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BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches- that's concrete. Other than that, a baked brie, some kind of cake with chocolate buttercream frosting... now i'm getting hungry!

Eve - party appetizers galore, very late dinner w/beef tenderloin, shrimp, lobster tails ++++. 'twill be amazing.

I'm an overnight guest, and cooking some of NYDay traditional good luck in the new year PA Dutch dinner. Someone else is bringing lentil soup (Italian). I'm doing pork & sauerkraut (and I'm going to try adding kielbasa, as I saw on another thread) to which I add a little apple cider as my secret ingredient. My "most awesome mashed potatoes bake". Haven't shared that recipe yet - haha. Roasted carrots & parsnips, and some kind of edible greenery. Of course, have to have chunky cinnamon-ie applesauce with pork, as well as cranberry apple waldorf. Dessert is being supplied by others.

I need to check out the superstitions of other regions & cultures, because I need to improve my luck. Maybe I should have scrapple for breakfast, and pork roll for lunch, and a hog jowl appetizer before dinner?

I always make Veal Oscar on New Year's Eve, wild rice and a veggie. Always always.

So far, I'm planning to make:

* pork pot stickers
* prawn egg rolls
* bread sticks wrapped in bacon (our own silly NY's tradition)
* a large cheese, fruit & crackers platter
* possibly, something with crab meat
* homemade gravlax with dill and capers

There probably will be more starters, but I haven't given it much thought yet (tomorrow is when I officially am going to think of it).

I was thinking of making a late night sit down dinner of green salad, porterhouse steaks, prawns sauteed in white wine and roasted asparagus, but now that it seems that we may have more people over than I thought AND having been inspired by Jerzee and Perky's descriptions, I'm actually thinking of pork & sauerkraut with mash (plus, I could also use all the luck I can get), and I was thinking of maybe smoking some sausages and throwing them in as well. Speaking of which, @Perky or @Jerzee - do you use pork loin or shoulder for yours? I have both and can't decide which one I'd like to use (although OH is strongly pulling for the shoulder). I can still go with the steak & prawn dinner for the eve, and pork & sauerkraut for the day, we'll see.

For dessert, I'm thinking of making my Gran's Zebra cake with chocolate ganache - haven't made this one in a long time.

Everyone is scattered on the Eve so I'm making a New Year's Day supper. For apps I'm going to make gravlax, broccoli rabe pesto, and my never fail chicken liver pate. The main will be a brisket probably done with lots of onions and some beer. Cole slaw, creamed kale, and I think some roasted squash. Haven't figured out dessert yet, but there's plenty of time . . .!!!

Sorry, no good answer here. Chef BF is working, of course, so there isn't even a kiss on my NYE menu :(

Mr. Meatloaf has announced he's doing NYE dinner, and won't tell me what - except that he just realized we need more sparkling wine, having gone through four, count 'em, four bottles since Christmas Day. (A little Roederer Estate is right next to the computer, in fact, and I highly recommend it for a reasonably priced bottle, less than $20, something that winery didn't used to offer. Good stuff in the trad French style.)

I'm thinking he's ordering oysters since he saw them in the NY Times. He doesn't cook, he buys, which is a talent in and of itself, of course, So who knows what else? There is a little of the leftover Caribbean black cake, which turned out to be wondrous, so I'll try to keep that back, just in case.

For New Year's Eve. This is the chance I have to rid the fridge and freezer of ingredients not used over Christmas:

Deviled eggs with smoked salmon and chives
Crockpot weinies
Wonton Cups, with sausage and pepper jack cheese
various cheese and crackers
Various cookies, cakes, and candies leftover from Christmas.

New Year's Day,

Lamb shanks with rosemary and mint sauce
mushroom polenta
roasted veggies.

Make sure you all eat your blackeyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck!!!

new years eve is homemade pizza, pot stickers, and assorted apps munched while in a precoma state on the couch, then napping till 11:45 and bed at 12:02 New years day is probably rib roast soup although I'm starting to lean toward paella now that Jerzee putme in the mood for it.

