It's one of our favorite styles of holiday entertaining -- tantalizing small bites, a glass or two of wine, and plenty of good company and conversation! Sometimes these gatherings are planned; at other times, they occur spontaneously. Either way, they're always fun occasions!

IN THIS ISSUE, we're setting the table with a few elegant, yet easy, appetizers that start the fun, or become the meal themselves. Cheers to the season!

HAPPY DECEMBER!

Is it December already? We hope all of you enjoyed Thanksgiving and spent time with loved ones near or far. Now that the Christmas season is officially in full swing, you'll find many activities taking place both in ACORN FARM and in the VILLAGE OF MILFORD.

TA-DA! OUR NEW WEBSITE

Since we have a wonderful new website, you can always find; the times, dates, and details of everything happening at Acorn Farm. We hope you've taken the opportunity to visit our new site at www.acornfarmmi.com. You'll find all of the classes for the first quarter of 2017, and for the first time ever, you can SIGN UP ONLINE! They're filling up quickly, and we don't want you to miss out on great classes like, 'Hungry in Hungary' (Kathy's personal favorite), or another marvelous class from Brigitte Romero or Paul Beauregard - his last class was just outstanding! Of course, we always have some great ones from Chef Steven Grostick, who we like to call our Resident Chef. We consider ourselves more than a little lucky to have a nationally recognized chef teaching classes at our store. Wow!

When you browse the classes, please take a few minutes to explore the website. We've started a BLOG, where we'll be posting regularly and hoping to hear from you in the comments section. We've have a curated collection of our favorites over on the GATHERED GOODS page, and you'll be able to enjoy our fully searchable recipe collection in FARM LIFE - RECIPES AND RESOURCES. We think you're really going to like it!

Before you click on over, enjoy the rest of the newsletter and all the recipes, and take note of the upcoming events & opportunities, the first two of which are taking place TODAY!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE!

You'll be glad to know that with your help, we raised over $1000 to help out WELLSPRING DETROIT on Give Back Friday. We're so excited about the work they do over at Wellspring that we want to give you a few more hours to place your order for a fresh tree, to be delivered to Milford this afternoon. If you buy a fresh tree every year, please consider purchasing one from Wellspring. This is their main fundraiser of the year. They do so much to elevate the lives of kids in Detroit, working with them to pass along the skills, education and confidence necessary to make a bright future their reality. You can be a part of making that happen! GIVE US A CALL BEFORE 1:00 pm TODAY and we'll place your order. All trees are in the 7-8' range, Fraser Firs are $70 and Scotch Pines are $50.

TONIGHT IS MILFORD'S CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE,

complete with a visit from Santa, carolers, a horse-drawn carriage for hire, and more! Stop in for a sip of cider and see what else is in store.

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! - FREE

Thursday, December 15th, 6-8 pm

Our favorite Chef, Steven Grostick, will be showing us how to make a beautiful appetizer table that looks like a million bucks without spending a million bucks (or a million hours.) He'll feature some easy-to-put-together finger-foods made with some of the products we carry, and show you how to supplement them with favorites from the deli and produce sections of your grocer to make a dazzling spread for your guests. Of course, you'll be tasting it all, and bringing home some recipes. Enjoy a leisurely time in the store, and taste a Christmas cocktail or a sip of wine.

Happy Cooking!

Kathy Magaluk and all of us at Acorn Farm