Ideas for New Year’s Eve: how to enjoy a simple party at home

Ideas for New Year’s Eve: how to enjoy a simple party at home

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This does not mean that you have to pack and go to bed before midnight, unless a good night’s sleep is what you have been waiting for all year. This is a valid choice. Even though the night seems different from the New Year’s Eve celebrations of the past, you can still make the night special – and your pace – without going to the city.
First things first: if you postponed cleaning the house during the holidays, take a good look at the house to get it ready for 2021. There is no need to thoroughly clean the baseboards or scrub the shower doors – or take the Christmas down if you are not ready to say goodbye! – but quick organization will do wonders.
Cleaning is beneficial for your emotional well-being, several studies have shown, so think of it as a gift to you in the future. Take an hour to reach the high traffic points: change the sheets, fluff some clean towels, clean areas like tables and benches for those piles of irritating things and scan at high speed.

Now you can rest easy knowing that you will really be able to start from scratch when you wake up on New Year’s Day.

Stay in control

The urge to have a drink, or two or three, is ingrained in Western New Year culture. But it doesn’t have to be a night of tequila and champagne. This year, travel to Italy with some low ABV or alcohol-free cocktails. (ABV stands for alcohol by volume, which is the standard measure for assessing the content of an alcoholic beverage.)

Although it is typically considered a summer goalkeeper, “spritz is a fun, festive and celebratory drink in its own right,” said mixologist and spirits educator Tad Carducci.

Try a classic Italian spritz for a discreet yet festive New Year's Eve, recommends mixologist Tad Carducci.

This classic Italian cocktail works for New Year’s Eve because it combines sparkling wine with slightly bitter appetizers. This variety of herbal and botanical-infused liqueurs has less alcohol than strong drinks like gin and vodka, but has “strong and strong flavors,” explained Carducci. “It deceives the palate that we are drinking something heavier than we are.”

Better yet, “you can’t find a simpler drink to make”. Carducci likes the Venetian Spritz for its 3-2-1 ratio that is easy to remember: 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts Select Aperitivo or Amaro Montenegro and 1 part sparkling or sparkling water. Garnish with a slice of fresh orange or, in the tradition of Italian appetizers, a bright green Castelvetrano olive.
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But you don’t need alcohol to celebrate the night. Look for bittersweet Italian sodas like Sanbitter and Chinotto, which have many of the same botanical flavors as aperitif liqueurs without the drink. “Add a large square ice cube and you will think you are drinking a Negroni,” said Joy Manning, founder of Better Without Booze, an online community for the sober and curious sober.

Or, instead of prosecco, try Manning’s favorite substitute in his champagne glass: make kombucha with a drop of bitters for a special touch. “I am lazy and it is very easy,” he admitted.

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Make dinner an unforgettable affair

With the first big winter snowstorms already sweeping the country, dining outdoors can be risky in your risky area. So keep the meal indoors and make dinner an intimate event.

You can always take the night off and support your local restaurants, which will offer several take-away and delivery options, such as fixed price, à la carte menus and meal kits that you can finish in your own kitchen.

If you are feeling more ambitious, accept a cooking project that you can do as a team. Turn your dining room into a classic steakhouse and prepare a steak frites dinner, complete with hand-cut fries and an indulgent side of creamed spinach.
For New Year's Eve dinner at home, prepare fresh pasta and finish with store-bought sauce.
And fresh homemade pasta can be prepared in one hour from start to finish, then mixed with sauces such as marinara, Alfredo or Bolognese. (You can buy the sauce.) Don’t you have a pasta maker? Do not worry! Take a roll or a bottle of wine and work your assaults on the dough.

The advantage of accepting this kind of tasty project is that the work can be time consuming, but not too hard, and you can eat the results when you’re done. “Do it yourself is something I always recommend when I know I want to set a tone to slow things down,” said Carducci.

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For dessert, plan ahead and order a treat for the end of your banquet. Magnolia Bakery sends its famous banana pudding and cupcakes via Goldbelly. For a more personalized celebration, Brooklyn’s Butter & Scotch will personalize a confetti cake with the unconventional message of your choice and send it to your door. Or buy a sweet specialty at the local bakery.

Watch a classic new year movie

As a subgenre of the pantheon of Christmas movies, New Year’s Eve films may not receive the same collective expectation as, say, “A Christmas Story” does. But there are a few films that focus on the general week from Christmas to New Year or highlight the New Year’s Eve scene as part of the climactic ending.

And if you are exhausted by the hype and seriousness of the latest streaming options, get on with what is familiar to you by discovering one of these blasts from the past:

  • “Waiting to Exhale”
  • “While you were Sleeping”
  • “Ghostbusters II”
  • “About a boy”
  • “When Harry Met Sally”
  • “Bridget Jones Diary”

As the credits roll, toast for reaching 2020 in full and ending the night.

Share your New Year’s Eve photos on Instagram and Twitter using #CNNNYE for a chance to appear on the air.

Casey Barber is a writer, photographer and food illustrator; the author of “Pierogi Love: New achievements in homemade Old World food” and “Classic snacks made from scratch: 70 homemade versions of your favorite branded goodies”; and editor of the Good website. Food. Stories.

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