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10 New Year’s food traditions around the world

10 New Year’s food traditions around the world

Story highlights

Pickled herring, lentils and noodles all make appearances on global New Year’s menus

In the American South, hoppin’ john, made with rice and field peas, is said to bring good luck

King cakes are part of the festivities in many cultures



CNN
 — 

New Year’s Day is meant for fresh starts. But maybe even more, it’s meant for food.

As the new year arrives around the world, special cakes and breads abound, as do long noodles (representing long life), field peas (representing coins), herring (representing abundance) and pigs (representing good luck).

The particulars vary, but the general theme is the same: Enjoy food and drink to usher in a year of prosperity.

Here are 10 good-luck servings of New Year’s food traditions around the world:

Field peas or black-eyed peas are the base for Hoppin' John.

A major New Year’s food tradition in the American South, Hoppin’ John is a dish of pork-flavored field peas or black-eyed peas (symbolizing coins) and rice, frequently served with collards or other cooked greens (as they’re the color of money) and cornbread (the color of gold). The dish is said to bring good luck in the new year.

Different folklore traces the history and the name of this meal, but the current dish has its roots in African and West Indian traditions and was most likely brought over by slaves to North America. A recipe for Hoppin’ John appears as early as 1847 in Sarah Rutledge’s “The Carolina Housewife” and has been reinterpreted over the centuries by home and professional chefs.

The dish reportedly got its name in Charleston, South Carolina, and it is a veritable staple of Lowcountry cooking.

In Spain, they bring in the new year with 12 grapes. The tradition has spread to many Spanish-speaking countries.

The people of Spain traditionally watch a broadcast from Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where revelers gather in front of the square’s clock tower to ring in the New Year.

Those out in the square and those watching at home partake in an unusual annual tradition: At the stroke of midnight, they eat one grape for every toll of the clock bell. Some even prep their grapes – peeling and seeding them – to make sure they will be as efficient as possible when midnight comes.

The custom began at the turn of the 20th century and was purportedly thought up by grape producers in the southern part of the country with a bumper crop. Since then, the tradition has spread to many Spanish-speaking nations.

Tamales get special attention in Mexico during the holiday season.

Tamales, corn dough stuffed with meat, cheese and other delicious additions and wrapped in a banana leaf or a corn husk, make appearances at pretty much every special occasion in Mexico. But the holiday season is an especially favored time for the food.

In many families, groups of women gather together to make hundreds of the little packets – with each person in charge of one aspect of the cooking process – to hand out to friends, family and neighbors. On New Year’s, it’s often served with menudo, a tripe and hominy soup that is famously good for hangovers.

Those who live in cities with large Mexican populations shouldn’t have much trouble finding restaurants selling tamales to go for New Year’s Eve and Day. In Mexico City, steamed tamales are sold from vendors on street corners day and night.

An oliebol is a doughnut-like product, traditionally made and consumed in the Netherlands during the New Year's celebrations.

In the Netherlands, fried oil balls, or oliebollen, are sold by street carts and are traditionally consumed on New Year’s Eve and at special celebratory fairs. They are doughnut-like dumplings, made by dropping a scoop of dough spiked with currants or raisins into a deep fryer and then dusted with powdered sugar.

In Amsterdam, be on the lookout for Oliebollenkraams, little temporary shacks or trailers on the street selling packets of hot fried oliebollen.

Fresh marzipan made in the shape of little pigges.

Austria and neighbor Germany call New Year’s Eve Sylvesterabend, or the eve of Saint Sylvester. Austrian revelers drink a red wine punch with cinnamon and spices, eat suckling pig for dinner and decorate the table with little pigs made of marzipan, called marzipanschwein.

Good luck pigs, or Glücksschwein, which are made of all sorts of things, are also common gifts throughout both Austria and Germany.

Many Japanese slurp down bowls of delicious Soba noodles to welcome the new year.

In Japanese households, families eat buckwheat soba noodles, or toshikoshi soba, at midnight on New Year’s Eve to bid farewell to the year gone by and welcome the year to come. The tradition dates back to the 17th century, and the long noodles symbolize longevity and prosperity.

