The full title of this post should be something like "A Christmas Party: Tiny House Edition" or "How to Host 20 Teenagers in About 200 Square Feet." We threw a party last night for Kate's Adaptation Class at EJM to celebrate the season, as well as the end of their "compos," or term-end exams. It was billed as a chocolate fondue party, but since we were holding it from 6pm-8pm, I figured we needed to provide plenty of more substantial savory food as well. Half of the attendees were boys, and it turns out that adolescent boys eat a lot. We served plates of italian charcuterie---proscuitto, mortadella, and finocchiona---other antipasti---scamorza affumicata, olives, artichoke hearts---a French brebis with rosemary, radishes with butter, bowls of nuts, baskets of sliced baguette, an English cheese tray---Stilton, Lancashire bomb, apricots, and gingersnaps---and tomato soup shots and gougeres. Then we had trays piled high with Belgian waffles, clementines, and bananas to dip into the fondue. Pretty much everything got eaten. I think the kids had a really good time, taking selfies wearing tissue-paper crowns, arguing over playlists, playing "Never have I ever." We had fun, too. It was great to see the kids interacting and enjoying themselves so much.
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| Our Christmas trees, sporting an Eiffel Tower ornament that Hunter and Angela Brooke brought us as a host gift |
We invited parents to join us as well, and quite a few did. We rearranged the guest room, removing the mattress and separating the two halves of the bed platform into two "divans." We brought in an ottoman as a cocktail table, and, voila, an adults' lounge. It was really nice to relax and chat with some of the parents.
I am spoiled by our set-up for entertaining in Newton. We have a lot more space, of course, both in terms of square footage and in terms of number of separate spaces for parties to spill into. Two kitchens (i.e., two ovens, two big sinks, two microwaves, two fridges, two dishwashers, two sets of counters) is a ridiculous luxury, but really comes in handy when throwing a party. And, over the years, I have acquired a lot of platters, trays, ice buckets, wine glasses, champagne flutes, cocktail plates, and so forth. I had to do a lot of making do this time, and I also planned the menu to include very little cooking. All told, though, I think it went well, people enjoyed themselves, and I certainly did, too.
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