New Year’s Eve offers a great opportunity to relax and have fun.
You’ve finished with the rigors of the holidays. The presents have been opened and put away. And it’s time to wrap up one year and pin our aspirations on the next.
It’s also a fun time to get together with friends to celebrate. But, following Christmas, I’m usually not excited about hosting a complicated meal.
My friends, Bob and Stephanie, hosted a wonderful meal recently that involved some preparation but no real cooking. I thought it sounded like an ideal dinner to plan for New Year’s Eve. It was all cold cuts, cheeses, breads, olives…and, of course, wine! (Hard to imagine a New Year’s Eve celebration without wine.)
Bob and Stephanie set up the meal in three courses: cooked meats like mortadella and salami cotto; cured meats like soppressata, picante and Milano salami, chorizo, and coppa; and bacons like ham, knuckle bacon, and lamb bacon.
It would be even simpler if you wanted to have the food set up as a buffet.
As you can see in the pictures, they also served cheeses like aged Provolone, Gruyère, and Parmesan-Reggiano; different types of olives; and breads…Italian, French, and pork-buttered biscuits. They perfectly complemented the meats.
It’s the simplest of meals to prepare—and it allows you to enjoy the celebration along with your guests after a busy holiday season!
Happy 2010 to all our Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen friends!
Riley/Elizabeth
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig
Delicious and Suspicious (May 2010)—Riley Adams
Don’t forget to keep entering ingredient ideas for our Iron Chef week and hunt for Julie’s Eggsecutive Orders to be entered
in her contest, too!
