Warming the House

Raine is snoring softly in his crib and Dan is multi-tasking cooking dinner and writing thank you cards to our friends who came to our housewarming party two weeks ago. There is laundry to fold and projects to attend to, as well as so much dust accumulating in those little nooks in each room... But! I would really love to sit and write just now. (Bless Over the Rhine and the double album that arrived by post today, for it moves me to relax and reflect.)

We found a perfect wreath for our front door the morning of the party at the Yamhill Lavendar Festival.

I was a bit caught off guard by how little I felt I had accomplished at decorating or preparing our new home after having lived there two months. A few days before the party, I felt the urge to drastically decorate! But really. There is no time! Putting up fences, hanging art, hanging curtains and painting walls will come eventually. That is the joy I look forward to in living in our home...Making it ours slowly as the days go by. The overall fact is that we are in what I like to call the "two full-time-working partner domestic marathon" and there are diapers to change, work hours to log, a high maintenance dog and cat to attend to, peanut butter to wipe off what seems like every surface, and a million errands to run in between. ;-) I have to thank Char for all the cleaning she did while baby-sitting Raine. And I did my best to make things look presentable: hang some art that had been sitting on the floor, tidy up, and put out some fresh lavender for our guests.

We were thrilled to have quite a few guests despite the fact that we now live a little further west than the rest! Standard commute for folks was 45 minutes, and one couple drove all the way from Sandy, which is at least an hour and a half. One particular guest I will refer to as "the guest of honor" because it was Dan's mom, Char, all the way from Chicago. :) We asked guests to sign our guest book in the entry. While unpacking from the move, I found our wedding guest book from 2004 and the empty pages in the last half seemed to be asking for fresh signatures... We received some cards and gifts, two beautiful orchids, and more than a few beverages to fill our fridge and wine shelf. Everyone was so sweet and generous! I have to say the most clever gift was from Josh and Mary. They brought a crumble pie and the pie plate itself was for us to keep. Great idea! And speaking of a crumble pie...The food was the best part! Another friend, Melissa, also brought a dessert, fruit salsa with baked cinnamon chips, and we savored those leftovers for a few nights after the party! :) The theme of our "spread" we provided for our guests was "Carlton." I really wanted to show off all of the fantastic artisan food and beverage businesses in our little town. We had bread from the bakery, handmade chocolates, specialty jams and sausages, and of course, local beer and wine! ;-) I supplemented some chips, veggies, cheese, and other items from Trader Joe's because I am not perfect and did not have the time to shop various farms or make my own crackers from scratch with local grains, thank you very much. We don't actually have a TJ's near Carlton, so I had to drive to the one in Lake O after work Friday afternoon. It made for an hour drive home, but it was worth it to know we were serving items that were GMO free and generally free of extra additives/preservatives etc.

*Chocolates and bark from Honest Chocolates*

*Pesto and heirloom tomato bruschetta made form baguettes from Carlton Bakery*

*Carlton Farms sausages with dipping mustards*

My favorite part was offering a little jam tasting. I bought some crackers and cookies from T Joe's and the lovely ladies at Republic of Jam gave Char proper pairings for everyone to taste. (My favorite was the tomato & fennel, and not only was it outstanding on its own accord with the pita crackers or pretzel sticks, it was fabulous with the spicy sausage!) See a complete list of jams with pairings and recipes below. Of course, Dan and Char did all of the actual prepping and cooking, while I made sure my overall concept was executed perfectly and presentation was *lovely* down to the last detail ~ cute little note cards to describe each offering. LOL.

*Dan's figs & goat cheese wrapped in Carlton Farms bacon. You wouldn't know it but we also had options for our vegan friends. ;-)*

The Spread (*Vegan):

Figs & goat cheese wrapped in bacon (Carlton Farms)
Assorted quinoa/bean and sweet potato/corn chips with guacamole*
Greek salad bites with feta, tomato, and olives
Assorted chocolates and bark (Honest Chocolates)
Grilled sausages ("Smoked Bratwurst" and "Louisiana Red Hot") and dipping mustards (Carlton Farms)
Pine nut pesto and tomato bruschetta - without cheese (Carlton Bakery)*
Fruit salsa with baked cinnamon chips (Made by Melissa!)*
Assorted hummus and pretzel bites*
Sea salt pita crackers & smoked tomato fennel jam (ROJ)* (No link to that jam...Sold out! Next batch up in 1 week! ;-)
Rosemary raisin crackers & rhubarb rosemary jam (ROJ)*
Ginger cookies & apricot reisling jam (ROJ)* (Jam is currently sold out!)
Coconut cookies & pineapple vanilla clove jam (ROJ)*
Assorted brews from Fire Mountain Brew House*
Assorted wines from Cana's Feast Winery*

And you can see all photos from the party here.