Ringing in the New Year

Angie & Travers

We spent an amazing night ringing in the new year of 2012. We started planning a few weeks ago, and Travers came up with a brilliant idea to have a progressive dinner. This is where the party starts at one house for appetizers, then moves to another for the entrees, then to another for dessert. So along with our friends the Rosinskys, the Vissers, and Peter, we planned our last night for 2011.

The Rosinskys - Mike & Shelley

Because of my husband's fame of having the best party music playlist in Geneva, we were elected to go first for appetizers, so we could listen to his music mix and get into the party mood right away.  Mike and Shelley were on for entrees, the Vissers, Dave and Angie, were on for dessert, and Peter brought champagne, a necessity on new year's eve!

Dave & Me

I shopped for all the food the Friday before, and on Saturday, picked up a few last minute things and started prepping by about 2pm. Everyone was due to come over by 5pm. And I figured it was plenty of time. Well, it was just the right amount of time as it turned out. We were literally plating as the clock struck 5pm. (we don't actually have a clock that strikes, but you know what i mean). Thankfully, everyone was a fashionably 15 min late so we had a slight buffer for us to get our outfits on and make sure everything was ready to go!  Here are a few pics of our dishes. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos before everyone started eating!

We made 3 types of 'toppers' which are baguette slices baked with olive oil, then topped with the following: 1. Brie Cheese, Apple Slice, and Carmelized Onion. 2. Fig Jam, Goat Cheese, and Sliced Walnut, and 3. Fig Jam, Honey, and Sea Salt.  Yumm!  We also made Megan's Meatball Delight (we thought of the name that night), which is a mini homemade meatball (yeah thats right, HOME MADE), some marinara sauce, and some mozzarella, wrapped inside a small pastry dough (not home made), then baked into delicious goodness.

We then also made some prosiutto wrapped melon bites.  Now this was a risk as I am not an expert on melons and the store only had 2 kinds, neither of which were honeydew. I kept trying to look them up online before I bought, but in the end, just picked one and hoped when I sliced it open, it would look ok. And by the looks of our half-eaten tray here, I was successful. I used a Melon D'Hiver (winter melon), sliced it up, seeded it, and took off the rind. I then sliced up some prosciutto and wrapped each piece, held together with a toothpick. And for all those recipes out there that say you don't need a toothpick to hold the prosciutto on the melon, I think they are wrong. There was no way this was staying put together without it. And besides, don't you need something to pick the melon up with to eat instead of your hands?

After a couple hours, we moved onto the Rosinskys for the entrees.  They served a traditional Swiss meal, including fondue (yumm), Wiener Schnitzel, Rosti/Scalloped Potatoes, Sauerkraut, and Salad. They had a beautiful table set up, and Mike even dressed in his lederhosen outfit to get us into the spirit.

Mike in Lederhose with the schnitzel!

Dave checking out the fondue

After striking a pose for the camera, we filled some to go cups with coffee, hot chocolate, and mint liqueur to keep us warm for the walk over. Even though we were full, we were all really excited to see what the Vissers came up with for dessert!

Fierce!

The Dessert!

And we were not disappointed. They went all out! They had chocolate fondue with pretzels, cookies, waffles, and fruit to dip in. They had home made rice crispy treats, home made peanut butter balls, homemade truffles! It was amazing! And even though we were full, it was too good to resist.

The Boys!

The Girls!

Good thing our last stop was one of our favorite dance clubs, La Sip, so we could dance off all the food we just ate!  We made it there just before midnight, did the countdown, and then danced for the next few hours to some of our favorite songs! Bonne Année!