New Year's Eve Party - Part One

While this year may not be the best year to "plan" a New Year's Eve Party, you don't have to be a lot of people to have amazing food. For Christmas this year I created a small light lunch for my family to enjoy while we were opening presents (just the four of us - nice and safely and within government regulations). Today I am going to offer you a list of light lunch style foods you can have for your little get together (which you can modify for more people once that is safe and allowed in your area).

I start with Sandwiches. One of the pros of making your own "lunch" is that you know what you like, what your family likes, and what will get eaten. While we have the classic Egg Salad, Ham Salad, Salmon Salad, Tuna Salad; these aren't always enjoyed by everyone. My family for example only enjoys Egg Salad. So that is all I make, but you can easily adjust this to make a sandwich or two of any other kind you know is enjoyed in your family.

Again, you know what your family likes. For Egg Salad there are a number of different ways to make them. One simple way is by just adding mayo to the mashed eggs. Another is by adding onion (white or green), or even onion powder. I have also seen people add a piece of iceberg lettuce to their sandwich. Ham too also has different ways of making it. I have seen mayo added to it traditionally, but I have also seen mayo and relish, or just relish. And even just mustard. Salmon is also to personal taste. I have seen mayo but I have also seen it mixed with cream cheese (the exact way I made my Salmon Ball). And Tuna Salad I have only ever seen done with mayo. However, in a wrap, I have seen it made into a somewhat of a Waldorf-esqu type wrap with cranberries, walnuts, and bib lettuce.

Note: If your family doesn't like standard bread for sandwiches, buns, croissants, or even wraps are always a great option!

Next, we have salads. I personally don't believe a leaf salad is a great option for a late-night lunch, especially if you and your family are not eating around a table. It is quite hard to eat a leaf salad while sitting on a couch let's say. Also, it takes up a lot of room on small plates. Personally, I pick easy "small" salads. A good example of these would be a pasta salad (minus linguine salad) and or a potato salad. I chose Macaroni and Potato Salad but Corn Chip Salad would work well also. Anything that doesn't take up too much space. There are so many options for Macaroni Salad and Potato Salad. I won't go into too much detail but I will say almost anything can be added to these salads. Potato Salad for example can be made with mayo, mayo and mustard, balsamic vinegar, even sour cream. Macaroni also has a few different "dressings", it too can be mayo, or french dressing, or ranch dressing. It all depends on what your family enjoys.

And finally, we come to the little additives. These things are simply the ones you buy at the store and add to your meal. Buns for example, (with butter on the side), Pickles (Yum Yums, Sweet Mix, Gerkins, Olives, Dills, etc), this could include pickled vegetables and beets. Also some cheese, cold cuts and anything else you find popular in your house that you can simply put out for people to munch on (deviled eggs for example).