Southern Style Cooking: Small Bites Perfect for New Year’s Eve

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Small Bites Perfect for New Year’s Eve

New Year's Eve Is for Small Bites

Adriana Velez,
Senior Editor

I've got a photo from New Year's Eve two years ago, where I'm holding a black balloon; little did I know what an apt harbinger of 2020 that would turn out to be. The following NYE we toasted, at home, to the end of all that. Ha! The end. Hilarious. Now here we are again, at the cusp of 2022, and I know better than to feel wildly optimistic.

But you know what? I'm going to party anyway (safely, in a cabin, just my husband and me). Because if the past two years have taught me anything, they've taught me to savor every little bit of nowness that I'm alive.

I've always felt that New Year's Eve is a night for small bites. You're supposed to flit around, popping small things into your mouth while you drink and dance.

It's a night for bacon-wrapped dates, deviled eggs, and blue cheese-stuffed figs. Maybe you make some chicken liver mousse or smoked fish paté well ahead of time. Why does roast marrow bones with parsley salad read as a NYE dish to me? I don't know, but it does. This may sound scandalous, coming from a food editor, but I don't see myself making dessert. I think instead I'll open a fancy box of chocolates. Stick With Me—don't mind if I do. I am plotting to make these blood orange negronis. We'll toast with the usual champagne, and serve the remainder as bellinis the next morning.

Just a couple months ago the founder of one of my favorite places, Brunette Wine Bar, died of cancer. The gorgeous essay Tracy Kennard wrote months before her death is still with me. Last New Year's I made a version of the bar's caviar nachos, potato chips dotted with creme fraiche and salmon roe. This year, maybe I'll do something completely different and make the ramen Kennard wrote about in her essay. Ramen noodles for longevity? That's not quite it. No, ramen because for now, I'm so very lucky to be here.