bookin it

you guys, last night i hosted my first-ever book club. talk about nerves. i've been tossing and turning over this for weeks. what to serve? what's the theme? did they like the book? what will they think? le yikes. here's what happened.

menu: fall gathering

pumpkin spice cake with pumpkin cream cheese frosting and caramel drizzle

found here via here and here

verdict: total and complete success. must make again.

caprese salad bites

found here

verdict: a cinch to make and fun to look at

asparagus spirals with prosciutto and herb cream cheese

found here

verdict: another three step wonder with a lot of bang for the buck. delish.

...

squash bowls with olives

found here

verdict: darling presentation and easy peasy minus digging out a butternut squash. there may or may not have been some knife stabbing and spoon breaking. but it looks cute, right?

stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon

found here

verdict: definitely sparked a small kitchen fire with this one [although my fire alarm did not respond. should i be worried?] and will need to scrub my oven for like, two weeks. but, you can't go wrong with bacon. or cheese stuffing.

caramel apple bites

found here

verdict: totally and completely autumn in easy to eat bites [cut on location]

caramel apple martinis

found here

verdict: well, duh. yummo.

hot apple cider [for the preggers lady in the group]

found at miss cordelias 

verdict: good for the preggos

the red tent

discussion: pretty darn juicy with an intelligent perspective. these gals brought up some points that i hadn't even considered. which is the beauty of a book club, right? most said they would recommend it to a friend, so i am satisfied. 

you know i love myself a good party. and love even more when i get to plan it! overall the fun far outweighed the stress and i will be more likely to volunteer myself for such occasions in the future. bibliophiles unite!