Party

A Country Christmas

Long before the official night, this dynamic duo were celebrating the season.

Photography by Mike Schlueter

Even though December 24 actually loomed months away, Bob Newton and Terry Kramer fast-forwarded time and decked their stone house out with finery--for a Christmas Eve dinner for eight. "It's a double celebration," says Newton, owner of the interior design firm Robert Payne Newton & Associates. "We are celebrating Christmas Eve and--not to be sappy but I really mean it--how lucky I am to have this kitchen. And its six-burner Viking stove."

Finished just in the nick of time for the party, the former cabinets, countertops and appliances were all replaced; a butcher-top table was cut up into cutting boards to be used on the new Carrara marble countertops. Joyce Bishop, a kitchen designer at Cutter's Custom Kitchens and Baths and guest chef for the evening, came up with a layout placing all the workspace on the perimeter of the kitchen--just like the kitchens of yesteryear owned by Newton's and Kramer's grandparents, minus (in Newton's case) the Formica table and matching red-and-cream vinyl chairs. After looking at "every metal chandelier known to man," Newton had a black-and-white toile lampshade wired to become the light over a small worktable. Everything--including four full sets of china--has its place and there is a place for everything.

The Newton-Kramer duo needed a solid, working kitchen because they frequently entertain at their house, built in 1916 as a hunting lodge.

They host sit-down dinner parties at least once a month. Then there is the every-other-year Halloween blowout and dinner party and the annual holiday open house, set between Christmas and New Year's. Last spring, Newton set out a farm table on the front porch. Logs still stacked along three sides of the porch were partially cleared and topped and used as a buffet. Three rods were suspended from the house so three candle-burning chandeliers could be hung over the table. In the fall, Newton and Kramer had a progressive dinner--in their garden, woods, yard and house.

For this Christmas Eve feast, the table is ornamented with mercury glass amid a field of stems and greens, compliments of Resito Pecson of Twigs & Moss. A door is framed with Christmas cards. A small tree stands on the kitchen table. Twigs of spruce hang hither and yon. Guests are presented with party gifts of small, mercury glass snowman ornaments. Steve Symsack comes wearing a Santa Claus tie.

"Christmas is the time to do whatever you want. I love to do elaborate table settings but it is still relaxed," Newton says. "Just because the table is all dressed up doesn't mean you have to wear a tuxedo."

The menu for this meal came about after Newton faxed Bishop a copy of a Christmas menu from the Paris Ritz. "I said, 'What do you think?'" Newton says, laughing. "She calls me back, screaming: 'Have you lost your mind?' The courses had courses." --Christy Marshall

The Details

The hosts: Bob Newton and Terry Kramer

The location: Their house in Ballwin

The flowers: Resito Pecson at Twigs & Moss

The guests:

Joyce and David Bishop

Kelly and Jason Cutter

Ginger Drone and Steve Symsack

The Menu

Hors d'oeuvres

Maki sushi tower with wasabi

Jumbo prawns with peanut-coconut sauce

Wine: Prosecco

First Course

Fresh steamed asparagus Canton

Wine: Prosecco

Second Course

Risotto with pumpkin, sage and chiles

Wine: Prosecco

Salad

Young greens with walnuts and pecans, in a Balsamic vinaigrette

Selection of aged cheeses

Wine: 1982 Village Merlot

Entree

Joyce's garlic-crusted lamb chops

Herb-roasted root vegetables.

Wine: 1982 Village Merlot

Dessert

Boule de Neige

Wine: Prosecco

Coffee

Pumpkin, Sage and Chili Risotto

4 ounces butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1-2 fresh or dried red chiles, deseeded and finely chopped

1 pound raw pumpkin, seeded, peeled and roughly chopped

1 pound Arborio rice

2-1/2 pints chicken or vegetable stock, hot

3 tablespoons chopped sage

3 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Salt and pepper

Sage sprigs

Heat half the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion. Saute over low heat for five minutes until softened but not browned. Stir in the chiles and cook for one minute. Add the pumpkin and cook, stirring constantly for five minutes.

Add the rice and stir well to coat the grains with the butter. Add the hot stock, a large ladleful at a time, stirring until each addition is absorbed into the rice. Continue adding stock in this way, cooking until the rice is creamy but the grains are still firm. This should take about 20 minutes and the pumpkin should start to disintegrate. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in the sage, the remaining butter and the Parmesan. Cover the pan and leave the risotto to rest for a few minutes before serving, garnished with sage sprigs.