Guide to New Year's Dining 2014

Guide to New Year’s Dining 2014

a blank slate media special section • december 26, 2014

24 GUIDE TO nEW yEAR’S DInInG • News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014

ring in the new year with Festive Party Ideas Although new year's Eve parties tend to be similar from year to year, hosts can explore the many ways to make their celebrations stand out from those of years past. This handy guide provides ideas to your get creative juices flowing. · Establish a color palette. Many people equate new year's Eve with the gold and silver hues of champagne. However, you can use any festive color for your party. Use the same colors on everything from invitations to dinnerware to takehome favors. · Encourage guest input. Guests understand the cost of hosting and the amount of planning necessary to throw a festive party, and many will likely reach out to ask what they can do or bring. Figure out in advance which aspects of the party you want your guests to take care of so you have a ready answer when the inquiries start rolling in.

· Keep musical tastes in mind. A fun party usually includes an array of familiar songs and music that appeals to the masses. When compiling a party playlist, choose songs guests are sure to know and love. Mix these in with a few of your favorites. you can even ask guests to provide the names of three favorite songs when they RSVP. · Dim the lights. Bright lights can make guests feel intimidated and awkward. Set the mood by turning off overhead lights, opting for ambient lighting instead. For a fun effect, string holiday lights around the room or use a portable disco ball to spread sparkling colors on the floor and ceiling. Candles are another option for intimate affairs, but should be avoided as a safety measure if you're having a large crowd. · Set out new year's fill-in-the-blank cards. Encourage guest participation with an entertaining idea. Print out small cards that guests have to

complete. Phrases like, "The bad habit I want to quit is ___" or "____ was the silliest thing I did last year," can be fun to do and share. Guests can take turns guessing whose card is being read. · Have the party catered. Unless you want to spend the evening in and out of the kitchen, invest in catering.

Guests of a late party won't expect a three course meal. However, platters of sandwiches, appetizers and other little munchies will fit the bill. Remember, caterers may book up fast this time of year, so be sure to reserve service well in advance of your party. · Create a specialty drink. In addition to toasting champagne or sparkling wine, serve a specialty drink creation. This can be a beverage that ties into your color scheme or the theme of the party. Dessert

drinks, such as chocolate martinis or vanilla cake-flavored vodka mixers, may be the right flavor for your affair.

As the host, you should remember to provide non-alcoholic alternatives as well. · Consider more substantial food after midnight. Encourage guests to eat more and drink less once the clock has struck midnight.

Casseroles and other baked dishes are easy to make in advance and have on hand. A breakfast buffet of pancakes, toast and omelets also will fill guests up with something more substantial than chips and dips. new year's Eve parties are a great way to reflect on the last year and look forward to a new one, and hosts can take steps to make their parties memorable for all the right reasons.

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News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014 • guide to new year’s dining

GET your new year’s eve GUESTS MOVING WITH DANCE SONGS A party is often made more memorable with some music, especially if hosts want to entice guests to dance. Whether you’re hiring a DJ or simply putting together a playlist of songs, you may want to consider these tunes — all of them with “dance” in the title.

• “All She Wants to Do is Dance” Don Henley • “Bite Your Lip, Get Up and Dance” Elton John • “Can’t Stop Dancing” Captain & Tennille • “Dance, Dance” Fall Out Boy • “Dance, Dance, Dance” The Beach Boys • “Dance For Me” Queen Latifah • “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow” Paula Abdul • “Dance On Little Girl” Paul Anka • “Dance the Night Away” Van Halen • “Dance to the Music” Sly & the Family Stone • “Dancin’ Fool” The Guess Who • “Dancing in the Dark” Bruce Springsteen • “Dancing in the Moonlight” Thin Lizzy • “Dancing in the Streets” Martha & The Vandellas • “Dancing on the Ceiling” Lionel Richie • “Dancing Queen” ABBA • “Dancing With Myself” Billy Idol • “Evacuate the Dancefloor” Cascada • “Flashdance” Irene Cara • “Humpty Dance” Digital Underground • “I Hope You Dance” Lee Ann Womack • “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” Whitney Houston • “Just Dance” Lady Gaga • “Last Dance” Donna Summer • “Neutron Dance” Pointer Sisters • “Private Dancer” Tina Turner • “Safety Dance” Men Without Hats • “Save the Last Dance for Me” The Drifters • “Shut Up and Dance” Aerosmith • “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” Leo Sayer • “Your Mama Don’t Dance” Loggins and Messina

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26 guide to new year’s dining • News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014

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A new year is on the horizon and men and women across the globe are readying their New Year’s resolutions.

In recent years, more and more men and women have resolved to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle in the year ahead.

But you don’t have to wait until the new calendar year to go green. In fact, New Year’s revelers can turn their New Year’s Eve party into an eco-friendly affair in a variety of ways.

Forgo paper products. New Year’s Eve festivities typically feature lots of food and beverages, and hosts can use this to get a head start on their resolutions. Instead of serving food on paper plates and beverages in disposable paper, plastic or foam cups, use reusable glassware or even plastic cups and plates that can be washed and reused. In addition, replace paper napkins with cloth napkins that can be used more than once.

When forgoing paper products, don’t forget to abandon traditional invitations for e-vites. Invite guests via e-mail or through social networking sites instead of sending out traditional paper invitations that needlessly use paper and need to be transported.

Embrace eco-friendly beverages.

Adult beverages are a big part of many New Year’s Eve parties, and even these beverages can be ecofriendly. The growing popularity of craft breweries, or microbreweries, has made it easy for party hosts to serve eco-friendly drinks. Purchase your party’s beer supply from a local microbrewery to cut down on the beer’s carbon footprint. Buying locally reduces reliance on transportation

to get items from the manufacturer into your refrigerator, which in turn reduces fuel consumption and pollution.

