For many, many, many years I gave a NY Day party.  It started as a NY Eve party when I was in my late teens or early 20’s, and then as time progressed it moved to a NY brunch, and then since no one (including the party giver) wanted to get up in time for a brunch on NY Day it moved to the afternoons.  Depending on weather, and the ebbs and flows of life the party could have as few as 15 guests or as many as 40 coming and going throughout the day.  It was a tradition, only missed a couple of years here or there, but then, for no specific reason I decided to stop having them.  I wanted the luxury of having another whole week off from work after the cooking frenzy the holidays and Christmas.  And it has been a nice change.  However I do miss seeing everyone once a year.  Often the only time I actually saw some of those folks during the year, and this year since all the kids who had been hither and yon for school and study abroad were home I thought it would be nice to get everyone together, except I did it on December 28, the Sunday after Christmas, it seemed like the perfect day during the holiday season for a nice big open house.

Menu’s for my parties usually start with one recipe I want to try, and build around that.  I also look for things that can be made ahead, I want everything prepped and organized so that I can be a guest at my party.

This year I became obsessed with a white bean beet dip on toasted bread.  It’s very simple, you roast a beet and peel it and throw it in the food processor with a can of drained white beans, a clove or two of garlic, a splash of olive oil, some lemon juice, salt and pepper and puree until smooth.  Recently I was at a friends house and she served a dip made with gigantes, the giant white beans common in Greece.  So instead of canned white beans I used a pint of gigantes.  These are the big beans you often will find in a olive bar at the grocery store.  They are already seasoned and marinated and they really add a delicious depth of flavor to this dip.  It was the hit of the party.

In addition to the bean dip I made green olive tapenade, ricotta with herbs and lemon, roasted tomatoes, roasted shrimp salad with fennel, sauteed mushrooms, and sausage and peppers.  This was all made the day before.  The day of I sliced and toasted the breads.

For dessert I made yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and two recipes from this month’s Bon Appetit magazine, oatmeal pistachio sandies and chocolate rye crumb cake.  Both were excellent.  Cocoa and rye go together really well, they were the ingredients that went into a holiday bread that I used to make way, way, back in the old days when I worked at Curds and Whey.

Guests brought dishes to contribute, so if you see something in the pictures that you have a question about just add a comment and I’ll find out for you.

It was lovely to have a house filled with guests.  It was wonderful to catch up to folks I haven’t seen in a while.  And it’s extra nice when friends and family wash the dishes while I sit and chat! Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2015!