New Year's Day

We have a long standing tradition in our home regarding New Year's Eve celebrations.  On New Year's Eve, we do nothing.  And I mean absolutely nothing.  I remember really fond memories of my childhood and New Year's Eve parties in our home with just my parents, me and my brother.  My Mom always made loads of snack foods, and my brother and I would always run around the house with noise makers and hats singing random songs until we dropped off to sleep.  I'm guessing that was probably around 9 PM.  I've never ever been able to stay up late, ever.  And I've always despised New Year's Eve for that reason.  Even back in my partying Navy days, I rarely made it till midnight, and if I did you can bet I was in bed at 12:15.  I've also never been keen on actually leaving the house on New Year's Eve.  We had a little tradition going there for a few years in a row where we had dinner with friends but were sure to be home by midnight to avoid the crazy people.  Our friends moved and that pretty much ended that.

And last night, in true form, the house was quiet and everybody was asleep by 10 PM.  

Today was a different story.  As if I have to mention this, but we are a football family.  New Year's Day consists of college football bowl games starting at around noon and not ending until nearly 11 PM.  My boys eagerly anticipate "bowl season".  They anxiously await the show that announces the upcoming games, and then they discuss the teams for the weeks leading up to the start of bowl season.  New Year's Day hosts some of the very best match-ups, and my crew is parked in front of the television in their jammies from sun-up to nearly midnight watching football.  It's always been a nice and relaxing day full of football and food.  And family.

And me?  I cook football food.  Lots of it.  And my boys (when I say that, The Coach is included) devour pretty much all of it throughout the course of the day.  When I plan the menu, I always sit the crew down and let them each pick a few things that they want me to cook.

Jack always picks hot sammies.  He likes his with American cheese, ham, turkey, and turkey bacon on Kings Hawaiian bread.  And toasted in the oven.  The cheese must be melty.

He also likes these gross little pickle-roll up things that have cream cheese and ham on them, rolled up in a tortilla with a pickle spear.  No one else eats them, but that's not a problem because he eats them all.

Justice loves the mini-cheeseburgers.  

And he picked these shrimp and grits appetizers.  Shrimp and cheese topping on a toasted cheese-grits base.  They are delicious, and Justice can eat a dozen at a time.

Justice also loves buffalo chicken.  He doesn't care what form it takes on, as long as it's spicy and has chicken in it.  This year I experimented with this… a boneless buffalo chicken mixture wrapped in a crescent roll wreath.  It was a winner.  

The Coach always has hot crawfish dip at the very top of his wish list.  It's one of my favorites too.  We  love crawfish, especially after living in New Orleans for a tour of duty.

This one is for me.  No one else eats it.  It's brie, baked in a crescent roll shell.  My all time favorite cheese is brie, but it's far too fancy for the Mack boys.  Ha.

And of course, I always have to make some sort of dessert.  This year I made a double batch of homemade caramel corn.  It didn't make the picture because it was gone by 10 AM.  I also made football cupcakes and that big football in the picture is actually a batch of Nutella Rice Krispie Treats with Nutella frosting.  

Oh.  And punch.  Your typical Hawaiian punch, pineapple juice, ginger ale and rainbow sherbet creation.  Sugar rush.  

 The whole spread.  I wasn't kidding.  That's a lot of food.  In addition to the individual items above, there is always a few kinds of dips and chips, wings of some sort (this year it was barbecue), assorted deli meats, cheese, and crackers.  And none of it will be tossed out.  They will eat all day, and they will eat it ALL. 

 I enjoy this day very much.  We have celebrated every New Year's Day the same way for the past 18 years and have wonderful memories centered around this tradition.  The names and number of the children in attendance have varied throughout the years, but the atmosphere is always the same.  Shandi had to work this year, but even she usually spends the day watching football and hovering around the buffet.  

Family, food, football.  

 I wouldn't have it any other way.