New Years Eve Party - Hot Lunch

Today we are taking a look at a New Years Eve Party Meal that has warm things. So on top of (or in place of) the things we talked about yesterday, there would be other things that would be included with a warm lunch. Usually, people choose to add this to their lunch if their party has been running a while but didn't have a formal meal. For example, a party that started at 7 and ran until midnight (or past), where the quests had dinner previously but a long time between eating the lunch. (This is to say that a cold lunch like yesterday would be served probably before midnight, leading up to the count down with the expectation that most people will either leave right after the count down or shortly thereafter. A warm meal is expected to be served after the countdown with people expecting to stay for another half hour to an hour.)

Hot Items are usually served in a crockpot. This is because most crackpots have a "warm" setting to them and will keep these items warm throughout the party. Even if you don't leave it plugged in. The crockpot gets so hot that it will stay warm for a while. Some items we suggest as "hot items" would be Meatballs, little Smokies, Rice (see my Chinese Baked Rice - even if you make it in the oven you can add it to the crockpot to keep warm), or Beans. For Meatballs, there are a number of ways to make them. Personally, I add BBQ Sauce and Pineapple Sauce together, I try to make the BBQ sauce (ketchup-based) more prominent than the pineapple, but wanting it to be a sweeter BBQ. I have seen people add Bacon and BBQ Sauce, or Bacon and Brown Gravy, I have also seen a recipe with Grape Jelly! Beans are similar, they can be made sweet with brown sugar and BBQ Sauce or a Molasses based bean with Bacon.

For a party like this where food is so far between, chips and light foods would be great to have out beforehand. In this case, a few munchies would be great including a few good dips. The ones I like are Nacho dip / 7 layer dip, Salmon / Cheese Ball (note what I said about the Salmon Salad Sandwich mix with Cream Cheese yesterday), Spinach / Spinach and Artichoke dip. Nacho dip or 7 layer dip can be done in a number of ways. For a quick and simple version, you can simply combine 1 cup of cream cheese with 1 cup of sour cream, topped with salsa, and then topped with cheese (some choose to add a taco seasoning package to their sour cream/cream cheese mixture). Some people stop there, others add toppings to that (Black Olives or Green onions for example or others - see below). Some add refried beans, and/or Guacamole to that (before the cheese usually), and then top that with things like lettuce, tomatoes, even avocado and/or other things - see above).