Prince Frederick, MD – The Holiday parties are in full-swing, some having been planned months in advance and many being annual events that attendees look forward to all year long. Whether you’d like to start your own Yuletide tradition or just take a shot throwing your own Christmas time party, here’s a simple game-plan matrix that might help.
The party’s main components are food, music and games.
The BBC Good Food web site provides a list of “Ten ‘feel-good foods’ for Christmas.” They are smoked salmon (heart healthy), turkey (high in protein, low in fat), cranberry sauce, red cabbage, carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts (the BBC Good Food web site has a terrific recipe for glazed sprouts with ‘caramelized’ red onions), mince pies and Christmas puddings.
Perhaps about now you are asking the jackpot Christmas party food question—what about goose? It certainly is an intriguing alternative to turkey. Among Germans, it is the preferred Christmastime fowl. They call it “weihnachtsgans,” which probably sounds better to any party guest whose likely to exclaim, “oh, my Lord, you mean I’m eating goose?” Everyone’s favorite hostess, Martha Stewart, has a marvelous recipe for Christmas goose. “It’s so simple to prepare,” said Stewart. If you purchase a frozen goose, approximately 11 pounds, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before you cook it the next day. Some of the commenters on the Martha Stewart web page say the recommended cooking time of 2 hours is simply not enough. It might take you three to four hours before your goose is cooked.
While all that cooking and the noshing is underway, party music is a must. Even though it’s a Christmas party the playlist should not be exclusively Christmas music. Blend the holiday sounds of Bing, Dean and Ella with other favorites that create a party atmosphere ‘year round. A web site called Time Out has featured an article by writer Brent DiCreszenzo, who shares his list of “a Christmas music list that won’t drive you insane.” His playlist—featuring tunes from Johnny Cash, James Brown, the Ronettes, Keith Richards, T-Rex and other artists you wouldn’t think recorded Yuletide tunes is entitled, “Why can’t the malls play this?”
Christmas party games may be a new angle to the holiday soiree scene. A site called Play.Party.Plan indicates they are catching on in popularity and many are simply knockoffs of traditional games. The site boasts that their list of the “25 Most Entertaining Christmas Party Games” are “guaranteed to make even the lamest Christmas party entertaining.” The names of some of the adult games make them worth further research. The games include: Mommy Kissing Santa, Fill the Stockings, Ornament Roll, Naughty or Nice and Snowball Fight. The e-mag Country Living also has a list of Christmas Party games that are strictly for adults. The list includes: Jingle Bell Toss (described as a beer pong-cornhole hybrid where cups are glued to a board and contestants try to toss bells into them to score), Guess the Ornaments (party guests submit their estimates of the number of ornaments attached to the hosts’ Christmas tree. The closest guess wins a prize at the end of the evening), Christmas Limbo, Name That Christmas Carol, Elf on the Shelf Game for Adults (prize for the “funniest placement”) and the dangerous Jell-O Shot Christmas Tree.
So, as you savor your plate of weihnachtsgans while listening to Keith Richards singing “Run, Run Rudolph” after an exhausting game of Jingle Bell Toss, it is our wish that yours was the best Christmas party ever!
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com