In another custom called mochitsuki, friends and family spend the day before New Year’s pounding mochi rice cakes. Sweet, glutinous rice is washed, soaked, steamed and pounded into a smooth mass. Then guests take turns pinching off pieces to make into small buns that are later eaten for dessert.

The French do enjoy their galette des rois.

The tradition of a New Year’s cake is one that spans countless cultures. The Greeks have the Vasilopita, the French the gateau or galette des rois. Mexicans have the Rosca de Reyes and Bulgarians enjoy the banitsa.

Most of the cakes are consumed at midnight on New Year’s Eve – though some cultures cut their cake on Christmas or the Epiphany, January 6 – and include a hidden gold coin or figure, which symbolizes a prosperous year for whomever finds it in their slice.

Cotechino con lenticchie is the yummy Italian pairing of sausage and lentils.

Italians celebrate New Year’s Eve with La Festa di San Silvestro, often commencing with a traditional cotechino con lenticchie, a sausage and lentil stew that is said to bring good luck (the lentils represent money and good fortune) and, in certain households, zampone, a stuffed pig’s trotter.

The meal ends with chiacchiere – balls of fried dough that are rolled in honey and powdered sugar – and prosecco. The dishes find their roots in Modena, but New Year’s Eve feasts thrive across the country.

Rolled herring in vinegar, served with onions and pickles.

Because herring is in abundance in Poland and parts of Scandinavia and because of their silver coloring, many in those nations eat pickled herring at the stroke of midnight to bring a year of prosperity and bounty. Some eat pickled herring in cream sauce while others have it with onions.

One special Polish New Year’s Eve preparation of pickled herring, called Sledzie Marynowane, is made by soaking whole salt herrings in water for 24 hours and then layering them in a jar with onions, allspice, sugar and white vinegar.

Scandinavians will often include herring in a larger midnight smorgasbord with smoked and pickled fish, pate and meatballs.

This is a traditional Norwegian marzipan ring cake.

Kransekage, literally wreath cake, is a cake tower composed of many concentric rings of cake layered atop one another, and they are made for New Year’s Eve and other special occasions in Denmark and Norway.

The cake is made using marzipan, often with a bottle of wine or Aquavit in the center and can be decorated with ornaments, flags and crackers.


This article was originally published in December 2012. CNN’s Forrest Brown updated the article for 2022.

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New Belgium Just Changed Fat Tire’s Beer Recipe After 32 Years

New Belgium Just Changed Fat Tire’s Beer Recipe After 32 Years

For much more than 3 decades, New Belgium Brewery Company’s Extra fat Tire has been a single of the most recognizable and reliable beers of the craft brewery movement. When the simple-ingesting amber ale debuted in 1991, the craft brewery scene was in its infancy, and the market — along with the earth at substantial — has improved a whole lot considering that then.

Now, on the other hand, Extra fat Tire is shifting with it.

On January 18th, New Belgium is formally debuting a manufacturer-new Body fat Tire. Not only does the iconic beer obtain a beauty makeover with new branding and artwork for its bottles, but the beer alone is now getting brewed with a full new recipe. The brewery describes the reimagined amber ale as “straightforward ingesting, with a medium human body, crisp end, and deep gold coloration” with a taste profile of “refined caramel and floral aromas and light-weight bitterness.”

“Longtime Fats Tire drinkers will plainly figure out the unique Fat Tire flavor when tasting the new recipe,” recipe developer and New Belgium Brewmaster Christian Holbrook explained in a assertion. “So much, many are telling us they desire the crisper, brighter edition and experience enthusiastic for the improve.”

fat tire cans

New Belgium Brewing

Regardless of whether longtime Body fat Tire adherents in the end take to the reformulation or not remains to be witnessed (ideally, New Belgium would like to prevent a New Coke predicament), but the dilemma continues to be: why make the alter to commence with? It is really not like Excess fat Tire was struggling. According to the manufacturer alone, the beer was the 16th best-providing craft manufacturer in the U.S. past year if it were a standalone brewery, Fat Tire would rank as the nation’s 18th largest.

