Every year for New Year's, we take the easy way out for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and just spend both days munching on nibbles and easy to make fare while we watch for the ball to drop and then watch the Rose Parade the next morning.
I figure why start off the new year by exhausting yourself. Instead, take it easy and enjoy yourself a whole lot more.
For those of us who don't exactly have a caterer and staff to serve us on speed dial, though, it can take a little advance planning to have the things on hand to throw together nibbles and nosh.
Having some decent pre-made frozen items that you merely have to bake and then eat can be a huge plus. But the quality of some brands can be gawdawful, and no one wants to spend their holiday wanting to upchuck in the trash can or spit out mouthfuls onto their plate, now do they?
So I thought a handy guide to some of my favorite frozen appetizers might be useful:
-- Nancy's frozen quiches: these are amazingly tasty, easy to pop into the oven, and they hold their shape well. Plus they are easy to find, even in the hinterlands of WV, so they should be available at a grocery store near you.
-- Nancy's Champagne collection: This package is a combo pack of gruyere and egg souffles in a pastry shell and some mini-crabcakes. I picked this up on a whim this year because I like Nancy's mini-quiches. They are fabulous, especially the egg souffles which taste rich, creamy and homemade with a slight cornmeal crunch to the pastry shell. Worth looking for and, again, if I can find them in WV, then they ought to be available where you are as well.
--Premade, frozen spanikopita triangles: I found a box of these at our local Sam's Club a few years ago and we have loved them ever since. This year, I got smart and bought an extra box to use for the next couple of months or so. It's a seasonal purchase, but worth the money because these crisp up nicely and the filling is wonderful. Plus, I like to fool myself into thinking they are healthy because there is spinach in them.
-- The Peanut wanted me to mention the frozen State Fair corn dog nuggets, also available at Sam's Club, which she considers awesome. Not sure I'd second that, frankly, but if you are having kids at your house they are great to have in the freezer for finger foods, along with the Tyson dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, also available at our local Sam's Club. (Can you tell my shopping opportunities are a little limited here?)
However, I would avoid at all costs the Nancy's deli-spirals or the Pillsbury variety as well. Both come out gummy and disgusting in my opinion, and are not something you will want to be eating unless you have already had a couple of bottles of champagne and your taste buds have stopped working. And, even then, it will be iffy that your gag reflex won't kick in anyway. Blergh.
If you happen to be lucky enough to live anywhere near a Trader Joe's, they have some truly wonderful and actually healthy options in their freezer section that are worth exploring. Alas, we have yet to get a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods in our little hinterlands hometown (despite my begging for them pretty much monthly on both corporate websites...SIGH), so I'll have to make do with what I can find and some homemade goodies as well.
To balance the frozen nibbles out, I like to have some cut up veggies as a crudite tray with some homemade dip made with nonfat plain Greek yogurt mixed with a little ranch dressing mix and some finely diced scallion greens or chives, some sliced cheese and fibery crackers (again with the fooling myself that I'm eating something healthier), some cut up fruit or some grapes, and an antipasto tray with some assorted olives, roasted red peppers, and some hummus with pita chips on the side.
We like having a little variety and having something that you can pull in and out of the fridge for nibbles is nice. I make the baked appetizers a little bit at a time over the course of the two days, and we try to space them out so we aren't having to reheat -- pastry gets soggy in the microwave and isn't as good as it is fresh from the oven, so time things accordingly.
I also found some great "cheese fondue" in a pouch at our local Sam's Club last year that we really enjoyed. It isn't quite as good as homemade, but the ease of just dumping the pouch into my little crockpot and letting it warm up on its own is too nice to pass up when you are tired and not wanting to spend a huge amount of time on any one dish. I found some more this year -- it's FromAlp brand -- and I noticed this year that it showed up at our local Kroger store as well. We ate it with some sliced apples, slices of crusty whole grain baguette, and some salami slices, and it was a nice change of pace for New Year's Eve last year. We'll probably do that again this year for fun.
If you want to make appetizers or sandwich or snacky foods from scratch, your crockpot can be invaluable. I put together a lot of appetizer and sandwich recipes not too long ago for tailgating that can be equally awesome for party fare. You can find them here.
For folks trying to eat more healthfully, Cooking Light has a whole article on appetizer recipes with a low calorie count. And another article with some great looking low-sugar party recipes, including a black bean dip that looks especially yummy.
And then there's this chocolate Frangelico fondue recipe that looks really, really tasty. Serve it with some fresh pineapple chunks, fresh sliced apples or pears, chunks of pound cake, marshmallows, gingersnap cookies, or other assorted sweet dippers or even do a salty take with some pretzel rods. Yummmm!
As you plan your nibbles for the New Year's celebrations, remember this: variety may be the spice of life, but not stressing yourself out, making sure some healthy foods get into the mix, and not overdoing it will leave you much, much happier in the end. At least, that's true for me.
(Photo via andhong09.)
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