Progressive hors d'oeuvre party
Every year in November my neighborhood has a "progressive hors d'oeuvre party". It was originally planned as a progressive dinner party, but there were too many people so the format was changed to allow everyone to participate.
There are three open houses, with appetizers at the first two have appetizers and desserts at the last one. Everyone who wants to come is told which house to bring something to -- I was assigned to bring an appetizer to Janet and Bob's house (the second house). I dropped it off before the party began, came back home and finished getting ready, and then went over to the first house.
These are mostly not light appetizers -- they're more than hearty enough to be a full dinner. Janet had told me what others were bringing and we decided cheese and crackers would be nice in case some people wanted something to nibble on rather than chowing down.
After an hour at the first house they ring a bell, and we all take our drinks and troop over to the second house and eat some more. After an hour there the bell rings and we walk over to the third house for dessert.
It's really fun because you can see how other people with the same style townhouse decorate theirs. (There are only two styles of house in the subdivision -- a larger model and a slightly smaller model.) These houses are going on 30 years old, so most of them have been substantially updated, especially the kitchens. I always drool over them, because mine hasn't been updated at all. I replaced all the windows about 17 years ago, but that doesn't affect the appearance, and everything else is still the way it was, including the dated dark-brown kitchen cabinets.
I don't see my neighbors that much -- I know them to wave to or stop to chat in the street, but I don't socialize with them. So I enjoy these parties because I can get to know them better.
But I ate too much! It's so easy to do when you can't control portion size because you're just nibbling a piece of mushroom pie here, a stuffed potato skin there, a cocktail meatball, a spanakopita square, another mealball, and so on. There were so many things to try, and for dessert there were two cheesecakes, a gooey trifle, fancy pastries, apple pies, and several other things.
=burp=
There are three open houses, with appetizers at the first two have appetizers and desserts at the last one. Everyone who wants to come is told which house to bring something to -- I was assigned to bring an appetizer to Janet and Bob's house (the second house). I dropped it off before the party began, came back home and finished getting ready, and then went over to the first house.
These are mostly not light appetizers -- they're more than hearty enough to be a full dinner. Janet had told me what others were bringing and we decided cheese and crackers would be nice in case some people wanted something to nibble on rather than chowing down.
After an hour at the first house they ring a bell, and we all take our drinks and troop over to the second house and eat some more. After an hour there the bell rings and we walk over to the third house for dessert.
It's really fun because you can see how other people with the same style townhouse decorate theirs. (There are only two styles of house in the subdivision -- a larger model and a slightly smaller model.) These houses are going on 30 years old, so most of them have been substantially updated, especially the kitchens. I always drool over them, because mine hasn't been updated at all. I replaced all the windows about 17 years ago, but that doesn't affect the appearance, and everything else is still the way it was, including the dated dark-brown kitchen cabinets.
I don't see my neighbors that much -- I know them to wave to or stop to chat in the street, but I don't socialize with them. So I enjoy these parties because I can get to know them better.
But I ate too much! It's so easy to do when you can't control portion size because you're just nibbling a piece of mushroom pie here, a stuffed potato skin there, a cocktail meatball, a spanakopita square, another mealball, and so on. There were so many things to try, and for dessert there were two cheesecakes, a gooey trifle, fancy pastries, apple pies, and several other things.
=burp=