Well, Body fat Tire has often promoted local weather advocacy — in 2020, it turned the nation’s first carbon-neutral beer — and the new Unwanted fat Tire is extra dedicated to this mission than ever right before. Just take a look at the beer’s Instagram website page and you can expect to see that all posts prior to the rebranding have been scrubbed, and most new posts concentration on sustainability and local climate action. Unwanted fat Tire is on a mission to help save the planet, and to get the phrase out, the beer has grabbed headlines by altering its iconic recipe.

“We are embarking on a wholesale reimagining of our recipe and the legendary Fat Tire manufacturer to inspire the future generation close to improved beer and a better planet,” Adam Fetcher, Sr. Director of Comms, Digital & Public Engagement at New Belgium & Bell’s Brewery, explained to me in an e-mail. “Craft beer has come a extensive way considering that we aided set it on the map, and the weather disaster — which threatens the really beer we make — continues to get worse each individual yr.

Now is the time to enlist each individual one man or woman in the battle from local climate alter, and we want to engage in our part in mobilizing beer drinkers. So we’re taking a major stage ahead with Body fat Tire, in two techniques: 1) Generating a crisper, brighter, and even superior Excess fat Tire that will permit us to arrive at a broader audience of beer drinkers and local weather advocates, and 2) Debuting a daring new glimpse to highlight our deep and ongoing investments in climate answers, to assistance encourage the upcoming technology of beer drinkers to be a part of us.”

In a natural way, leading to this sort of a big adjust to a longstanding beloved product or service carries hazards, such as alienating or angering that product’s core sector. Fetcher explained to me he’s informed of these challenges, but eventually has religion in Fats Tire’s new recipe. “We know a transform like this will be difficult for longtime admirers, having said that, we inspire them to check out the new recipe,” Fetcher mentioned. “We strongly feel our new recipe and the new brand name will assist Body fat Tire acquire renewed momentum, make a higher constructive effects for our world and connect with the subsequent technology — just as we’ve inspired an overall era of craft beer admirers up right up until now.”

a can of fat tire next to a glass of beer

Ryan Brower

A single of our senior editors (and beer fans) Ryan Brower, who was a admirer of the first Extra fat Tire, has presently experienced a likelihood to test the reimagined model. Here’s precisely what he thinks of the new recipe:

“I do not loathe it. It is sort of a combo involving a blonde ale and a lager that hits fairly crisp and has way much more of a hop profile than the first Fats Tire. Off the bat, savvy drinkers will recognize hints of the OG malt bill and yeast, but this is a snappy drinker that lends by itself to numerous diverse instances than the primary — assume ball online games, heat weather conditions BBQs and the like. Amber ales have not been a style beer drinkers have been trying to get out for decades (myself involved, even although I adore a excellent one, the only a single I have sought out in new yrs has been Troeg’s Nugget Nectar). And though I am saddened by an OG craft recipe transforming, I do consider this is a valiant hard work and something that I could possibly be much more inclined to purchase for quick-ingesting events. I just wish it experienced been an addition to the Fat Tire spouse and children and not a full overhaul, as we’ve now received to pour one particular out for a accurate American craft beer OG.”

If you might be seeking to try out the new Extra fat Tire for you, get a sixer or 12-pack from Drizly.

New Belgium Brewing

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Black soulful dishes in high demand around New Year’s

Black soulful dishes in high demand around New Year’s

There’s no resting for David and Tonya Thomas following Christmas.

The food historians behind the catering company H3irloom Food Group start getting inundated with orders and inquiries for New Year’s Eve and Day “plates” in early December. By the 19th, they release their menu composed of fried Maryland blue catfish, black-eyed peas, collard greens, and cornbread, and start watching the orders roll in.

“We have a big response,” she said with a laugh. “Last year, we added delivery in real time. This year, we’re sticking to pre-orders only. The response was too great.”