We're going to graze our way throughout the evening. Mini bites of many things. Crab stuffed mushrooms, little quiche, asian chicken salad in cucumber cups just to name a few. I'm thinking about trying the bacon bowl thing on mini muffin pans to create a minature version and put what ever comes to mind in them. I'm also thinking about new golden potato skins, or maybe a twice baked version for a little bite of one of my son's favorite things. New Year's day will be a leisurely brunch of eggs and a sandwich bar. Dinner--fend for yourself. I'll be in bed early, tired from all of the holiday cooking that just didn't seem to end with family and friends stopping by here and there.

Roederer, as I spoke of, if he likes the French style of toastiness, and most of it is higher-priced than that. Is he a French-only guy? Is he just being a wiseguy when he disses Dom? I'm wild about Billecart-Saumon if I'm on an expense account. I am generally fond of all kinds of bubblies, from the sparkling shirazes from Australia to prosecco to the Widow to many of the California brands. We had the B-Saumon at our very small wedding, and I found a slightly sweet prosecco for my son's rehearsal dinner, which was full of non-wine-drinkers, and it was a great hit - my DIL's 80-plus granddad, a delightful guy, was so thrilled with it, I sent him home with the last bottle.

Gourmet Guy forgot the cabbage. Mine will be stewed with a bit of tasso and of course the blackeye peas and sausage.

@therealchiff: i prefer veuve cliquot champagne for nye.

my tradition is pork, kielbasa, & sauerkraut simmering in a crockpot with a bottle of dark beer for 12 hours. i serve them with mashed taters and chunky, warm, homemade applesauce.

@stacemace, it just would be a matter of getting more ingredients when I make it for hubby and myself we like some the next day so I buy extra veal, it gets pricy but he's worth it! I just flour the veal cutlets, lightly pan fry in a grapeseed oil/butter mixture, place the cooked cutlets in a baking pan (bigger than a 13 x 9) lay some thin steamed asparagus on top, then crabmeat and top with my homemade hollandaise sauce. Then throw under a hot broiler. Wild rice and sauteed zucchini with dill and garlic.

I've finally finalised my menu, and in addition to what I've written upthread, I'll be making:

*Falafel with tahini sauce
*Assorted tempura - (prawns, veg and even sliced cornichons:-))
*Puff pastry bites with smoked sausage, onions and peppers
*Black-eyed pea salad

And I'll be definitely making pork & sauerkraut with mash. Off to make pot stickers and spring rolls!

I'm raiding the cheese shop at Wegmans and having my own cheese tasting.

Okay, as requested:

Penne alla Vodka Martini,
With Tomatoes, Sausages, Bacon, and Cream

I always thought penne alla vodka needed the buttery, slightly herbal lilt of vermouth, benefiting by the way it works in a nice, velvety martini. This incredibly rich, voluptuous pasta creation loves to be practically covered with vegetable-peeler curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano, so keep that happily in mind. The choice of bacon or pancetta at the outset is completely up to you: Bacon lends a light smoky flavor; pancetta is more, well, Italian: lots of body with nice rich insinuations.

As for the crushed plum tomatoes, try to find a brand that doesn’t pack them in tomato purée—it can make the sauce too thick. If the order of the list of ingredients on the can begins with tomato purée, keep looking. Muir Glen crushed tomatoes are very good, but if you can find real imported San Marzano tomatoes, lunge. And you can always “crush your own’’ right in the can with a trusty fork.

It takes a certain vigilance to stir and reduce the sauce for the last 10 minutes over spittingly high heat, but it’s worth it, believe me. But if you haven’t got a splatter screen, then God bless you.

The pasta-to-sauce ratio would make Marcella Hazan (among many others) wince. Too bad.

