10 New Year's Eve Ideas

Ten things to do/make on New Year's Eve

The list-

1.Chips && Dips

2. Drinks

3. Lil' Smokies

4. Chocolate covered everything

5.Fruits & Veggies

6. Popcorn

7. Confetti/Hats

8. Television

9. Music

And last but not the very least...

10. Games, games, && more games

Here are the details to 

the list...

or as I call them

the deets-

1. Chips && Dips

Every good party needs some chips

and dips.  Some of my favorites

are Chili dips (a can of 

Chili and velveeta cheese mixed),

Ranch dips-for chips and 

veggies, and I looove

Spinach Artichoke Dip!!!

Here is Rachel's recipe that is 

to die for...

Spinach Artichoke Dip

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 C. sour cream

1 C. shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 C. or small jar, artichokes, finely chopped

1 box frozen spinach

2 T. Olive oil

1/3 pkg. Ranch dip mix

1 tsp. finely chopped marjoram (can substitute oregano)

1 tsp. finely minced green onions

½ tsp. garlic

1 C. shredded mozzarella

paprika

Mix all ingredients except ½ C. Mozzarella and paprika.  pour into pie pan or 9x9.  Top with remaining mozzarella and sprinkle with paprika.  Heat at 350 for 25 minutes or until it starts to brown.

Moving on with

2. Drinks

Some drinks I think are great

are Hot Chocolate,

Italian Sodas(Which all you do

is put ice in a glass,

add syrup of your

choice, half & half cream, and Sprite.

Sooo delicious!!! You just add

each of them to your taste.

Super easy!, and I will also add 

Caramel Apple Cider to the

list.  Super yummy,

and the recipe is just down

a couple posts.

3. Lil' Smokies

Three different ideas for these 

little beauties are

wrap them in bacon and top with

brown sugar,bake, and devour. 

Reeeeal healthy, right? 

Next option, wrap them in a cressant

roll and bake.  Next thing you

know, you have pigs

in a blanket.

And lastly, engulf them 

in barbeque sauce

and cook them in a slow cooker,

or even just the 

microwave.

Delish!

4.Chocolate Covered Everything

Need I say more?

Really, just dip anything in chocolate

and it is bound to be good.

Right? Right.

6. Popcorn

I love popcorn. I would say I am 

quite the popcorn 

expert because I eat it so 

often.

Here are a few of the favs..

Take butter popcorn and pour the cheese packet

from Maccoroni & Cheese over the 

popcorn, and you have cheesy

popcorn like they sell

at Christmas time in the big tins.

Also, we posted a good caramel

popcorn recipe here, if 

you like caramel popcorn.  If you don't,

try it anyways, and you

may soon find 

out that you actually do! 

And then there is my new favorite-

I think it is called 

Cinnamon Roll Caramel Popcorn

from Our Best Bites cookbook.  The recipe is

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 c un-popped)

1 cup roughly chopped pecans(I didn't add these)

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c butter

1/4 c light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp soda

3 squares almond bark

Preheat oven to 250

Place popcorn and nuts in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2-quart capacity microwave safe bowl. Mix well. Chop the butter into chunks and place ontop of the sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for two minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for two minutes more.

Remove from microwave and add vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. The mixture will foam and rise. Pour the Carmel mixture over the popcorn and stir until everything is well coated.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil lines cookie sheet. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and spread mixture out on a large piece of parchment, waxes paper, or foil sprayed with non stick cooking spray

Melt the almond bark according to package instructions. Drizzle over the popcorn. When the almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cooled, break into chunks and enjoy!

7. Confetti / Hats

What is a New Year's Party without something

to throw and silly hats to 

wear? That's right,

not much of one.  So run to the 

Dollar store and get some!  :) 

8. Television

My siblings will all say, it is not

New Year's Eve without 

the SciFi Twilight series going on 

in the background.  Haha.

I can guarantee that Twilight is 

probably not everyone's 

choice of show, but find a good movie or show

to watch, and start a tradition.

Also another suggestion,

we always turned on 

the ball dropping at 12:00 

and celebrated with

the rest of the world.  Maybe give that 

a shot, if you haven't already.

9. Music

This one is simple, but very effective.

Music always livens up

a party.  Get on pandora

and find a station you enjoy, or find an old cd and 

jam out.

10. GAMES, GAMES, && MORE GAMES

This, I believe, is a must have!

I love playing games, all 

of them from board

games, to cards, to Charades.

Some of my favorites include, Monopoly
(I used to play this game

every New Year's Even when I was 

younger because it lasts

forever, so it 

forced me to stay awake).

Also I love card games, like speed, California

speed, scum, and many more.

Then there is a game known as the 

COUCH GAME-it is a fun one!

In this game, 

you have a large group of 

people, and everyone writes down their name

on a piece of paper, which goes 

into a hat.  The hat is then passed

around and everyone draws

a name, which

is of course someone's name in

the room.  There are two

teams, and you sit

every other team (ex. team a,

team b, team a, team b).  Have chairs

in a circle, including 

the couch being part of the circle.  

The goal is to get four teammates on the couch.  

So, you start with the person

on the right side of the couch.  They call

out a name, and whoever

drew that name, switches with the person 

who called the name.
Then go around in a circle, calling 

out names and switching 

seats, until four people in one team are on the 

couch.  This may sound confusing,

but it is soo much fun!!

Happy New Year's everyone!!!

-Melanie