Or should it be NYE 2026?
Ours was a quiet evening by the fire in NH. On our way up from MA we stopped at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, MA to gather treats for a Spanish-themed board.
Three types of jamon (L-R): Fermin Lomo Iberico de Bellota, Montaraz Jamon Cebo Campo, and Serrano.
Spain is represented by Manchego and Kamiku fresca sheeps mik cheeses (sharing space with Italy’s robiola, California’s Humboldt Fog, and Vermont’s Harbison. Spanish tortas and Iggy’s sourdough baguette and various crackers, Bonilla a la vista chips from Spain.
I had a bottle of Freixenet Carta Nevada cava on hand that was perfect for NYE.
Wishing Hungry Onions everywhere a successful New Year, and many enjoyable meals in the company of friends and family.
Happy New Year!
Very nice board! We also stayed in for the evening.
Shrimp cocktail to start, sea scallops pan seared in a little bacon fat and panko crumbs with a squash puree and baguette. Negronis, wine and some bubbly stuff.
No pictures except this one:
Quiet, at home seems to be a recurring theme. Friends who previously hosted parties before Christmas or NYE have mostly not resumed since the Covid-19 pandemic. One NYE party in particular that we miss always featured spreads from Formaggio Kitchen, and the hosts would analyze the consumption/leftovers every year to optimize the spread for the following year.
We used to host massive NYE parties with up to 85 of our closest friends at casa lingua, the last one being in 2018. There was always a nice spread of finger foods, canapés, etc., and we’d rent a dance floor to protect our hardwood floors.
The cleaning before and after was the deciding factor for me to finally give up on it. Thankfully, friends of ours took over the reins a couple of years ago. I much prefer being a guest these days than a host, at least for sizable events.
@MaxEntropy What a stylish, tasty way to ring in 2026 (the holiday Paris trip wasn’t too shabby, either).
We celebrated NYE early on 28 Dec, while we were all together at my brother’s in NY (the 3 of us; my bro, SIL, their 2 kids; and my parents). The kids and 4 of the adults formed a mandu (Korean dumpling) assembly line, which is our family’s tradition. That went into dduk mandu (rice cake dumpling) soup which is the traditional Korean New Year’s meal and it’s one of my favorite meals. In case anyone is wondering, those are seasoned gim (nori) strips topping each bowl. My SIL had leftover cellophane noodles from making the mandu filling so she added those to the bowls of anyone who wanted them (noodles with the soup isn’t the “norm”). I wanted some! We’ll probably repeat this meal for Lunar New Year, which starts on 17 Feb.
Last night, we finally returned to Greater Boston after a couple of more nights at our RI house. We got takeout pizza and drank good wine and beer (Spring Onion hit the mango juice pretty hard) while watching the Ohio State game, the outcome of which ended an already bad year on an even more sour note.
We’ll probably repeat this meal for Lunar New Year, which starts on 17 Feb.
