DAVID DANGLE’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

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Each holiday season I host a big open house for friends and family. For years it was held in my loft in New York but for the past 4 or 5 years I’ve had it at my place in Pennsylvania. And it has proven to be a perfect setting!!

The calm before the storm

Beautiful night for a party!

Bitsy having some fun with her new selfie stick

Enjoying dinner after the party with family and friends

Ambience in the powder room …

You would think hosting 60-70 people for cocktails would be exhausting but I learned a great lesson about entertaining from Joan: invite interesting people you like, serve great food, and drink and relax! Joan was a consummate hostess and it always felt like she was a guest at her own parties!!

The first thing I take care of (after booking the caterer and the valet parking!) is decorating the tree and the house.

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Gearing up for the big party

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Caterer Eric Yost created the most delicious menu!

My tree this year is an 11 foot Norway spruce. I normally cut down my own tree at a local tree farm but my busy QVC schedule this year didn’t allow it.

Several thousand twinkle lights, over 10 dozen Joan Rivers Russian inspired egg ornaments I’ve collected over the years, hundreds of family ornaments and the tree looks awesome. I especially love decorating the star for the top of the tree. Every year I like to do a little something different! Roscoe helped as best he could!!!

Boxes and boxes of Joan ornaments …

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The other element that always makes a party wonderful is flowers. I love the house filled with them. I like to arrange them myself and fortunately I live a few blocks away from the New York wholesale flower market. I try to go at 6am a few days before my parties and load up the back of my station wagon with gorgeous varieties at a fraction of the normal cost.

NYC Wholesale Flower Market

I prepared my crowd pleasing Prosciutto, gruyere and sage pinwheels. These are so easy to make and the caterer was kind enough to include them on his trays of amazing treats. The original recipe came from Epicurious!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup finely grated Gruyère (about 3 ounces)
4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 puff pastry sheet (from one 17 1/4-ounce package frozen puff pastry sheets), thawed
1 large egg, beaten lightly
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

PREPARATION

In a bowl combine Gruyère and sage. On a lightly floured surface arrange pastry sheet with a short side facing you and cut in half crosswise. Arrange one half of sheet with a long side facing you and brush edge of far side with some egg. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly on top of pastry, avoiding egg-brushed edge, and top with half of Gruyère mixture. Starting with side nearest you, roll pastry jelly-roll fashion into a log and wrap in wax paper. Make another log in same manner. Chill pastry logs, seam sides down, until firm, at least 3 hours, and up to 3 days.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 large baking sheets.
Cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pinwheels and arrange, cut sides down, 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake pinwheels in batches in middle of oven until golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer pinwheels to a rack and cool slightly. Serve pinwheels warm.