New Year's Eve: Caviar & Cards

 

We all know that you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a good time but I think the opposite of that which is also true is that sometimes it's fun to splurge a little and have a great time. That's what we chose for New Year's Eve. Because Thanksgiving and Christmas were all about the kids and big family parties, we chose to usher in the new year in relative quiet and with a few of our favorite adults.  We also chose to literally toast to the new year and wave goodbye to the old one with a bottle of Dom '92 we've been holding back, the caviar we enjoyed so much on our anniversary last year (Petrossian), and fois gras since this is a liver-lovin' bunch. 

Auntie Miranda added to the celebration by upgrading our glassware from my old dated stemware souvenirs from a hotel I worked at for a decade to drop dead beautiful Waterford flutes.  Waterford has always been my favorite crystal because I love the simplicity and elegance of their cuts. I appreciate that Auntie Miranda knows me well enough to know how beautiful I find that particular crystal maker.

Our friend Lynn added to the celebration by hauling back from Vegas IN HER SUITCASE, no less, a bottle of Barry Manilow pinot.  We loved that.  She'd gone to his show and stayed at the Hilton, so as her treat she managed to keep a bottle of his wine label "alive" inside her suitcase.  So the next time you want to bring wine home remember to plop it down inside a half dozen pairs of athletic socks and then nestle it inside a sturdy shoe--it works!

 

The table setting came about in an interesting "if you build it, they will come play poker" way.  Lynn and I put the green tablecloth down first, knowing that we'd be playing poker later and we didn't want to have to actually switch cloths. Next, the French cotton orange laid on top nicely. Then I decided "What the hell" and got out the gold-plated flatware and generous uncle gave me as a "hope chest" item when I was in high school. Remember hope chests? Do girls even keep those anymore?  Next the bronze chargers, a Christmas gift from Gene's sister, and the red chargers, a gift from cousin Ann. The white poinsettia a gift from Dad this year.  The really cool cylindrical glasses Gene once traded an autographed Kentucky Headhunters t-shirt to a bartender to get those glasses for me (don't tell)  and the napkin folding a la all those years as a hotel banquet planner (just for you, Matt!).  And ta-da! we have a festive table!

 

Since there was no photographer idly standing by to snap us all, we had to take pics in shifts.  The first is from the left:  James, Lynn, Me, and Gene (the hubby on here).

 

Then Lynn took the second pic of, again from the left: James, Auntie Miranda, Me, and Gene

 

With the rich midnight snacks, I chose to keep dinner simple and healthy:  Lemon Chicken Scallopini over Fresh Spinach Leaves, Oven Roasted Vegetables, and Homemade Dinner Rolls. I'll post recipes for the chicken, roasted vegetables, blini, and lavosh later this week.

 

Instead of red or white wine with dinner, we had "Manilow?" or "Newman?"

Gene explaining the rules of Texas Hold 'Em to us while we cracked jokes and made his life hell....and then forgot all the rules and had to reminded over and over.

No wonder he doesn't like playing with us amateurs. Hehehehe.

 

The monogrammed casino weight and style poker chips I got for Gene several Christmases back.

 

While Auntie Miranda replenishes her whites, look at Moneybags Trussell in the background--THREE racks? Now that's just greedy.  Or playing well, but since I had to go back to the "bank" I'll call it greedy. It's my blog.

 

And the midnight snackadoodle begins:  caviar and blini in the center with accoutrement all around,  fois gras with crackers and lavosh to the left, small phyllo pastries with brie and raspberries back there somewhere, and the bottle of Dom Perignon in the back.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Aren't the champagne flutes GORGEOUS?!  Thank you, thank you Auntie Miranda.  They are so very special, more so because you gave them to me.

 

 

And then to cap it all off on a sweet note,  a little Turkish Delight.

Thanks to James, Lynn, Auntie, and Gene for sharing such a warm and fun evening with me and for all the love, hopes, and dreams we share.

My wish is that we all everywhere have the most blessed and delightful of new years.

Comments

[Rachel]

I'm so glad you all had such a nice time! Looks awesome, the table, the food. Can I come next year? I'll bring pig ass and cabbage, promise!

[Dana]

Pretty table and loved the gold flatware ! Looks like a lot of fun.

[kimberly]

It looks like you had a wonderful New Year's celebration. The champange flutes are beautiful.

May you have a blessed and happy New Year!

[Auntie M]

'twas a lovely evening with lovely people. I look forward to many more. And, I learned today on TV that JELLY BEANS were actually a re-make of Turkish Delight. Somehow I don't think it would have been the same if Edward had betrayed his family because he craved more "Jelly Beans."

A happy, healthy, blessed 2009 to all.

[Anne]

i absolutely love the wine selection! looks like the perfect wine for a fun evening with family.

[courtney]

Sounds like a great evening with the ones you love. Dont you love fine china and crystal? Makes all the diffrence. I read the Waterford filed for bankruptcy last week. Hope the company can resturcture.