, The Bourne Supremacy DVD and popcorn, a video game, and assorted gift cards. I walked away with a dessert fondue set, some Hershey Kisses, and a bag of tealights (all one gift). Yay!!!

Everyone liked their gifts and left with a full belly. At the end of the night, one hostess told me how to make cost-effective trivets at home. She got the tip from Home and Garden Television (HGTV). First you buy some tile from Home Depot (about 30 cents a piece) and then buy a roll of self-adhesive cork. You can find that at Target. Cut the cork to the size of your tile and stick it on. Then voila! you have a place to set your hot dishes/cups/vases.