UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Just the two of us for the Eve. We used to have New Year Eve at friends houses. One year here, then the next year at another friends home....etc etc. That fizzled out as we got older, and prefered to sit on our butts and just laze around in our own house, and graze and drink close to our own beds.
Beth wrote:I'm with you, Jimmy. I don't care to do anything for New Year's......except go to bed early and see if I wake up and remember it's 2018!
Put us down in the same number! We used to go to several parties on the same night (when people had parties -- they don't have them as much anymore), and invariably left one not-so-fun party for another one of the same ilk, often ending up in the car on the highway at midnight! We decided one night while in the car that we'd both had enough, as none of the parties were really that much fun.
We then would make a dinner reservation at the last available time in a very nice restaurant, which was 9:30 p.m. at the time. With drinks before dinner and several courses, we'd be still at the table at midnight, which suited us just fine. Most of the nicer restaurants passed out glasses of Champagne and one year when we'd asked a couple of guy friends of ours who hosted US every Mardi Gras season since they were closer to the parade route than we were and loved Carnival as much as I do, the restaurant even passed out little gifts --they were nice gifts, too, and gender appropriate. We did that for several years and always enjoyed it.
Then we bought this house in 1998 and we wanted to celebrate here. One year we had a "cocktails, Champagne and desserts" party very late and everyone piled onto our balcony to watch the fireworks the City puts on at midnight -- we had fun but we thought people would NEVER leave! I'm laughing but it's true; it's also the sort of night that you hated to run people off but we decided once was enough of THAT!
Ever since then, we've stayed home. Since our home is across the street from a huge levee on the Mississippi River, tons of people show up to blow up their fireworks -- both the regular noisemakers and the ones that cost a fortune and are quite pretty. Most of the time, they aim the fireworks toward the batture, which is the nice wide piece of land between the levee and the river -- and AWAY from our house. But that's not always the case. Though shooting fireworks is illegal in Orleans Parish, the cops usually don't mess with people if no one complains or if they're doing it in a safe place and not endangering people or property. We've had to go outside a few times over the years to politely ask a few people to stop shooting them towards the homes versus the levee and the river (river traffic is suspended for about 30 minutes prior to and after the fireworks for safety's sake). We live in an historical neighborhood and the houses are all frame houses -- yes, they've been renovated, like ours, and most of them are 100+ years old. But they're still frame. And they can catch fire and would burn, I assume, rather quickly. Most people apologize and accommodate us or just quickly leave the area. Twice we've heard nothing in response, and we've gone back inside, only to have them continue to shoot them in the direction of the homes (well, right AT our house then -- these were adults in their 30s or 40s both times, too, not kids). So then, and only then, have we called the police. The cops never had to do a thing -- once the police cars showed up, the offenders left in a hurry. You hate to call them out but when you ask politely and people for some reason don't cooperate, you really have no choice.
So we now consider it a necessity to stay home just to make sure our house doesn't burn down. This year it seems as if it might rain -- perhaps only earlier in the day as the forecasts currently hint. But that, too, will reduce the crowds for not only the home-shooting crowds but will also limit the wall-to-wall bumper-to-bumper traffic on our street as midnight approaches, both on foot and via auto, headed to the river's "point" to be closer to the dueling barges where the fireworks are shot, or driving by to either try to find a parking spot on the levee (illegal but still done) or just trying to be in the 'hood when the fireworks start. If the levee is wet from rain earlier in the day or evening, not as many people will come out and sit or huddle in small groups while standing.
It's pretty cold this year so I doubt Brian will want to even go out and sit on the balcony. We're always in bed before then but the balcony is attached to our bedroom so we just have to step outside if we're awake and up for it. If it's really raining at that hour, the shoot will probably be canceled.
Re food, this is the first year I can remember where I won't be making a ham, black eyed peas and greens. Our new refrigerator is huge and we have tons of stuff in there, both uncooked and leftovers, the latter you might remember we're always fans of. The freezer, too, is stuffed to the gills. So we decided to just plan from there. We have almost a whole chicken I baked (it was 11 pounds!) the other day and it came out moist as all get out. We've had sandwiches from it but still have a lot of meat left on it. We still have some thick slices of rib roast left, too, and a tiny amount of Christmas sauce. I have a couple bags of fresh cranberries and a basket of satsumas I can use to whip up some homemade cranberry sauce to serve alongside the chicken or the beef. I can also make a cream sauce with big chunks of chicken and imported mushrooms and serve those in some puff pastry shells that keep waving to me from the freezer. We also have about a half-pound of shredded roast pork I can put in some barbecue sauce and serve on huge seeded buns that are still fresh and available. I also have a couple of bottles of Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce which I could use in lieu of barbecue sauce for the pork or to serve alongside roast chicken slices. And that's not everything that's available either! So you see why it would be downright wasteful for us to add a ham and its accompaniments into the mix. And I have some fresh sprouts, too, if we make sandwiches, as they make sandwiches nice and fresh and crunchy, too.
Yesterday we polished off a baked brie wrapped in puff pastry that I'd nixed from the Christmas menu when everyone was stuffed from the spicy sausage in puff pastry appetizers I made. It was delicious and pretty too -- stuffed with fig preserves and Marcona almonds. The two of us finished the whole thing with some sea salt burschetta and that served as our dinner!
I'm headed downstairs in a few minutes to start deciding with Brian what we should tackle for tonight! I'll bet the leftover roast beef bites the dust in a few hours...
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