Happy New Year!
I apologize for my absences the last couple weeks. I have been on vacation and don’t know where the time has gone.
This holiday season has been a busy one and a lot of fun! Steve and I started by celebrating with my family with a nice dinner out at Erte (read about our Holiday Tradition part one and part two) then we were at his family for Christmas Eve.
But now to New Year’s Eve….
Steve and I invited our friends to our house to ring in the New Year. I absolutely love throwing parties! Creating a vision for the party, shopping and preparing the food and activities and witnessing and being apart of the fun with people that you love is really rewarding for me.
This year we decided to do a themed New Year’s party… casino night!
Last Winter, Steve and I built a poker table and we received a poker chip set for Christmas this year, so a casino night seemed fitting. The Monday and Tuesday before I was busy prepping, looking for casino themed decorations, a roulette game, sparkly attire and appetizer ingredients.
I was so excited for everyone to come that as soon as everyone arrived I couldn’t contain my excitement!! I felt like a toy that was wound up and finally let go.
We had a lot of food… which is ok, when you are partying and drinking… I mean celebrating, until 4 am. 🙂
I made…
Fruit skewers– blueberries, strawberries and pineapple layered on bamboo skewers
Black-eyed pea hummus– for good luck, with a variety of crackers
1-16 oz bag of dried black-eyed peas
1 head of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
Salt
Pepper
1 fresh lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 green onions, chopped
1. Soak and cook beans according to package directions.
2. Preheat oven to 425F. Rub off papery skins from outside of garlic and trim 1/2″ off top. Place on sheet of foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Wrap up foil and place on oven rack. Roast until garlic cloves are tender, about 30 minutes; let cool slightly.
3. Squeeze garlic into food processor. Add black- eyed peas, lemon juice, parsley, chili pepper and paprika and pulse until coarse puree forms. With motor running, drizzle 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil.
4. Transfer hummus to a medium bowl and mix in 2 chopped green onions; season with salt and pepper.
5. When ready to serve drizzle 2 tablespoons live oil and 1 green onion on top.
Pepperoni bread with marinara– this is something my mom likes to make
1 can refrigerated pizza dough
2 tablespoons Italian Seseasoning (more if desired)
3 oz pepperoni
1 cup shredded pizza cheese
1/4 Parmesan cheese
Roll out pizza dough onto greased cookie sheet, sprinkle with Italian seasoning. On half the the dough layer pepperoni evenly, sprinkle cheeses on top of pepperoni. Starting with pepperoni side, roll dough evenly into log. Bake as directed on pizza crust package. Cut into slices and serve with a marinara sauce on the side.
Fruit snacks soaked in vodka
I was at a golf tournament one year and a group of people were serving gummy bears soaked in vodka and they were sooo delicious and dangerous. I mean you couldn’t even taste the vodka. So, I really wanted to make them for my friends. The gummy bears need to soak for at least three days. Make a long story short…I kept forgetting to buy the gummy bears. So, instead I used fruit snacks lying around the house (Steve and I LOVE fruit snacks, so naturally we had a ton in the house). They were good, but because I forgot to buy the, sooner they only sat for 24 hours, so they could have been better if they sat for more than that. Believe me, I will be trying the gummy bears for one of our parties.;)
Champagne jello shots with pop rocks
While searching for fun party themed food inspiration, I found this idea. Jello shots infused with champagne and lemon lime soda topped with pop rocks. I loved the pop rock addition, it brought me back to my youth, was a fun conversation piece with the group and I think everyone had a fun time eating them. The jello shots were good, but next time, I will use a flavored jello instead of unflavored.
And, gingerbread cookies topped with homemade buttercream frosting.
My friend Meg (at My Monochromatic Life ) and her husband Derek brought her famous pasta salad along with champagne served in adorable champagne glasses. They also brought some fun photo props! See pictures below.
Cody and Amanda brought the most delicious variety of deviled eggs, buffalo chicken dip and chips. And, some chocolates.
And, our friend Andy, brought a variety of chips, that we dove into while enjoying our champagne after midnight.
I was really bad about taking photos, so I asked Meg to share some of her photo’s. Make sure to check out her New Year’s post for more fun photos from the evening!