How to Plan a Christmas in Carolina Party

There’s no better way to kick off the holiday season than with a festive gathering. Over the past few years, we've brought you a few different ideas for Christmas parties: Vintage 1950's Theme and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Theme.

The idea we landed on this year is a "Made in North Carolina" themed Christmas party. You can easily duplicate this idea with the details below if you live in NC or you can tweak the same idea for your own area. Here are the details you'll need to get started:

Christmas in Carolina

Start with an invitation that matches your NC theme. Because people's calendars tend to fill up around the holidays, make sure to send your invitations well in advance of your party date. If you'd like for guests to come dressed a certain way, add that to the invitations. (That will add to the fun of the party!) We chose to all dress in red - the color of North Carolina's state bird, the cardinal. Where can you find NC-themed invitations? Check out Etsy or Amazon for your best options.

Made in NC Christmas Party Menu

You'll have lots of fun planning a menu for this party. We opted to serve foods and drinks that are made in North Carolina, and after a bit of research, we were surprised to find so many items to share at our party table! With just a little research, I bet you can find a lot of menu items that are made in your area too! Some of the items we used as-is, and some of them we used as ingredients to make party foods. If you have guests coming from different areas, ask them to sign up for a food item to build your menu.

Here's the menu we used for our Made in NC Christmas Party:

• Our Pride Pimento Cheese and crackers - Roxboro, NC (The Harris Sisters hometown)
• Hoppers Poppers Popcorn - Roxboro, NC
• Sausage Balls (made with Neese's Sausage) - Greensboro, NC
• The Carolina Nut Co. Peanuts - Henderson, NC
• Texas Pete Salsa and chips - Winston-Salem, NC
• Buffalo Chicken Dip (made with Texas Pete Buffalo Wing Sauce) - Winston-Salem, NC
• Mt. Olive Pickles & Roasted Red Peppers - Mount Olive, NC
• Dewey's Bakery Meyer Lemon Cookies - Winston-Salem, NC
• Mrs. Hanes Moravian Cookies - Clemmons, NC
• Krispy Kreme Doughnuts - Winston-Salem, NC
• Cheerwine Pound Cake - Salisbury, NC
• Cheerwine - Salisbury, NC
• Pepsi - New Bern, NC
• Mimosas (made with Biltmore Estate Champagne) - Asheville, NC
• Muscadine Wine (from Duplin Winery) - Duplin County, NC
• Scuppernong Wine (from Duplin Winery) - Duplin County, NC

How to Decorate for a North Carolina Christmas Party

Since the NC-based food items were the star of this Christmas party, we chose very simple decorations. 

We used The Harris Sisters' old Flexible Flyer sled as the centerpiece for the table to add height. We felt like this was the perfect addition to the table because it, too, has seen many a Carolina Christmas (and would even be considered vintage at this point)!

We used a North Carolina shaped cutting board to display other foods on the table. We served small items (nuts, dips, etc.) in vintage Santa mugs. And we chose paper plates and napkins with cardinals on them.

What Music to Play at My North Carolina Christmas Themed Party

Before your North Carolina themed party, make a playlist that includes Christmas songs that are sung by NC natives, Christmas songs about North Carolina, and Christmas songs about the South. Here's a list to get you started:

Christmas Songs by NC Natives

1. Away in a Manger – Emmylou Harris
2. Chilly Winds Don’t Blow – Nina Simone
3. Christmas Lullaby – Doc Watson
4. Go Tell It on the Mountain – Andy Griffith
5. Grown Up Christmas List – Rissi Palmer
6. Jingle Bells – Earl Scruggs
7. Little Drummer Boy – Tori Amos
8. Mary’s Little Boy Child – John D. Loudermilk
9. O Holy Night – Shirley Caesar
10. Santa Baby – Kellie Pickler
11. Silver Bells – Ronnie Milsap
12. The Christmas Song – Fantasia
13. The First Noel – Scotty McCreery
14. The Strangest Christmas Yet – Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers
15. Winter Wonderland – Randy Travis

Christmas Songs About NC

1. A Carolina Christmas Carol – Charlie Daniels*
2. Carolina Christmas – Squirrel Nut Zippers*
3. Christmas Time – Far Too Jones* (blink and you’ll miss it, but they specifically mention Crabtree Mall, in Raleigh, NC) 

Southern Christmas Songs (these mention various Southern states)

1. Christmas in Dixie - Alabama
2. Merry Christmas, Alabama (Never Far from Home) – Jimmy Buffet
3. Tennessee Christmas – Amy Grant
4. (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays – Randy Travis*

*also NC natives

What Gifts Can I Give at My Carolina Christmas Party?

