CANDLELIGHT REVISITED

I've written before about how much I love candlelight. I really, really do!!


Another reason that I didn't talk about before is how great it is to entertain with. Light some candles and oil lamps, turn off the lights, and POOF, no dust, no dog hair, no smudges on the windows. Just gentle, quiet, soft beauty.


You can take the time that you would have spent scrubbing the house and go have a nice soak in the tub, cook up some delicious food, or just put your feet up and relax before your company comes.




We had some friends over to help us ring in the New Year. We had a lovely evening. We played my favorite card game, Wizard . We played Rock Band, and bingo. We ate awesome food, toasted with boilo, (a recipe passed down to me by my Poppop for a delicious hot toddy). At midnight we all counted down the last seconds of 2008, toasted with sparkling cider, blew on our noise makers (Boomer REALLY didn't like that part), and then went out onto the freezing cold porch and watched Andrew set off fire crackers (the horses in the barn REALLY didn't like that part).


In the foreground of the following picture, you can see a delicious appetizer that has recently become one of my all time favorites. Someone from my book group made it a couple months ago, and she was kind enough to share the recipe. Thanks Kathleen!

Baked Brie:
Take a round of brie - put it on an oven proof dish - remove the rind from the top and sides - spread raspberry jam on top (I used seedless, all-fruit spread) - sprinkle with chopped pecans - take crescent roll dough and press the seams together - flatten a little and then wrap pieces of it around the brie until it's completely covered. The past 2 times I've made it, I took the scraps of dough pressed them out flat and then cut out a shape with a cookie cutter to put on top. For Christmas, I put a cut out a Christmas tree, and for New Year's, I used a star.
Put it in the oven according to the directions on the crescent roll can. Bake until browned.

This is soooooo good!!


One last thought on candles. They actually do provide warmth. I'm not sure if you'd notice this in a large room, or in a house that has actual heat. In our house though, which can be really, really cold, I can totally feel it. We have a bathroom on our main floor which always has the door closed. Since we don't use any central heat, it is an unheated bathroom.

On New Year's eve I had 4 votive candles burning in there all night. It was truly toasty in there by the end of the night. Now, I'm not suggesting that we all use candles for heat, but it is a nice fringe benefit!


So, for your next get together, plan it for after dark, put away your mop and dust rag, get out your matches, and go take a bubble bath.