Open the Holiday Feedbag--Part 3

December 8 saw the joy of a company Christmas party. This one was sponsored by the SO's company at the Westin Grand on M St. The event began with some passed appetizers and an open bar. I didn't have any apps, but it looked like the typical finger food (mini quiches, chicken satay, mini crab cakes, etc.). After cocktails, the party went to the dining room for dinner. There was a DJ, soundsystem, and lighting. This particular room in the Westin was pretty solid. It was well appointed and decorated nicely.

Dinner was a buffet and included
--trays of cold cuts and cheese
--cold roasted veggie trays
--beef barley soup
--various salads
--roasted turkey with stuffing
--wasabi glazed salmon
--veal piccata
--mashed potatos
--roasted potatos
--seafood salad

Bar
--Open during dinner (and all night). Choices were beer, wine, and top-shelf mixed drinks.

Dessert
-- buffet of various cakes, pies, and small finger treats. Also coffee service.

Those are the basics. There's a few more items that escape me. All in all, the food was really good. I particularly enjoyed the salmon.

Even better than the food was the prize system. Here's how it went down. Everyone got 1 raffle ticket for showing up. Every employee got 1 ticket for number of years of service. Each table had a sheet of paper with questions about the company and if a table got them right, everyone got more tickets. Our table got 4 more tickets per person. The coup de gras was this little game: Whoever at each table had a birthday closest to the date of the party won an additional 20 tickets! Awwww yeah. October 28 was a winner for this guy! So I got 20 more tickets. The raffles were held each hour and the gifts were pretty solid. The SO and I won 4 prizes! She got an iPod Shuffle and I won a $50 Target gift card and two $25 iTunes cards. Niiiiice.

Overall, a very solid feedbag. I felt like a winner in the Price is Right. But the kind who wins the second Showcase Showdown. Not the crappy first one that usually includes furniture and silverware.