WIAW: NYE

Once again I would like to wish you all a very happy new year. I’m assuming you’ve all had a good night ringing into 2013. We had a blast hosting a NYE party. We invited friends of all ages so there was plenty of entertainment for young and old. Our guests each brought some food but we did most of the cooking and were in charge of the dessert buffet. Christina and I helped our mom put the finishing touches on the various dishes and we were pleasantly surprised when everyone practically jumped on the buffet, loading up on all the delicious food. In terms of food the night couldn’t not have been any better. Due to some miscalculation of how much food we would need for 25 people we had plenty left at the end of the night. And although we were already seeing leftovers for dinner for the rest of the week we were glad when the guys came over for “leftover brunch” yesterday. The rest of the day was spent watching the the New Years Concert, going for a walk with the family, playing board games and nibbling on leftover desserts.

Thanks to Jenn from Peas and Crayons for continuously hosting this fabulous foodie party.

The night began with appetizers and bits and nibbles and my brother Alex and his friend made drinks for the crowd.

Christina spent 1.5 hours in the morning chopping vegetables and I prepared dips and guacamole to go along. We also had Leberkäse, Borscht {polish red beet soup}, a fishplate and various salads which kept us full until the main course was served.

Once all the plates were cleared it was time for round 2: the main event. My mom made some of her most famous dishes. We had a mix of international specialties including chicken wings, Nasi Goreng and Schweinsbraten {Austiran roast pork}. We had more salads on the side.

Of course the guys couldn’t sit at the table for two hours without jugging down Jägerbombs which were passed round the table.

Once the Jägermeister was empty my dad brought out the Schnaps which only made things even worse.

After group pictures it was already 11pm so we prepared coffees and espressos to go along with our desserts.

Christina made her famous brownies with a chocolate cheesecake frosting {note the brownie to frosting ratio!} while my mom was practically forced to serve her chocolate mousse duo. I made tiramisu and one of our guests brought a tray of dessert bars. We made sure to have one healthy dessert on hand in form of fruit salad. To say we were full at the end of our meal would be an understatement.

Luckily we had a couple of minutes to digest our food while we champagne-toasted, watched fireworks and waltzed into the new year.

Those who didn’t get enough Moet continued indoors with cognac shots. I wasn’t too fond of the taste {as you might be able to tell}!

After midnight it was time for Gulaschsuppe. In our house {and in many other Austrian households} it’s a tradition to serve this Hungarian soup which is made with beef chunks and potatoes and seasoned with cumin seeds and paprika and chili. The leftovers were devoured by the guys who came home from the after party at 6am.

Overall it was the most perfect way to start a great year surrounded by good friends and family. We all fell into bed and slept like rocks and woke up to a lovely brunch.

Happy WIAW!!!!

Now tell me, how did you spend New Year’s Eve???