Killer New Year's Party Ideas

 If you’re anything like us, you’re tired of the same old stuff for the New Year. Champagne, party poppers, and…champagne…and…champagne…and…er… lots of shouting. We can’t really think of any other traditions beside that, so we’re going to try ringing in the New Year an extra special way tonight. HERE ARE SOME IDEAS. Oh, sorry, we started the shouting there a bit prematurely.

1.    The Toast. For the most important part of the evening: the toast. We think it probably has to be easy and reminiscent of the champagne people are expecting when the clock strikes twelve, so here are a couple of recipes to try out.

Here’s one from famous lady Whitney Port:

(Photo Credit: Joe Scarnici/Getty(2))

Sunset Prosecco Float
Ingredients:

2 small scoops blood orange sorbet (or flavor of your choosing)
About 4 oz. prosecco
Mint sprig

Directions:

Using a melon baller, scoop the sorbet into a champagne flute.Top with prosecco, pouring slowly. Stir.
Garnish with a mint sprig.

Yield: Serves 1

And another one from The Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis; it received five stars and seems like a winner on account of its ability to be served in one huge batch so people can serve themselves throughout the evening willy-nilly:

(Photo Credit: Food Network)

Champagne Sangria:

Ingredients: 1 (750-ml) bottle Prosecco or French

Champagne, chilled

½ cup orange juice

2 cups Mint Simple Syrup

1 lemon, zested and thinly sliced

1 lime, zested and thinly sliced

½ cup sliced strawberries

5 fresh mint sprigs

Crushed ice

Directions:

In a large pitcher, combine the Prosecco, orange juice, Mint Simple Syrup, lemon zest, and lime zest. Add the sliced strawberries, lemon slices, lime slices, and mint sprigs.

Fill glasses with crushed ice and pour the sangria over the top. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 ½ cups

2.    The Grub. Have a midnight feast, because food! We think something quirky and fun like a baked potato bar or a shrimp cocktail station would be a rocking way to end 2014. Personally, there’s nothing like a surprise meal to make we (me, the author specifically) giddy with delight. Sometimes I remind myself of the lady in the pic below (from an SNL skit featuring Chris Farley).

3.    The Noise. You know what noisemaker would be better than one of those lame cone-shaped, metallic kazoos we normally blow into when the ball drops? Anything. Invite your guests to bring a crazy noisemaker of their choosing. For instance, vuvuzuelas.

(Photo Credit: Pennsylvania State University)

4.    The Game. Ask your guests to write predictions for 2015 onto a small piece of paper. Then put all of their papers into a hat, and going clockwise in a circle, have each guest draw one and try and guess whose fortune belongs to whom. When they mis-guess, it goes to the next person. If the person gets it right, they keep going until they guess wrong. Then it goes on to the next person, and so on. The person who guesses the most correctly wins a giant booby prize of your choosing. You can tally this total up by having people keep the ones they got right. This game can be outrageous or tame as you want it to be, or rather, as your guests are. So be prepared for some surprises along the way! But isn't that what the New Year has for us anyway? Great big ole surprises? That’s why we love it! That and it represents a fresh, clean slate for all of us.  

(Photo Credit: Knight Arts)

***Oh, and by the way…when y’all sleep off those killer party hangovers, and you feel like buying a house or selling one, give us a call! It’ll be time to get serious, but let’s start 2015 on a productive note, right?!!! 

Talk to you soon!***

(210) 566-6355

http://theclausteam.com/