I have been a busy bee lately. Busier than normal anyway.

Every year I throw a little Christmas party for the children I watch and their parents. This party includes dinner. So I had to make dinner for 8 parents and 3 kids plus my own family (the other child is a newborn, his mom had his dinner covered). The other family that couldn’t attend is coming to dinner next week. It’s so fun!

The hardest thing about this party is deciding what to feed so many people. During nap time I watch the food network a lot. I love Everyday Italian and earlier this week she solved my dilemma.

Fettuccine Alfredo. I meant to add chicken to it, but totally forgot until I had it out to serve. I completely forgot to even cook any chicken. Oh, well. One meatless meal wont kill us.

Parmesan crusted zucchini and potatoes. This was wonderful. But I need to stop saving new recipes that I’ve never done before for company. I need to time these things a little better. I had to do so many veggies that I had to do them in 6 batches on the stove before broiling them. It took a little longer than planned for. Oh well.

You can’t have an Italian meal without bread. Garlic bread to be specific. And a lot of it. I know these kids.

A snowman spice cake for desert. Of course we were all stuffed after dinner no one had any. Does it look that bad? My girls liked it. They ate his hat.

Dean couldn’t eat at the kids table with everyone else. He tends to steal food from the other kids. I couldn’t believe that he at seconds and then 2 of the dads informed me they had also giving him about 5 more pieces of bread. I guess I need to fix this meal more often for my own family. He loved it!

And now for the PW Cookbook and T-shirt giveaway winner… (let me apologize for how long this giveaway lasted. I got my dates mixed up, I thought it was supposed to end a week ago but I checked the post and it said the 18th. Sorry again!)

And the winner is # 189: Susan “ What an awesome giveaway!!! I wasn’t able to travel to her one California stop, so I would be over the moon with happiness to win this! BIG SIDE NOTE: I adore that you had MM sign on that particular page. I love that picture and would have chosen to have him sign there as well. I think it’s much more tasteful and respectful. Anyway. My favorite food is probably Lebanese food. Or any ethnic food involving hummus and babaganoush. YUM. As for my favorite meal… Eggplant parmigiana. I think it’s almost heaven on a plate.”

Congrats! Just e-mail me your address, Susan.