Although the practice of eating these soulful dishes on the night of Dec. 31 and on Jan. 1 is deeply rooted in Black and Southern culture, the large numbers of people looking to reconnect with and honor those traditions mean that there is a market for selling these treasured cuisines.

For Black chefs, bakers and caterers in the Baltimore area, New Year’s Day has become a very busy and lucrative time, as customers seek traditional Black cuisine superstitiously associated with bringing fortune and good luck in the following months.

People on the New Year’s holidays eat dishes such as black-eyed peas, which represent good luck; collard greens, which represent money; and cornbread, which is another symbol of wealth. Combining fried fish or a fish entrée with greens means money and progress. Eating pork is also a source of good luck. And consuming the nutrient rich “potlikker”—the juice from cooked collard greens—is considered an elixir on New Year’s Day. Some Black families avoid eating all types of fowl over the two days because it is believed that these winged animals — even ones that can’t fly, such as chicken and turkey — are capable of flying away with good luck. Many of these foods and traditions are traced back to Black Americans’ African origins.

The New Year’s Eve platter, prepared by H3irloom Food Group co-owner and chef David Thomas. (Philip Muriel for the Baltimore Banner)

Brooklyn-based food historian Tonya Hopkins is not surprised to hear of the increased interest in New Year’s food traditions. But she is surprised that so many people are letting others cook these traditional meals, which has been considered bad luck in some circles.

“Growing up on New Year’s Eve, you needed to have those beans simmering and greens cleaned. They needed to be cooking on your stove,” she said. “This is a whole new version of the tradition. It’s the trend of people wanting good food. They can maintain traditions and not cook it themselves.”

The Thomases said they were fortunate enough to grow up in homes where such end-of-year traditions were commonplace, but they know there are many who were not exposed to the meals or simply cannot cook themselves.

“These are age-old traditions that have been around for hundreds of years. There is a generation [that] has stopped being in the kitchen. The tradition was built around the family and us being together. We want to bring that back,” he said.

Hopkins believes that the trend that the Baltimore culinary industry is experiencing is indicative of a greater cultural exchange occurring throughout the country.

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Hopkins recalled being in a grocery store last year when a white customer tried to purchase the last bunch of collard greens right out of her hands.

“I thought, ‘What has the world come to when a younger white man tried to talk an older Black woman out of the greens so he could observe the tradition?’” she said with a laugh. “The tradition is so big, and beyond the Black world.”

Hopkins, who is known on social media as The Food Griot, thinks it’s a good thing for non-Black groups to adopt the tradition as part of their New Year’s Eve and Day traditions.

“Food is one way to exchange culture. That’s my favorite way. I have no problem with it,” she said. “I would be a hypocrite. I make tamales with my Mexican American friends during the holidays. I have to be open to folks of another culture being excited about the tradition and adopting it. I think it’s beautiful. That is assuming it’s about learning about people and their history and that they are doing it respectfully.”

Tonya Thomas, middle, and David Thomas, right, work with their staff to prepare 7UP Cake in their kitchen in East Baltimore. The chefs and co-owners of H3irloom Food Group are known for their annual New Year’s Eve platter. (Philip Muriel for the Baltimore Banner)

The Thomases, who have sold out of the meals since first offering them in 2020, see them as a way of not only providing a service, but of preserving Black culture.

For example, the Thomases are quick to point out the significance of selling these platters or “plates” during this time of year as a nod to the Black church, where meals were sold after services as a way of raising funds. Fried fish was a logical option to sell due to its abundance — especially in communities with close proximity to waterways like Baltimore.

“We need it to be picked back up again,” she said. “If no one keeps these traditions, these will be lost.”

He added: “It’s up to us to put the city on our back and help to keep these traditions alive. It’s about our community. How do we continue to educate our people about who we are. And if we bring people together around this story, we would be better.”

Kora Polydore, owner of Kora Lee’s, a soul food bakery and café in Catonsville, has been selling up to 60 plates consisting of fried fish and sides of baked mac and cheese, black-eyed peas, yams, deviled eggs, or potato salad with a piece of cornbread since 2019.

