With long waits for taxis (and Uber serge pricing), unpredictable weather and the inevitable disappointment when that allegedly fabulous event you commit to winds up being a dud, a night in for New Year’s Eve sounds more and more appealing. Here in New Orleans, you could spring for the Galatoire’s champagne dinner and a cushy hotel room for the evening, but staying in can be just as chic.
For those not so interested in cooking, Whole Foods has an extensive holiday menu (today’s the last day to order, so don’t delay). Enjoy brie en croute, a roasted leg of lamb dinner with maple sweet potatoes, green beans with shallots and roasted root vegetables, complete with wine parings and a red velvet cake for dessert. There are countless other choices and combinations, so just call, order, pickup, reheat and dig in.
A champagne tasting is on the schedule at my house. After a quick trip to Martin’s Wine Cellar, we’ll be all set for bubbles well past midnight. The food menu begins with a charcuterie and cheese plate for snacking. Next, I’ll serve the bacon-wrapped duck with jalapeno and cream cheese from Matt Moore’s “A Southern Gentleman’s Kitchen: Adventures in Cooking, Eating and Living in the New South.” Finally, for dinner, filet mignon with mustard cream sauce and wild mushrooms with roasted root vegetables. For dessert, I might bring out a little Lillet Blanc.
If I end up shorting us in the champagne department, never fear, Drizly will come to the rescue and the front door with a fresh bottle. The delivery service gets your order to you within an hour and you remain off the roads.
The playlist is still in progress and I’ll likely have a movie on tap as well, just in case. Either way, watching the Crescent City Countdown fleur de lis drop and fireworks in the comfort and convenience of home with a glass of chilled bubbly, sounds like the perfect way to welcome 2016.
Cheers!