6 Tips for Your New Year's Party

In our continuing blog series, "Holiday Entertaining," today we offer 6 tips to make your New Year's Eve or Day party cool, distinctive, and fun.

#1
If you want to serve a dinner, don't stress! Buy a pre-seasoned pork loin (as many as you need), and bake according to directions.  If side dishes aren't your strong point, buy several orders of an excellent pasta from a favorite restaurant and reheat (but when you reheat it, put a glop of butter on top before reheating, and cover to reheat--you'll thank me for this).  Maybe add a bought vegetable dish from an excellent restaurant or food emporium (reheat this with butter too).  Use nice plates, cutlery, glasses, and napkins, and everyone will be impressed and happy.

#2
For a fast, fun, no-cook dessert or to create a dessert bar, buy high quality frozen cheesecakes (such as from Costco or Trader Joe's), thaw a bit (not completely), then cut out small cheesecake bites with a square, round, star, or other shaped cookie cutter.  Avoid pre-made commercial cheesecake bites as they are cloying.  Cutting out these bites should not take you more than 15 minutes for a party of 25 guests or less.  And you can do the same thing with purchased brownies (best quality of course).  Then put the cut out cheesecake bites and/or cut out brownie bites on a tray or plates and sprinkle the cheesecake bites with cocoa powder and the brownie bites with powdered sugar.  People love the fun look of these little bites! And your creations will wow everyone, but aren't much work for you.

#3
Set up a champagne bar. There are several ways to do this.  One way is to set out bottles of champagne method beverages such as true Champagne, prosecco, cava, and sparkling wines.  Or choose a country or region where champagne method beverages are made and put out bottles of several different types from that country or region.  If you want to up it a notch, also put out fresh berries for people to put in their glasses with their champagne.  Or put out a tray of champagne cocktails (recipes abound on the web) as well, so your guests can try different variations on the champagne theme.

#4
In Spain it's traditional to begin eating a bunch of grapes when the clock begins striking midnight on New Year's Eve.  If you finish the grapes before the clock strikes midnight it's supposed to be good luck.  It's a fun activity with a group, anyway.  And you can even make the grapes part of the the decor of your party by putting the bunches, separated, on a tray, in cones, or on small plates and decorating with fresh berries.

#5
Party decor colors? Metallics and creams, of course, and we also like black and white, perhaps with touches of red or fuschia, as well as pale blue and silver or pale blue and midnight blue with gold accents.

#6
Tie long curling ribbon around the stems of your champagne flutes to make them festive too (just don't make the ribbons TOO long).

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com