“People have been really rallying around traditions this holiday season since gatherings have gotten larger,” she said. “People care again. Like, people are interested in carrying on legacy again.”

The business’ top seller? Black-eyed peas.

Polydore uses a traditional recipe for her black-eyed peas. That means fatback or pig’s feet. No smoked turkey for the superstitious staple.

“It doesn’t taste like my granny’s with that turkey,” she said.

For Cia Carter, the owner of Miss Carter’s Place downtown and Miss Carter’s Kitchen in Edmondson Village, her black-eyed peas are highly sought after the first day of the year and beyond.

“I am literally making and serving black-eyed peas four months after the new year,” she said.

Although the chef has been making her version of black-eyed peas for years with her grandmother, she started selling it beginning on New Year’s Day just a couple years ago, when customers started inquiring if she could make the smoky dish, which is seasoned with pork.

“My black-eyed peas are not to be played with. They’re better than your grandmother’s,” she said. “I use two different smoked meats and I add a little collard green to mine. I take it to New Orleans and use a little creole seasoning.”

She also sells a lot of collard greens, fried chicken, and any kind of fried fish, including catfish, whiting, lake trout and steak fish.

Carter said her clientele requesting the dishes has diversified over the years.

“I have made nonbelievers, believers,” the Sandtown native said. “When I first started, I was just serving the Black community. Now my customers are Black and white.”

Food historian Tonya Hopkins. (Courtesy of Tonya Hopkins)

Ultimately, Hopkins hopes that this cultural shift will benefit Black people in every aspect of the food industry.

“Is it a real shift in power and all of that? I don’t know. Is it a box checked or are we trying to make some real change happen?” asked Hopkins, the host of Food Network’s miniseries, The Kwanzaa Menu, which focuses on the foods associated with the annual holiday that celebrates African American culture from Dec. 26 to January 1.

“The problem is the commerce side of it. It is what happens in America. When the idea comes from us, the profit goes to corporate America,” she said. “I wish there were black grocers making money from the greens and peas. I want us to have a full circle moment where it is grown by a Black farmer, sold by a Black grocer, and cooked by everybody.”

johnj.williams@thebaltimorebanner.com

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The 5 best Champagne cocktail recipes to level up your New Year’s Eve party

The 5 best Champagne cocktail recipes to level up your New Year’s Eve party

Is there anything more festive than Champagne? This bubbly drink has the power to transform any humdrum gathering into a sparkling good time more than any other beverage, we’d argue. The beautiful glassware, the way the bubbles tickle your nose, the fact that we raise it in the air when voicing our hopes and well wishes — all of these things combine to give us the world’s happiest drink. Alone, Champagne is all of these things and more. But when you add to it a few more delicious ingredients, something magical happens.

While the fizzy sweetness of Champagne remains the star of the show, mixing it into cocktails allows other flavors to shine along with it and create a Champagne drink that matches the mood of your party perfectly. Feeling natural and sophisticated? Add a little elderflower and pear to your Champagne for a party on the veranda, overlooking the garden. In the mood for a little holly and jolly? Toss a candy cane in your flute for an extra Christmasy cocktail. (Who cares that the holiday is over? You still have all those candy canes to go through.)

While a glass of Champagne is fabulous on its own, these Champagne cocktail recipes will really liven up your party this New Year’s Eve.

Champagne cocktail tips and tricks

Yes to Yolks

(From Yes to Yolks)

The bright and fruity freshness of elderflower is the perfect accent for crisp pear and sweet, bubbly Champagne. Together, they’re a burst of refreshment and flavor that make for the perfect party cocktail.

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces pear nectar
  • 2 ounces St. Germaine elderflower liqueur
  • 8 ounces chilled dry champagne or sparkling wine
  • Fresh pear, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)

Method:

  1. Pour 1 ounce each of pear nectar and elderflower liqueur into two glasses and top with the champagne. Garnish each glass with a slice of pear and serve.

