Holiday Decor and Small Gathering Ideas

Holiday Cocktail & Hors d’ Oeuvres Party

Though this may not be a sit-down dinner, you can still provide a swoon-worthy table arrangement for your appetizers and your bar or drink area. The vignette should have food separate from the drinks to allow guests to flow freely between the two areas.

For the holidays, choose the style that fits your taste. For close family and friends, you may go with a more traditional look with favorite holiday décor pieces arranged on your table to create a centerpiece. For example, a small, decorated holiday tree with lights surrounded by pine garland that can be woven around the elements of the table. Choose a tablecloth that matches your color scheme and the theme of your soiree with festive appetizer plates and napkins. Your bar or drink table should complement the food table with similar garland accents and ornaments placed throughout. And don’t forget to include plenty of glassware for guests to drink from.

As for the food and drink, begin with a simple appetizer or two such as our Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Sweet Peppers or Whipped Feta with Veggies and Crackers. It’s easy to air fry the stuffed sweet peppers in your Café Couture Oven or your Café wall oven or range oven with No Preheat Air Fry. While guests arrive and snack on hors d’oeuvres, serve a special cocktail they’ll talk about all year. Peruse our Café recipes for easy holiday cocktail recipes that are as gorgeous as they are delicious. We recommend our Bourbon Cider Mule, Gold Rush, or Pomegranate La Boheme cocktail. Serve your drinks in festive holiday goblets or colorful highball glasses to set the mood.

Scaled Down Holiday Dinner

Set your table with layered place settings that provide eye-catching design, texture, and color. Layer dinner plates with salad plates and bowls from other dinnerware sets—they don’t have to all match. For example, using these Christmas Forest dinnerware plates with ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas salad plates, and Provencal Footed bowls in green provides color, festive scenes, and a textural aspect to your placesettings.

To be sure guests can see each other across the table, use several pine branches or a glistening garland with ornaments and ribbon interspersed to run down the center of the table. Be sure to include candles and some scintillating metallic décor (i.e., mercury glass ornaments or candle holders) on the table to reflect the candlelight and create an intimate mood.

As for the dinner, you can create a delicious, full meal for your guests. A few holiday meal ideas from our Café recipes that we recommend are Roasted Cornish Game Hens, Sweet Potato Gratin, Duchess Potatoes, and Roasted Winter Vegetables.

You might have a signature dessert that you always make for the holidays to serve your guests. Or you may create individual holiday desserts that your guests will love. If you’d like to create something new, but simple and exquisite, try our Coffee & Cardamom Crème Brulee. Another idea would be to make several types of cookies to serve with coffee made with your Café Coffee Maker or Café Espresso Machine.

Holiday Dessert Table Décor

Another idea is to show off your baked items with a table just for your desserts. Follow your theme with similar colors and décor, but use cake stands or plates sitting on upside-down bowls to create variation in the elevation of your dishes. Whether you serve a signature dessert option or a variety of treats and cookies, make sure their table looks as enticing as your sweets.

Some of our favorite holiday cookie recipes featured on CaféAppliances.com include Brown Butter Einkorn Cookies, Coconut Lime Snowball Cookies, Smoked Bourbon Sugar Molasses Cookies.

If your guests are too full after dinner to enjoy dessert, you can always box up their holiday dessert or cookies to take home and eat later. This time of year is known for the sharing of holiday baked goods.