But beer isn’t the only way to make your beverage menu more ecofriendly. Hosts can replace traditional vodka with organic vodka and traditional wine with biodynamic wine.

When the time comes to toast the past year and ring in the new one, do so with champagne or sparkling wine made from organic grapes.

Encourage guests to recycle throughout the night. When guests arrive, explain to them that the night will be an eco-friendly affair. Set up a separate trash receptacle for recyclable items, including bottles and cans. Think of ways to use discarded wine and champagne bottles as decorative items, be it for table settings or vases to hold fresh flowers. And when recycling, don’t overlook the smaller items. Corks from wine bottles can be recycled and reused for a variety of products, including flooring tiles, building insulation and sports equipment.

Donate food at the end of the night. Hosts often have food leftover at the end of the night. Rather than discarding all those leftovers, donate them to a local food bank or homeless shelter. Make these arrangements in advance so the following morning you can donate the leftovers before they spoil.

New Year’s Eve is one of the most festive nights of the year. And with a few simple steps, hosts can make their gathering as eco-friendly as it is enjoyable.

News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014 • guide to new year’s dining

31

Go gourmet for your New Year's Soirée New Year's celebrations wouldn't be the same without food and, of course, drinks. But while you may already have the champagne on ice for when the clock strikes 12, you may not already have plans in place with regard to feeding your guests as you ring in a new year.

If you really want to send the year out in flavorful style, consider the following recipe for "Cocktail Dates" from Bob Blumer's "Surreal Gourmet Bites: Showstoppers and Conversation Starters" (Chronicle Books).

Cocktail Dates Yields 12 bites 12 large dried Medjool dates 1 4-ounce chunk Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 6 slices bacon, cut in half widthwise Preheat oven to 350 F.

Leading with the pointy end, stuff a stick of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into the pit hole of each date.

Wrap each date with a slice of bacon.

Set dates on a baking sheet, seam-sides down, and skewer each with a toothpick to hold bacon in place.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until bacon is crispy. Caution: These cocktail dates are like molten lava when they come out of the oven. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Insert a bamboo skewer or a similar facsimile in the bottom of the date until the pointy tip rests on the bottom of the pit. Push the pit out of the stem side.

Reserve dates.

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Using your sharpest knife, cut ParmigianoReggiano cheese into 1/4-inch slices.

Cut those slices into 1/4-x-1-inch pieces (the resulting 1-inch pieces should be approximately the same diameter as a pencil). Cut the tip of each piece at a 45-degree angle.

Note: Mejdool dates or any other dried date can usually be found in Mediterranean stores or specialty food stores.

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32 guide to new year’s dining • News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014

What to do with all those

holiday leftovers

With a few creative ideas, anyone can turn leftover holiday foods into new meals.

The food cooked during the holidays is often enough to feed an army. Too often, hosts and hostesses prepare and serve much too much food, only to find themselves left with a refrigerator full of leftovers when guests don’t eat as much as hosts had suspected.

In order to avoid wasting food, many people attempt to create new meals from their excess holiday ingredients. Putting leftovers to good use can take a little ingenuity to disguise the reality that you’re eating turkey or ham for the third consecutive night. All it may take is a little inspiration to create delicious meals with repurposed holiday foods.

The first thing to keep in mind when using leftovers is food safety. Any food remaining after the holiday meal should be packed into storage containers and refrigerated or frozen no more than 2 hours after the meal has ended. This ensures that bacteria are not able to proliferate in the food and cause foodborne illnesses. Choose shallow containers, which will enable the food to chill more uniformly and not create warmer spots that take longer to reach a safe storage temperature. Do not save any foods that have remained at room temperature for too long or seem questionable, especially dairy products. It is adviseable to discard leftovers (even if refrigerated) after 4 days. Use it or lose it!

Now that leftovers are properly stored, you can think up some creative menu ideas for using them in the next few days.

• Turn stuffing into croquettes or burgers by mixing chopped turkey with stuffing or adding a new meat to the equation, like sausage.

• Dice ham and potatoes and add to the morning helping of eggs for a country-style omelette.

• Promptly boil the turkey carcass to make homemade stock for soups and stews.

• Turn leftover mashed potatoes into a creamy potato soup, with the addition of cream, bacon & scallions.

• Use cranberry sauce in place of butter on bagels or toast.

• Mash up leftover sweet potatoes and bake into a moist and delicious sweet potato loaf bread.

• Create open-faced sandwiches for lunch by layering ham or turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy on top of a thick slice of bread.

• Diced meats, vegetables and onion can be added to a batter of pancake mix and turned into an easy quiche.

• Host Mexican night and use leftover turkey meat to make spicy fajitas, complete with sour cream and salsa.

• Use stale bread to make homemade croutons for salad or use in a bread pudding recipe.

• Add cranberry sauce to boxed muffin mixes for a tart treat.

• Turn leftover holiday meats into an Asian stir-fry with the addition of water chestnuts, bean sprouts, soy sauce, and mixed vegetables.

• Grind meats to make a hearty meat loaf.

• Make leftover potatoes into hash browns.

• Cube leftover cake and serve on skewers and fruit for dipping into chocolate fondue.

• Use pie crust and small ramekins to turn turkey or ham into savory pot pies.

There are so many ideas for using leftover holiday foods this season. Experiment with flavors your family will enjoy.

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News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014 • guide to new year’s dining

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34 guide to new year’s dining • News Times Newspapers, Friday, December 26, 2014

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