New Year’s Eve and Day | Celebrating

My husband and I are big fans of having lots of get togethers to try out recipes, enjoy great company, and make lots of memories with them. New year’s eve was a perfect excuse to do just that! Our potluck menu was filled with way more food than we needed…scallop dip, artichoke dip, caprese and prosciutto skewers, ham and swiss sliders, spicy elk meatballs, baked penne, buffalo chicken dip, pecan pie, seven layer peppermint bars, and champagne jell-o shots with pop rocks on top. We had so much, I didn’t even make the baked brie that is always a huge hit. Our night was full of laughter, friendly competition during a few rounds of {landmines} and {catch phrase}, lots of noise makers and poppers at midnight, glitter, and resolutions for 2014!

Even better than a wonderful New Year’s Eve with friends, is New Year’s Day with family! After waking up relatively early and quickly cleaning out the kitchen and air mattresses and confetti in the living room, I went to work getting my appetizers together for celebrating the start of 2014 with my family {Praline Pecan Baked Brie, Butternut Squash Tart with Fried Sage and Shaved Parmesan, and Stuffed Endives}. This year, with all of us on my mom’s side scattered about for Christmas, we decided to just do a simple get together of appetizers only to be easy and casual. Of course, in my family nothing is ever simple, easy, or casual. We tend to feel like there will not be enough food and we all get so excited to try new things out that we have found online or from a friend or to stick to family favorites that everyone loves. This get together was no different….each family brought at least 3 appetizers on top of what my mom had put together as the host. But the benefit of appetizers is you can try lots of different things…only problem is you can quickly stuff yourself. It was absolutely worth every single calorie consumed.

Happy New Year from {A Hint of Ginger}!!! May this year bring you good cheer, great opportunities, and cooking inspiration!

{Butternut squash tart with fried sage and shaved parmesan, stuffed endives, celery stuffed with blue cheese, shrimp, fruit skewers with coconut and cool whip dip, praline pecan baked brie, a platter filled with olives, meats, fruits, and cheeses, asparagus wrapped with cheese and roast beef, meatballs and dipping sauces, buffalo chicken dip, veggies and dip, nut and pretzel party mix, seven layer peppermint bars, champagne jell-o shots, and lots of other munchies}