Adios, '07

Yes, I realized I promised only 'new' posts from now on. But I'd forgotten all about our New Year's eve day get-together.

While we love to entertain, neither Matt nor I really enjoy the whole going out process. Too loud, too crowded, too smoky, too...whatever.
No, we prefer sweeping up all the puppy hair from the corners of the rooms, putting out the nice plates, and setting out lots of food for our friends and family over squeezing into a bar or restaurant with complete strangers.

So, when we learned that many of our friends who'd been in town for Christmas were going to still be here New Year's day, we decided to have a sort of 'open house'. Nothing fancy, just good food, lots of 'dry' beverages, and chairs to sit on.

Matt found these nearly-day-glo tortilla chips; despite their color, they are in fact organic and 'naturally' colored. Thin, and deceivingly addictive. That with salsa made a nice starter.



What could be simpler than sandwiches? Two choices: a more-or-less "Italian" sammy, or a smoked turkey and cheese with chipotle mayonnaise.



Our 'main': black bean & chocolate chili. Completely vegetarian, and entirely wonderful. I made a double batch, thinking we'd live off left-overs for a while (and we did), but almost everyone took seconds.



And of course, cookies! I didn't make nearly as many as I'd planned, but they still went over well. The lighting in our dining room leaves much to be desired, paired with those ten-foot ceilings, but I think you get the idea.






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Tagged with: Food and Drink + Holidays + Baking + Family + Friends + Vegetarian + Sandwiches + Cookies + Chili