So glad to hear you finally got this resolved and installed! I think I'd like to put in a good word for InnerMost here. When we had a drawer that didn't fit, we made a call to HD the same day. InnerMost's rep was somewhere in S. CA (we're in San Diego) and came the next day to have a look. The new drawer was ordered the same day and delivered in about 3-4 weeks along with a couple of goodies like a scratch repair kit thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, the next time we ordered cabinets (for the bedroom) we used InnerMost. Currently we have bathroom vanities on order. It pays to be positive customer responsive, yes? Besides, I really like the cabinets.

My mother once did the exploding Pyrex thing, with 15 lbs of her special mashed potatoes, made the night before and refrigerated then placed inadvertently on a hot burner. The noise and the flying debris was really incredible, but worse was that my Irish mother was heartbroken at the idea of Thanksgiving without her trademark dish. Some cleanup and a few calls to local restaurants fixed that, and it's one of my favorite holiday memories, especially now that my mother is gone. Kevin, I know that your damage is probably a lot more difficult and expensive to fix, but it sounds like it was a great party, and I hope after all is said and done it may be one of those stories about your lovely home that you can look back on with a smile.

I don't believe that an open bar is part of the plan at all....and it needn't be. But I do think that it adds a festive touch to have something alcoholic. Orchid, only you and your husband know the "politics" of his workplace. I wouldn't pay much heed to the naysayers. A party like this is an excellent way to meet the spouses of the co-workers...sounds like a great idea to me. Some may live in an environment of 'eye rollers' and treacherous office politics. Most of us don't. After we moved into our new home some years ago, we hosted a holiday party for many of the people who work with Robert (including the boss) , plus our new neighbors, and some very close friends. I was a new comer (we were newly married) to the area and wanted very much to meet people AND welcome people into our new home. It was a rousing success and a great opportunity for these people to truly associate with each other outside of work. It was more of a party than an open house. I'm so glad that we invited people outside the workplace......they added some new blood to the mix. Have a fun time! I hope that we get to see pictures of the decorations when you put them up!

I've also made dough ahead of time and refrigerated it for a couple of days without problems, and I've frozen dough for months and still had good results when baking, I often portion out a batch of dough, freeze on a sheet pan and store in a ziplock bag, I can take out a dozen when I want and bake them and just like that, fresh cookies! If you want something different, I make these and I don't know anyone else who does, and they are a lovely pink color for Christmas, although the green maraschino cherries would work too, I'm sure. Instead of making balls and flattening them, I just roll the dough into logs, wrap in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator, slice off cookies as I need/want them. I also just toss it into the food processor until I get a dough, usually it's kind of crumbly and I have to knead it a little to get it to come together. White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped 2 ½ cups all purpose flour ½ cup sugar 1 cup cold butter 12 ounces white chocolate squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped (I just used Ghiradelli white chips) ½ teaspoon almond extract 2 drops red food coloring (optional) 2 teaspoons shortening White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional ) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead until smooth and form into a ball (dough will be crumbly at first, but will come together as you work the dough with your hands). Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on parchment or waxed paper until chocolate is set. Have fun, it sounds like a great time to me! (Edited to clean up all those weird spaces and formatting, ugh) Annie