Planning Our New Year’s Eve Dinner (2019 into 2020)

I’m not exactly sure when we started our New Year’s Eve Feast for Two, but we have been doing this for quite a few years now.

When we were a “younger couple,” we would go out. For a few years we did the “NYE Packages” of dinner, dancing, hotel room, breakfast the next day, etc. We are not a fan on driving on NYE night. (My brother used to refer to it as amateur night – drinking reference.) So, we would splurge on a package deal and stay safely in one place.

Above: Oh my, here is our very first New Year’s Eve together when we were dating.
All dressed up and ready for dining and dancing!

Well, those days – although fun – have come and gone. And now I think we do something even BETTER. 

We make a Feast for Two every New Year’s Eve and dine all night!

In recent years, Mr. Gordon and I began switching off on deciding the menu and cooking the dishes. Although we still have a few weeks left before the end of the year meal, I am already in planning mode. This year is my turn in the kitchen. But first, a blog appetizer: a few photos from New Year’s Eve dinners past…

If I remember correctly, we started our Feast for Two yearly celebration with several sushi dinners – and yes, we bought everything and rolled the sushi ourselves! (Can’t beat Wegmans for its sashimi-grade fish.)

Above: NYE Feast 2010 into 2011.

We kept the sushi-themed feast the next year, too. And we increased our offerings. AND we started drawing up menus… We named the menu after my Mother that year.

Our city house tiny kitchen – we had a rolling butcher block that came in quite handy.

Above: NYE Feast 2011 into 2012.

Above: NYE Feast… either 2012 into 2013, or 2013 into 2014.
Sorry that the photo is blurry (from old phone).

We switched gears in 2014 – Surf and Turf! Creamed onions, steak, and lobster tail.

Above: NYE Feast 2014 into 2015.

Then we seemed to either not take many photos – unlikely! – or I lost them. I’m fairly certain we did surf and turf again in 2015 into 2016… Maybe even crab legs and steak. Hmm.

Anyhow, we began to get really fancy in 2016. The menu:

Above: NYE Feast 2016 into 2017.

Salad as art: Cucumber Vases with Boston Bibb.

Above: Eggs Mollet Florentine using Jacques Pépin’s recipe.

Oh my! The egg is boiled 6 minutes and then plunged into ice water. When it’s time to broil the dish, in goes the spinach, sauce with egg and nutmeg, and Gruyere and Parmesan cheese on top. The yolk is still delightfully runny. Such an amazing combination!

Since Mr. Gordon upped the ante in 2016, I needed to deliver a fine feast in 2017.

Above: NYE Feast 2017 into 2018.

One never says no to stuffed mushrooms.

Fresh thyme and garlic… drizzled with balsamic vinegar glaze. Recipe from French Taste by Laura Calder. (Photogenically, the plate was not the best choice, I know. But these mushrooms ROCKED.)

Boneless Quail and Apple and Red Onion Compote.

I honestly do not think I’ve ever eaten quail until I baked this dish. Very nice!

Then, back to Mr. Gordon for NYE 2018.

Above: NYE Feast 2018 into 2019.

The Seafood Loaf (Fish Bread) is something we wanted to try for years! And as special as this is for New Year’s Eve, you could make this any time. Truly very good.

Filling the crusty bread with salmon, yellow fin tuna, cod, scallops, and shrimp
– and compound butter and mushrooms!

Baked and delicious!

Which brings me to this year… NYE 2019 into 2020. This is my year to cook the feast! Oh, and I definitely have some ideas.

Hints? 

• Flying main course
• Citrus
• Getting figgy with it
• Onions are possible
• Cheese is a definite

And I’ll likely be drawing from Laura Calder’s Dinner Chez Moi:

(affiliate link)

And possibly from this old, well-used when I was younger, and cook-stained Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two Cookbook!

🙂

I’ll unveil the NYE 2019 into 2020 menu soon!

UPDATE: The Menu – and photos from our feast! Click here!

In the meantime, what are YOUR New Year’s Even plans? Even more importantly, what are your NYE FOOD plans? 😀 Please share in a comment below!