Barley and Sage

(From Barley and Sage)

Elegant, simple, and timeless, this cocktail combines the earthy sweetness of fig with the sparkly pop of champagne. The result is exquisite and perfect for any holiday get-together.

Ingredients:

  • 4 fresh figs
  • 4 teaspoons sugar
  • 3 ounces vodka
  • 8 ounces champagne or sparkling wine

Method:

  1. Into a cocktail shaker, put figs, sugar, and vodka and muddle until figs have released all of their juice.

  2. Strain mixture into two coupe glasses and top with chilled champagne.
Half-Baked Harvest

(From Half-Baked Harvest)

This gorgeously fruity Champagne cocktail is not only beautiful, but full of festive flavor. We love the combinations of fizz and fruit, accented by Champagne’s signature bubble.

Ingredients:

  • 16 fresh mint leaves
  • 4 tablespoons pomegranate juice
  • Juice from 1 orange, either regular or blood orange
  • 2 ounces Cointreau 
  • 4 ounces ginger beer
  • Champagne or Prosecco, chilled, for topping
  • Pomegranate arils and orange slices, for serving

Method:

  1. In a cocktail shaker, combine mint, juices, and Cointreau. Fill with ice and shake 1 minute.

  2. Strain into two champagne or wine glasses filled with ice. Add the ginger beer and top with the champagne. Serve with pomegranate arils, orange slices, and mint.
Modern Farmhouse Eats

(From Modern Farmhouse Eats)

Serve this beautiful beverage as either a cocktail or a dessert and we’re guessing your guests will be absolutely delighted. Feel free to mix up your fruit and sherbet varieties for lots of flavorfully festive combinations.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries, plus more for garnishing 
  • 1 ounce lime juice
  • 2 ounces vodka
  • 2–6 scoops raspberry sherbet
  • Champagne
  • Fresh mint for garnishing (optional)

Method:

  1. In two glasses, muddle together the raspberries, lime juice, and vodka.

  2. Add the sherbet and top with champagne.
  3. Garnish with raspberries and mint, and serve.
Freutcake

(From Freutcake)

This holiday cocktail is a little bit “on the nose” when it comes to festive drinks, but we don’t care. The refreshing peppermint and bubbly Champagne make for the most celebratory of combinations and we can’t get enough. (Bonus? The candy canes are on sale this week.)

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces White Creme de Cacao
  • 10 ounces Champagne
  • 2 candy canes, crushed (for the rim)
  • 2 whole candy canes, for garnish

Method:

  1. In a zip-top bag, crush 2 whole candy cane into a fine powder.

  2. Dip the rims of your champagne flutes into a small dish of White Creme de Cocoa, then roll in the crushed candy canes.
  3. Add White Creme de Cocoa to champagne flutes and top with chilled Champagne.
  4. Garnish with candy canes and serve.

Editors’ Recommendations






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Easy appetizer recipes for your New Year’s Eve party

Easy appetizer recipes for your New Year’s Eve party

December 27, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EST

(Scott Suchman for The Washington Post/food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post)

Comment

It’s a busy time of year for many of us. We’re often juggling who we’re spending time with and where we’re going, and picking priorities can be difficult. Sometimes our desire for festivity runs up against reality.

New Year’s Eve is a prime example. We’ve just survived weeks of gathering with family and friends, probably with a lot of cooking. And now we’re supposed to do it all again?

To make it work, we suggest putting out a few of these festive, fun, flexible and foolproof snacks from the Voraciously team. These are the kinds of bites that take little in the way of ingredients, time and effort. Some require no cooking at all. Add a beverage or two — or recruit your guests to pitch in — and you’ll be set to greet the new year with a smile on your face.

Goat Cheese and Jam Phyllo Cups

Want to serve a fancy-looking hot nibble fast? This little gem from my friend and fellow food writer Suzy Leonard to the rescue. The frozen phyllo shells make the bite-size treats look a little elegant. You can fill them with goat cheese, which is my preference, or any soft or crumbly cheese you like, such as brie or feta. For the topper, consider pepper jelly (my favorite), fig jam or orange marmalade — or any flavors you like. Slip them in the oven for about 10 minutes and you’ll have bites of golden, crisp phyllo with a melty sweet-and-salty filling. One caution: Let them rest a minute or two. The topping will be hot.