Daddy was the proud recipient of our special Carolina Christmas present this year, and we thought we'd pass along the idea to you too. It's a GIFT CARD-inal TREE!

Harris Sister Deanna put together this tree with three craft supplies, and it would be easy for you to duplicate. All you need is a small Christmas tree from the craft store (ours had cardinals in it to keep with the NC theme), small clothespins, and gift cards from the recipients favorite haunts. Clip the gift cards to the branches and you've got the perfect personalized gift!

I hope we've inspired you to plan your own party to honor what makes your place in the world special.

The Harris Sisters send you warmest holiday wishes and hopes for a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

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Pecan Pie with Oreo Cookie Crust

This is a fun twist on a Thanksgiving classic. BUT! Because you're elevating the recipe with an all new crust, who says you can't serve it at your next special occasion or upcoming event? 

This is a great recipe to make a day ahead of time and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. (Perfect for any and all get-togethers!)

 

Pecan Pie with Oreo Cookie Crust

1 3/4 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (approximately 20-22 regular Oreos, crushed)

9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided

3 large eggs

3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons dark corn syrup

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups pecan halves

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place Oreos in a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. 
3. Melt 5 tablespoons butter and combine with cookie crumbs. 
4. Press mixture into an ungreased 9 inch pie plate and bake for 8 minutes. 
5. Remove from oven and let cool. 
6. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.
7. Whisk together remaining 4 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in pecan halves.
8. Pour pecan filling into pie crust. 
9. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered.
10. Lightly tent with foil and bake for another 15 minutes. The pie is done when the edges are set and the center is just barely jiggly.
11. Remove pie from oven to a baking rack to cool completely. Refrigerate cooled pie.

Notes

• Make sure to use regular Oreos and not double-stuffed ones. Don't remove the cookie filling before crushing them in the food processor.
• Use the flat bottom of measuring cup sprayed with cooking spray to evenly press the cookie crumbs into the pie plate.
• Cool the pie for at least two hours before slicing.
• If you have your own favorite pie crust recipe, feel free to make it and just use this recipe's filling for a traditional Pecan Pie.
• You can also use steps 1-5 of this recipe to create an Oreo Cookie Pie Crust to pair with your favorite baked pie filling, like Tarheel Pie or Coconut Custard Pie. After baking the crust, fill with filling and bake as directed in the recipe.
• To use this crust with another no-bake pie filling, chill the crust about 30 minutes before filling, then fill/chill as directed in the recipe.

No Roll Press in the Pan Pie Crust

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I LOVE pie, but I will do absolutely anything to avoid making a traditional pie crust.

Why don't you use store bought pie crusts you ask? Well, you'd think that would be the easy solution. And it is probably a go-to for many people. However, if you have food allergies (like I do) or are a vegetarian (like I am), these won't work because so many store-bought pie crusts either contain food allergens or lard.

So, let me share this easy pie crust recipe that you can use for your next pie. You can cater it to whatever food allergies you might have in your family, if needed. (For example, you can use gluten-free flour, soy-free oil, or dairy-free milk.) And the absolute best part? You make this right in the pie pan, so you don't even have to get out your rolling pin!

No Roll Press in the Pan Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 Tablespoons milk

1. Add dry ingredients to 9-inch pie plate and mix to incorporate.
2. Add oil and milk and use a fork to mix together until wet ingredients are incorporated.
3. Press evenly into bottom and sides of plate and flute edges as desired.

Baking Instructions:

1. If pre-baking crust for an unbaked filling, like a cream pie or lemon meringue pie: 
• Prick the bottom of the crust and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. 
• Cool crust before adding filling.
2. If baking the crust along with the pie filling, like with coconut custard pie or Tarheel pie: 
• Preheat the oven to the temperature listed in your pie recipe and pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes in the oven before adding pie filling. 
• Remove the crust from the oven, add pie filling, and cook filled pie at full time listed in recipe.

Here's a photo of what it looks like after the pie crust is baked. It turns out a pretty golden color.

Coconut Custard Pie

Notes

• Pie crust dough should be able to be pressed into the pie pan (up the sides and onto the bottom) and hold its shape.
• If you find that the pie crust dough is too dry when you're finished mixing, add more milk in small increments to achieve the correct consistency.
• If you find that the pie crust dough is too wet when you're finished mixing, sprinkle with more flour to achieve the correct consistency.
• If you omit the sugar, you can use this pie crust for savory dishes, like your favorite quiche recipe.

This recipe is so easy to make, I enlisted the help of my youngest son, Jaxon, to help me make some of them. This is him fluting the edges of one of the crusts. If my teenager can make this recipe, so can you!

I hope you enjoy this new recipe! I've got it queued up for all my Thankgiving pies!