So my sister Mandar came up for New Year’s! We convinced her to come out by telling her we’d throw a big New Year’s party. The last New Year’s party we held was exactly 5 years ago when we moved into our house, so we decided to call it a “Quinquennial New Year’s Eve Party”. My favorite joke was when people responded “no” to the invite and left a comment like “hopefully next year!” I’d tell Will “I guess they didn’t read the invite”. Get it? Quinquennial? They have to wait 5 more years?! Okay maybe its only funny to me.
Well I thought I’d tell you what we did for the New Year’s Party even though I’m kicking myself for not taking enough pictures (I never do)! We started the party at 9pm and ended up having over 20 attendees drop by for drinks and appetizers. The last guests didn’t leave until 5:30am! I consider that a successful party.
For drinks we served beer and wine in the kitchen and in the bar room we had a DIY mimosa bar with the fixings for Elderberry Kir Royales, apple cider and classic orange juice based mimosas. We bought a whole case of prosecco for the party and went through most of it in addition to several cases of beer and several bottles of wine. What a party!
Mimosa bar with all the fixings.
For appetizers and desserts I went a bit overboard as usual. I had the entire dining room table filled with food. I had a couple of vegetarians and one person who was lactose and gluten intolerant. Below is the list of what I served and no one starved.
- Assorted cheeses and crackers (V)
- Veggie platter (Snack peppers, carrots, cauliflower, celery) (V, GF/LF) and Ranch Dip
- Bruschetta (V)
- Teriyaki Chicken wings (GF/LF)
- Shrimp Cocktail (GF/LF)
- Crab dip
- Black eyed Peas (GF/LF) – A Southern New Year’s Eve Classic!
- Meatball bombs
- Oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars (V)
- Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
I like to make things that I can easily prepare beforehand and pop into the oven during the party. Here’s my secret schedule for the New Year’s menu:
Day before: Cook and refrigerate shrimp, chop and wash veggies, marinate chicken wings, soak black eyed peas. Make red velvet cupcakes (350 for 20 minutes) and chocolate chip cookie bars.
Day of: Make ranch dip. Toast bread for bruschetta, let cool and put in a bag. Cut bread for crab dip, put in bag. Assemble crab dip. Make black eyed peas leave on burner on low until party. Mix topping for bruschetta, don’t heat yet, leave on burner for later. Assemble meatball bombs (use frozen meatballs) cover and refrigerate*. Frost red velvet cupcakes.
An hour before: Put teriyaki wings in 30 minutes before guests are going to arrive then serve as guests arrive. Put crab dip and meatball bombs in the oven when guests arrive and turn on bruschetta topping. Put out black eyed peas, shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, desserts just before guests arrive.
*The meatball bombs were nearly a total disaster from a prep perspective. The dough kept ripping, making them impossible to wrap. If you attempt the bombs, be sure to let the refrigerated biscuits come to room temperature before you flatten them since dough has minimal elasticity when cold and will tear easily.
From center front – hazelnut pastry (made by emma), red velvet cupcakes, stollen, veggies, chicken wings, cheese, crackers and bread, crab dip, meatball bombs, black eyed peas, shrimp and bruschetta.
Meatball bombs front and center surrounded by crab dip on right, black eyed peas on left and cheese and cracker above.
Proof that I had black eyed peas (though the photo is blurry)
My sister took this picture and sent it as a snapchat with the caption “A Very Martha Christmas”. Check out those reindeer slippers!
Red Velvet Cupcakes
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