All you need is: 15 frozen phyllo cups; 15 teaspoons soft chevre or goat cheese; and 8 teaspoons jam, jelly or marmalade.

To make it: Position a rack in the middle of an oven or toaster oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Place the phyllo cups on a baking sheet. Add 1 teaspoon of goat cheese to each cup. Top with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam, jelly or marmalade. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cups start to brown and the jam begins to bubble. Allow to cool for at least 2 minutes. The jam will be hot. Serve warm.

Potato Chips With Sour Cream and Salmon Roe

Years ago, my husband and I were invited to a New Year’s Eve party, and I volunteered to make a sweet potato lasagna (long story) and buckwheat blini with sour cream and salmon roe. Well, I managed to slice a tip of my finger off and almost ended up in the ER. We showed up with a finished lasagna — and a heavily bandaged hand that I had to keep elevated for hours — but the blini had to be jettisoned. Instead, I grabbed a bag of ruffled potato chips, and we made the best of it with dollops of sour cream decorating each chip, and a few jewel-like salmon roe orbs atop each creamy mound. This high-low appetizer is fun to assemble, even more fun to eat and pairs beautifully with any sparkling beverage. It’s so good that it’s become our go-to New Year’s appetizer. It takes minutes to throw together — and it doesn’t hurt that it comes with a story!

All you need is: A bag of lightly salted potato chips, preferably with ridges; an 8- or 16-ounce container of sour cream (it’s your party and I am not telling you how much sour cream to have); a 7-ounce jar of salmon caviar; and fresh chives for sprinkling.

To make it: Using a dessert spoon, dollop small mounds of sour cream on a number of potato chips (depending on how many people you’re serving). Top those mounds with a few salmon roe orbs and garnish with minced fresh chives. Serve with a bubbly — champagne, beer, hard cider or nonalcoholic libation — of your choosing.

Pepper, Olive and Anchovy Skewers

One of the most popular pintxos in Spain’s Basque region is known as Gilda, after the 1946 film starring Rita Hayworth, presumably because the snack is, like the femme fatale, salty and spicy. Designed to be eaten in a single bite, the brassy skewer proves the perfect companion to an aperitif or sparkling wine.

All you need for 8 skewers is: 16 manzanilla or other green pitted olives; 8 oil-packed Spanish anchovies; 8 pickled guindilla or other pickled green chile peppers; and extra-virgin olive oil (optional).

To make it: Trim the stems of the guindilla or other pickled green chile pepper, and if they’re large, cut in half. Thread an olive toward the bottom of a toothpick or other skewer. Follow with an anchovy, doubled over, and a pepper, also bent if it’s large. Finish with the second olive as a topper. Repeat with remaining toothpicks. A light drizzle of olive oil lends sheen and richness to the pintxo.

Roasting grapes, even ones that have started to go soft, gives them new life and flavor — and makes them nice enough to serve to company. They are also a fitting New Year’s Eve snack, given the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight. Roasted grapes work well as a snack on their own, but they pair especially well with cheese (or Ann’s goat cheese phyllo cups). Depending on how you want to serve them, you can remove all the grapes from the stems before roasting or separate them into small bunches still attached to the stems to let people grab a few at a time. Hat tip to the simple recipe on the Kitchn from Nora Singley, which inspired my approach.

All you need is: Up to 2 pounds seedless grapes, preferably a mix of green, red and black (Moon Drop are especially nice); olive oil; salt; black pepper; and sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme or rosemary (optional).

