New Years Last Night

Last minute day of planning. Caviar creme fraiche and potato chips, Oysters with fresh squeezed lemon and black pepper, and Katharine Hepburn brownies

Jan 01, 2024

I decided the morning of New Year’s Eve around 5 am to start planning something for New Years. I figured we could start there and pivot to going out or stay in. I don’t really like to make a full meal on New Years. It does not leave you the option of spontaneity, which is fun (even as an idea for me even if I choose to stay in.) I thought about the menu. I always do caviar, creme fraiche, and Cape Cod chips. It’s just one of those perfect combinations that you rarely do or get at any other point during the year. It’s all also entirely a no cooking ready made meal and I instacarted it to the house by 8 AM 😂 from Whole Foods. I did have to go shop the next day still, however. I got oysters and decided to do them with a squeeze of lemon and some ground black pepper as it’s easier than making mignonette sauce. I thought it was clean and went with the other flavors. I also got a pretty fabulous artichoke pepper grinder from a friend, so it was a fun way to be able to use it. I told my friend Tara that the pepper was in the artichoke and she said, “Of course it is.” 😂.

There’s something about oysters that’s just beautiful. They have a classic old world romantic sort of vibe that I enjoy. I serve them on ice, usually, but also wanted to use a new oyster plate I got for Christmas. I grabbed a Sonic bag of ice in the drive thru, because I like the way it looks for some reason and served the oysters both ways.

Have to say I don’t think I knew how to shuck an oyster, so I’ve learned a new thing. I think it would be fun to have them even for smaller dinners. I had a flat cake plate and server that goes with my China that I wanted to use, so I made Katharine Hepburns brownies, which I also had never tried. But five stars on NYT cooking cannot be bad. The only things I changed were toasting the walnuts in salted Kerry Gold butter, and I added a few pinches of Maldon Sea Salt and a pinch of Diamond Kosher Salt. They’re very good brownies. I cut them too hot, of course, and complained they wouldn’t cut. Tara said I had an issue when it came to actually cutting the things. 😂. Let them cool, but they’re great brownies and they went with the menu well.

I was inspired after writing the champagne article to make St. Germain Spritzes. They’re garnished usually with a lemon peel. So the flavors were again just really clean and lovely. I bought the “cheap but good” champagne recommendation from the last article as well. It was good. We downed the bottle.

We are usually vagrants, but we stayed in last night talking. My friend Patrick is a pretty fabulous and talented realist painter. He said he's pivoting to still lives in 2024. I said I never did let him paint me yet, because he would make it realistic like I do with my sugar flowers and include all the flaws as well 😂. He brought a gorgeous baguette that he had baked earlier that day. The bread never hurts us! We tore it apart and ate it. Everyone there was truly a fantastic cook. So, that never hurts matters. Food fills the soul after all. Patrick’s partner Katelynn is a delight. Has a palette that’s great for tea, drinks, and food. They brought all the bits to make Espresso martinis and I swear they were pretty damn delicious. We have determined the companies that pay for these recipes to put on the back of their bottles really know what they’re doing. I said, “Well of course, they’re paying these people a fortune. It’s going to be a good one!” So far the espresso martini on the Kahlua bottle paired with the Italicus Recipe on the back of their bottle paired with the recipe from St. Germain itself for their spritz are solid and perfect. Do not try to reinvent the wheel all the time people 😂.

Tara is a fabulous cook and baker too. Everything is seasoned perfectly . Jamie too and he also fixed one of my cabinets and I dug out the tools. I said i’m ashamed as I should have fixed this myself, and Patrick yelled, “Don’t be! This is a community!” 💀

Gwenda (an author who does not cook 😂 but taker of pics at parties) , but did have a fantastic idea of writing down on sheets of paper and burning what we wanted to manifest for the next year. I took the creme brûlée blow torch to them when the paper wouldn’t burn and used a ramekin, because I figured it was heat safe. Katelynn is also a witch, so I felt we had some decently good guidance and have done these manifestations correctly 😂. Surely! Gwenda went to a Cary Grant movie at the Kentucky Theatre and we carried on at home. I do feel like her movie also went with this sort of vibe this year. Staying in was the right call. I went out a few days ago, so my cup is still partially full. I’m grateful to them really and happy they hit it off.