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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of
The Year for the Dining Divas
By Lisa Kampeter
The holidays are always such a busy time of the year. Decorations, shopping, Christmas parties. And not to mention, most of us have to work in between all the decorating, shopping, and partying. But I wouldn’t change it a bit. Every year, I look forward to the Dining Divas Christmas at my house. The time when I officially kick off the holiday season.
Because we schedule this Divas outing the first Wednesday of the month, just like most all of our other Divas outings, that means I have to be Christmas – ready right after Thanksgiving. And because I choose to respect the turkey, I don’t do any decorating before Thanksgiving.
This year, living in a new home with my Husband Diva didn’t change a thing. The only thing different was both of us readying the house rather than both of us readying two houses. What fun it’s been! We both love the holidays so much it was worth taking the post-Thanksgiving holiday weekend to work non-stop.
The Divas Christmas dinner was different this year because we decided to make it breakfast for dinner. The Excited Diva immediately volunteered to create Candied Bacon. Yum! Many Puzzled Divas questioned how they had never had that before. From her expression as she explained the process for making it, I can understand perhaps why our moms never made it for us as kids. It’s not a difficult process, but to make an amount to feed a household, it takes some time.
Because fruit is always good for breakfast, the Considerate Diva offered to bring a fruit salad. With a wonderful combination of the freshest fruits available, the Sheltered Diva was shocked to learn that when eating pomegranate, you actually only eat the seeds. She’d never had them before, and once she learned the process you go through to actually get the seeds, she wasn’t sure if she’d have them again, unless, of course, someone did all the work. She wasn’t surprised that she loved them because she loves pomegranate martinis!
The Considerate Divas also brought her signature homemade bread, poppy seed bread. She brought enough for our breakfast dinner and individual loaves for all of us to take home. The Selfish Diva said it was so good she would be hiding hers from her husband.
We had two different breakfast casseroles, one with more vegetables and other ingredients, and another basic one with just eggs, sausage, cheese, and bread. Unfortunately, it was slim pickings for the Picky Diva. A bowl of Lucky Charms probably would have made her happy.
The Compassionate Diva volunteered to bring a poem to share with the group. Every year we do this, and the poem is to represent the year, the night, or even just to motivate us. When she picked out this one, she knew what effect it would have on us as individuals as it was about life and those things we should do like inspire someone, laugh often, and be gracious. As we discussed our own struggles and challenges after she read it aloud, it had even greater meaning. This was the same day that the San Bernardino mass shootings happened. It was also the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings. Make life beautiful, the poem said. You just never know.
As usual, each Diva brought toys for Toys for Tots. It’s so much fun to see what everyone picked out. The Loves-A-Man-In-A-Uniform Diva always favors the firetruck with sound. Candyland and Monopoly are always popular as is Play-doh. The Italian Diva’s toys were unfortunately stuck in the trunk of her car which was stuck at the dealership being repaired. The weekend prior both she and the Teacher Diva hit the same median on St. Charles Rock Road near Target and both blew out their tires. In less than an hour, four cars had done the same thing. And from the sounds of it, it had happened to other cars the night before too.
We continued with the new tradition of each bringing a batch or two of cookies to share. PMS cookies resonated with this group. Trying to take the guilt out of eating cookies, the Justifying Diva made Dark Chocolate and Mint Chip Clouds. Since they’re made with egg whites, they can’t be bad for you. The Cultured Diva brought Rainbow Cookies, only her rainbow contained the colors of the Italian flag. The Sassy Diva made Christmas mints. I’m not convinced that she didn’t just buy them.
Nothing shows the holiday spirit quite like Rob Your Neighbor. It’s always so much fun to see what these ladies come up with. The best gift this year was the gift the Daughter –In-Law Diva is re-gifting to her Mother-In-Law. It’s definitely not her style but definitely her mother-in-law’s! What a great way to spend the night! Hanging out with the Divas and getting her Christmas shopping done at the same time.
With the breakfast staples of mimosas and wine, we all raised our glasses to 2015 and cheered to another great year of dining with the Divas. Bring on the new year
