Winter Sweets and a Holiday Soirée

  

When my lovely roommates and I decided to throw a little holiday soirée, I was delighted that we chose the first of December as our date. December is one of those months that flies by in a flash -- one minute I am making a list of gifts to purchase for my family, and the next I have a sparkly tiara on my head ringing in the new year. By hosting our party on the first, we now have several weeks to relax and take in all the joys this month has to offer.

With the aid of this recipe I was able to craft some gorgeous (and delicious, even if I do say so myself) speculoos button cookies. I found the metallic-colored decorative pearls and gold sugar sprinkles at a Michael's, for those of you wondering.

 

I would recommend making the dough a few days ahead of time, since it needs to be frozen anyway. These cookies were small, lightly spiced, and surprisingly chewy (not crunchy at all!). In my mind, crackers are crunchy and cookies should be soft...but that's just my personal taste.

Along with the cookies, I whipped together some vegan truffles (yay, vegan!) made of dates, crushed hazelnuts, coconut, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and a touch of espresso.

The recipe I used was based on these Choco-Almond Truffles. I substituted hazelnuts for the almonds and added espresso because...well, because I just dig espresso. After combining all the ingredients, I formed the truffles and rolled them in finely chopped hazelnuts, shaved coconut, and cocoa powder. 

My roommate, Aravinda, the writer and chef extraordinaire behind the delectable Linguini & Colette food blog, cooked up some scrumptious hors d'oeuvres for our gathering. Below, you will see mini caprese salad bites on crostini, flatbread (made of onion and tomato marmalade, capers, artichoke, fennel, and feta cheese on a whole wheat crust), and a fruit and cheese platter.

My other roommate, Liz, blogger of Lace&Dinosaurs whipped up some holiday peppermint bark, made of white chocolate and crushed peppermint candies. WARNING: Peppermint bark is addicting and I am snacking on some right now because I love it so much! 

We topped off our party with some delicious holiday-inspired drinks: mulled wine, champagne with frozen raspberries, and a vanilla rum cola. 

The combination of tasty food and fun drinks would not have been nearly as enjoyable if my fabulous friends had not been here to share it with me. They are truly the best!

Despite all the excitement from our party, my boyfriend Ryan surprised me that same night with a beautiful bouquet of flowers :) I am one lucky lady.