Friday morning 2 am

Friday was my wine club's Holiday Extravaganza, at my house.  I tried to do as much as possible the days before- cookies baked,

Tart shells baked, caramelized pineapple bread puddings (and their caramel sauce) done,

A bunch of other cooking I got done early, too.  The gateau (chocolate cake), the mushroom stuffing, the citrus curd for the tarts, the sour cream mixture for the smoked salmon things...

Here's a good tip:  Set your table the night before.  Get out all your serving pieces (those scraps of paper on them say what will be on that dish), your utensils ready, etc.  This always takes me longer than it seems like it should.  There's always something I can't find, or something that needs polishing.   I hate being crunched for time so I always get set up the night before if possible.

The kitchen is somewhat cleaned, though still not ready for inspection.....

I'm going to bed.