To make it: Position a rack in the middle of an oven or toaster oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Toss the grapes with 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil (use the higher amount for more grapes) and season with salt and pepper. Nestle the herbs among the grapes, if using. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how soft and jammy you want the grapes. Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

This dead-simple dish comes from the don’t-knock-it-till-you-try-it files. When I first reported on the social media phenomenon of people spreading softened butter onto cutting boards and topping the whole thing with Insta-friendly garnishes — and then dipping bread into the concoction — I thought it sounded a little silly. Why not just, uh, butter some bread? But then I needed a quick cocktail snack for visiting friends, and while scanning what ingredients I had, my eye landed on the butter dish. It’s not so much a recipe as a formula, and you can top it with whatever you have on hand. I tried fresh thyme, drizzles of honey and olive oil and a shower of Maldon salt. The result was a pretty and pleasing low-lift of a pantry appetizer — just don’t be surprised if guests tag you in their ’Gram of it.

All you need is: At least two sticks of butter, softened; toppings can be whatever you have around: honey, oil, nuts, capers, citrus zest, jam, figs, radish, pickled vegetables, capers, fresh herbs, dried fruit, roasted garlic, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, flaky or kosher salt, spice mixes and red pepper flakes. For dipping, crackers or crusty bread.

To make it: Spread the butter onto a cutting or bread board, leaving at least an inch around the edges (an offset spatula helps, but a regular knife does just fine). Top however you like, and serve with crackers and bread (I like to cut the latter into cubes to discourage double-dipping).

Cherries Stuffed With Hazelnuts

Here’s an easy appetizer born out of my own pantry grazing. We didn’t have trail mix, but we always have the elements: several types of nuts, several types of dried fruits. So I took my favorite combination, hazelnuts and dried cherries, and mashed them together — literally — and immediately knew I’d build on this idea for my next dinner party. A drizzle of pomegranate molasses brings some sticky tartness, and a sprinkle of ground chipotle powder adds a touch of heat. The hardest thing is finding the largest whole (not sliced) dried cherries possible, but even if you can’t, this still works.

All you need is: 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts (don’t worry about peeling them); 1/2 cup large dried whole cherries, preferably tart (Whole Foods 365 brand is good); pomegranate molasses; ground chipotle powder; and flaky sea salt.

To make it: Press each hazelnut into a dried cherry, smushing the cherry around the bottom of the nut as needed, and set them on a platter. Drizzle with a little pomegranate molasses, then sprinkle with chipotle powder and flaky salt.

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5 Champagne cocktail recipes to shake things up this New Year’s Eve

5 Champagne cocktail recipes to shake things up this New Year’s Eve
5 Champagne cocktail recipes to shake things up this New Year’s Eve

Sipping bubbly is a genuinely magical working experience. Why else would it be the drink of option for toasts and celebrations? But here’s what we want to know: Who mentioned champagne is only for specific instances?

So today we are sharing 5 champagne cocktail recipes to support you shake up some sparkles as we head into the new yr. Simply because, let us be real, there is often a thing to celebrate. And, of study course, champagne is often a fantastic notion.

Devoid of more ado, let’s make some champagne cocktails!

THE Classic CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL

Classic champagne cocktail

This is one particular of the oldest recipes in the book, relationship again to the mid-1800s, according to Difford’s Information. The bitters add depth of taste and a gorgeous amber coloration, when the sugar carries on to bubble as it dissolves, generating your cocktail look like a glass total of sparkles.

What you’ll require:

  • 1 sugar dice (1 teaspoon sugar)
  • 2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 4-6 ounces glowing wine

To make this cocktail, just saturate a sugar cube with a several drops of Angostura bitters. Drop the cube into a champagne flute, and bit by bit major glass with glowing wine. Garnish with a lemon or orange rind. This cocktail is a excellent way to preserve things straightforward but nonetheless set a twist on your glass of champagne.

CHAMPAGÑERITA

The champagñerita cocktail

This champagne cocktail is a twist on everyone’s beloved salted-rim tequila and lime cocktail: the margarita. But this version has a sugared rim in its place of a salted a single.

What you will have to have:

  • 1 teaspoon basic syrup
  • 1 ounce tequila
  • 1 ounce orange liqueur (we used Grand Marnier)
  • 1 ounce contemporary-squeezed lime juice
  • 2 ounces champagne
  • Lime rounds and sugar for garnish