Since moving into our new home and finally settling in, my husband and I were very excited about the idea of hosting. We love hospitality, especially since we both worked in the restaurant service industry for over a decade. Having people over, preparing and cooking food for our guests, and making sure that our house is clean and orderly is something we truly enjoy.

We decided to host my husband’s side of the family for Christmas Eve dinner. He has a very big family on his mom’s side— aunts, uncles, and cousins — with a total of 25 people! To be fair, our house is a pretty decent size, but I think we’ve set our limit at having only up to 25 people inside. I’m just thankful that we have a finished basement. The young adult cousins all went downstairs to hang out, while the older adults stayed on the main floor.

After attending Christmas Mass at a Catholic church — something we do every year — we went home, got ready, and tried to finish up the last things that needed to be done. We lit candles and waited. While waiting, I took some cute pictures of my kiddos, our dining table and our Christmas home decor. .

Finally, everyone arrived, and wow — it was a little overwhelming having so many people in one space. It got pretty humid and warm, so we had to open a window. I should add, the weather around this time in December was unusually warm, about 60 degrees. Since it was potluck-style, we were thankful we didn’t have to cook everything ourselves.

These are the foods we made: chicken salad sandwiches, Italian alpine meatball soup, pigs in a blanket, Poltroon (filipino milk shortbread),crinkle cookies (ube, matcha, and chocolate), and for drinks, we made wassail — which is basically a traditional English warm cider drink with spices. You can add wine or any alcoholic drink to it.

After eating all the delicious food, socializing, and catching up with cousins and family members, we all gathered in our living room. Mind you, we only have two couches, so most people grabbed chairs from the dining room or sat on the floor. Yes, it was very crowded, but it felt so cozy having so many people around, talking and laughing.

Then my mother-in-law started a game called “White Elephant,” but instead of random gifts, she put socks inside cute Christmas gift bags. This game has been going on for over 10 years now. Basically, one person picks a gift from the pile on the floor, and the next person either steals that gift or chooses a new one. This goes on and on, and sometimes it takes almost two hours to finish. But there’s always a lot of teasing and laughter. I usually end up with a cozy pair of socks to wear during the cold winter months.

After the game, people usually head home to prepare for yet another get-together the next day for an early Christmas dinner.

It was such a fun-filled Christmas gathering with my husband’s family. We were even talking about doing this again next year because we truly enjoyed having everyone over and hosting.