1/4 lb. slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
or 1/4 lb. pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large onion, well chopped
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 28-oz. can crushed plum tomatoes, with juice included
About 2 lb. sweet Italian sausage, the best you can get; fennel-free, if possible
3/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup French dry vermouth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb. good dried penne rigate
Plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano,
freshly grated and shaved with a vegetable peeler
Oregano, fresh chopped or dried
More dried red pepper flakes, if desired

In a good, deep, heavy-duty sauté pan, cook the bacon/pancetta over moderate heat until most of the fat is rendered. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons (if you wish) and add the onion and red pepper flakes, and cook just until onions are soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat, and simmer for a half-hour, stirring every 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to the boil in a large saucepan. Prick the sausages with a pin every inch or so and toss them into the water. Bring them to the simmer and let them bubble away for 10 minutes. Drain the sausages and cool them in a colander. And meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the penne, which will probably need no more than about 10-12 minutes to cook, so don’t add it to the boiling water until the final phase.

Add the vodka, vermouth, and tomato paste to the tomato mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cut the cooled sausages into bite-sized pieces and toss them into the sauce.

Just when you’re ready to add the penne to the boiling water, turn the heat under the sauce to high, add the cream, and, using a splatter screen as needed, and, stirring often, boil the sauce vigorously for 10 minutes, about the amount of time the pasta needs to cook. The sauce will, of course, thicken considerably.

You can blend the cooked penne with the sauce, stirring in the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, oregano, and optional additional red pepper flakes, and serve that with curled peelings of Parm-Regg, OR:

Heat the broiler. Drain the pasta and, without rinsing, transfer it to a 2 1/2-quart (or larger) gratin. Add the sauce and stir in (to taste) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, the oregano, and the optional additional red pepper flakes. Run the gratin watchfully under the broiler until the penne poking out of the top of the gratin begin to singe and crisp and the sauce sizzles, 2-4 minutes. Serve under curled peelings of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Yield: 4 large servings, but it’s great for 2, because the leftovers are particularly succulent.

New Year's Eve: Dragon's Portoguese chicken wings, beef teriyaki, shrimp toast, pigs in the blanket, liverwurst spread, goat cheese and smoked salmon spread, artichoke heart gratin,teriyaki peanut mix called Tiki mix (from Food and Wine mag) with peanuts, pineapple and bacon, mini crabcakes with remoulade,edamame and for dessert miniature danish and chocolate Pavlova. Featured beverage- Clamato Bloody Marys.
New Year's Day: Chicken thighs sauteed with pancetta and garlic, spaetzle and a green like turnip or mustard greens and the leftovers from the night before.

I always use pork shoulder unless all I can get is a pork roast or loin.
Some fat on it works well if you are finishing in the oven which in this weather I would do.
@chiff I love GA and you should go to Buckhead. When I am visiting Mr. Tomato's family we all go to Buckhead. Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Savor Specialty Foods, Fresh Fare, and Trader Joe's.
What is there not to love?

Sushi, shrimp & cocktail sauce, stuffed mushrooms, elcairs, puff pastry thingies with whipped cream and raspberries on them, crackers and boursin, veggie tray, and I'm debating making melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies.

homemade pizza for NYE...i've been jonesin' for some shrimp, so maybe a pesto shrimp pie? yum.

@PerkyMac- your making me excited!

This morning I made Nigella Lawson's Asian Spiced Kedgeree. I was going to do something involving duck breast and red potatoes for dinner, but BF has decided he'd rather have pizza and wings. He's paying, so that's fine with me :) I'm getting lobster on my half of the pizza! Tomorrow I'm going to make sausage with lentils and orichette.

For a NYE party tonight, I'm making a cheeseball (kitschy, but delicious) and a loaf of homemade braided sourdough (for easy pulling apart).

The cheeseball is the standard sort (1 packet cream cheese, loads of finely grated cheddar, a wedge of blue, furiously stirred together) with some sun-dried tomato pesto and roasted garlic for flavourings.

The bread is a white-flour only (I ran out of ww), version of THE GREATEST BREAD RECIPE IN THE MULTIIVERSE.

black-eyed peas with ham hock
cabbage with slab bacon (not sure if i'm boiling or sauteing yet)
whole wheat bread (the new baking fetish is bubbling on the counter as we speak).
perhaps some biscuits so there are enough vehicles for the bringing of apple butter to the mouth.
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pajamas