New Years

New Years Eve is upon us. Before kids, the hubs and I would pick a great restaurant, go out with friends, drink too much, and spend way too much money. After several years of that, we switched to cooking an amazing meal at home, made great cocktails, invited friends, and played board games until dawn.

Then we started a family. When Eli was young, we grabbed my parents and made 6p.m. reservations at The Palm. Came home, put on our sweats, and played games. We now bring in the New Year with friends, great food, cocktails, and lots of board games. The kids like to stay up until 12 (I rarely make it) and the evening usually ends with someone else’s kid sleeping here, and one of ours sleeping elsewhere.

This year we are having cocktails with friends. A light snack of cripsy potato skins and a simple “French Blonde Cocktail” to start off the evening. After that, a huge Tripoli match is on tap along with chocolate lava cakes. Let’s just hope I make it until 9p.m. That way I can at least bring in the New Year, east coast time!

Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for filling my year with blessings and gratitude.

Cooking long hours is fun on Thanksgiving but on New Year's Eve nobody wants to be in the kitchen except to pass through on the way to the freezer to refill the ice bucket. The perfect at-home meal on New Year's Eve is one that has pazazz, great flavor and doesn't take long to prepare.

With expectations high, everything about a New Year's Eve party needs to be special. Take-out deli sandwiches are fine to watch the weekly football game. Pizza and beer works for a Netflix festival of Tarantino movies. But for the night when you say goodbye to a whole year's experience and celebrate what's-hoped-for in the coming 365 days, it isn't enough to simply put food on the table.

If you're having a small gathering of friends and loved ones, easy-to-make scallops are an elegantly delicious way to tell everyone how much you love sharing this end-of-the-year evening with them.

Happy almost New Year’s everyone! It’s so hard to believe this year has come to an end. I have a slew of wonderful memories.

I love New Year’s Eve, it’s full of promise and hope for a better year. A year filled with health, organization, great food and more balance in life. We’ll see how I do.

How many of you start the New Year with food known for good luck? I am not a superstitious person, but everyone could use a little good juju…right? Lots of different foods are considered lucky on this day as they symbolize the eater’s hopes and dreams for the coming months and years.

Pork is considered a symbol of “progress” by many countries. A pig’s feeding habits cause them to “root forward” with their snouts, never looking back. Pigs are also…rotund, a sign of prosperity in many places around the world. Enjoy your pork in any form you choose and then buy a power ball ticket?! Why not.

I’ve also added (lucky) black-eyed peas to these nachos due to their resemblance of coins, a symbol of abundance. (Go get on a slot machine I suppose). Cornbread is also considered lucky, but instead I’ve added just the corn itself, emblematic of golden nuggets. I know.

Wanna save about $100, $200 or maybe more? Stay home for New Year's eve. And Valentine's day. This also works for birthdays and anniversaries. I'm not suggesting you be a party pooper, just that you do your celebrating at home. Turn what could be loud and boisterous into intimate and romantic with a meal just for two, or four if you prefer a little more company.

This isn't about a big multi-course extravaganza, in fact I suggest the opposite. Something simple, yet elegant and a bit of a splurge since you're not going out. One great menu is a seafood platter, mostly raw oysters, clams, poached shrimp, cracked crab, or if you can't handle that some takeaway sushi served with champagne will do nicely. The other idea is fondue. Don't laugh, it's really good! Make it two course and have cheese fondue followed by chocolate fondue.

The secret to fondue is to thicken the wine first, heating it gently after adding a slurry of cornstarch and kirsch or water, THEN add the cheese. Use whichever recipe suits your fancy (there are plenty on the internet) but if you use this technique you can't go wrong. Because fondue gone wrong is not pretty. I like to go light on the bread cubes and serve boiled mini Yukon gold potatoes, baby boiled white onions, and asparagus spears, but do whatever you like. For those on the Atkins diet, sausage chunks would be delicious, I'm sure.