Dinner, Done.: Spicy Apple Cider--A crock pot stampin' party

Yes, you heard correctly...my crock pots just can't get enough. They like to "party all the time, party all the time, party all the tiiiiiiiiiiime". (Showing my age with that song quote.)

Last night it was a Stampin' Up! Christmas stamp camp. Years ago I used to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I loved it a lot. Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary is this year. They sent out a special invitation to past demos to see if we wanted to return...I thought "why not???" So here we are. I'm back, and loving it more than ever!

After last night I'm remembering what I adored most about doing SU!, and that is meeting new girlfriends to craft with! Another aspect I love is the creative process of designing and prepping the make-and-take projects, then the reward of seeing ladies relax and enjoy some crafty time together. The more laughing and fun, the better. Women need creative time. We just do. It's part of us. I've never seen anyone not enjoy a stamp party.

And one very important aspect of any great stamp party is treats! I had planned to have the event at our little community clubhouse, but at the last minute I decided to move it to my house instead. It was a lot more cozy and warm, and there's something so sweet about having people in my home. Plus, all my stuff is here, so that helps.

I threw a taco soup into the crock pot for the family so I wouldn't have to worry about dinner, then set up a beverage bar with my keurig for coffee and tea, and put a spicy apple cider into my 4 qt crock.

Spicy Apple Cider

2 2 qt containers of apple cider
mulling spices
oranges (I used mandarins, cuz that's what I had)

Put apple cider into crock and turn crock on low for about 3 hrs. Add in several bags of ground mulling spices--I let it steep about 15 minutes, but probably could've gone longer, or used more spices, it wasn't quite spicy enough for me. Remove spice bags, top with orange slices, turn to "warm" and leave a ladle alongside so people can help themselves. WARNING: it will be HOT for a while! (You might want to leave a little note to warn guests that it's extremely hot.)

I also served store-bought biscotti (not GF, so sadly I didn't get any...) and other people brought snacks too share too. It was that easy.

Today I heated up some of the leftover cider, diluted with water, and steeped a chai tea bag in in for 5 minutes...yum! It adds a nice hit of caffeine that way, from the black tea.

All in all, I'm pretty sure people had fun.

I so luv my crock pots. It was nice to be able to enjoy my own party, knowing that people could just help themselves whenever that want, and that my family had hot soup to eat whenever they wanted to eat it. Nice to let my crocks play hostess while I just had fun.