New Years 2011

Since babysitters are pricey and heading downtown did not seem super enticing, we celebrated New Years with an impromptu dinner party (the first one too!) in our dining room. I must say the evening was so much fun that I think we inadvertently started a new tradition.

Staying at home with friends for dinner sure beats the downtown night life! D grilled steaks, I made side dishes, and our friends brought wine, champagne and dessert!

Since our get together was a last minute idea I woke up Saturday morning and kicked it into high gear! First, I picked out some recipes, then G and I headed to the grocery store while D went into the office for a few hours.

When G and I got home he took his morning nap while I decided to fancy-up my original plan for a simple dinner. I gathered up some candles and craft supplies.
My goal was to create a New Years-ish table scape with things I had on hand. It sort of became a fun challenge that I dared myself to do. All this being said-- typically I dream up an idea and then buy some things to execute it. However, this time I decided to see what I could come up with things I had on hand. Since I have quite a few white, cream and tan candles and glass votives and candle holders, I grabbed them all up and decided to create a candle stick centerpiece running down the length of the table.

Also, inspired by a dinner party I went to where the hostess used different colors of tissue paper bunched up in a vase as a centerpiece, I grabbed some of our tissue paper with red, blue and silver glitter on it. I cut into into smaller squares and bunched up different pieces under the candles (careful to avoid a potential fire hazard!).

Finally, I found a gold gift bag in our craft closet and a couple of my scalloped circle cutters. I cut out small circles to use as a confetti and larger circles for place cards.

After I had the table set, I started simmering the mushrooms--they were on the stove for 9 hours!

When D got home we were chatting about New Years and how fun it is to reminise about the past and dream for the future so during G's afternoon nap I pulled out some card stock and wooden skewers to create a table topics inspired game.

I also had this beaded rod on hand from a floral arrangement I had received when G was born.

Fast forward a couple hours...

In the end I was quite pleased with the table decor!

And the fun game
And yummy food

Menu
Red Wine
Grilled Steaks with Whiskey Cream Sauce (from PW's cookbook)
Caesar Salad
Scalloped Potatoes with Thyme
Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic and Pomegranate Seeds
Burgundy Mushrooms
Champagne
Brownies and Vanilla Ice Cream

My first time to have Brussels Sprouts was this Thanksgiving at my parents' house. I was blown away by how yummy they were since many people tease about them! The recipe I used called for dried cranberries but I opted to go for pomegranate seeds since I rarely get to incorporate them into recipes. And, I must say the combination is INCREDIBLE! Please, try it!

special thanks to:
Pioneer Woman- your cooking show inspired the recipes I choose!
Gavin- by taking naps you helped me get the decorating and cooking done
D- grilled yummy steaks and washed all the dishes
friends- wonderful company!!!


A few recommendations
If you are interested, here is a great tutorial on de-seeding pomegranate

Also, I highly recommend this site for cloth napkins. My mother-in-law found the site a few years ago and I have bought few sets from them that I love for the color and great quality! They sell both cocktail and dinner napkins in a variety of 31 different color options; a set of 12 cloth napkins with a hemstitch edge for $23!

This site helped me learn how to fold the napkins to look like a lotus flower. The technique is super simple and I have used it a few times already!