I know from experience that throwing a party solo can be challenging so I’m always excited to chip in and help when my good friends need assistance.  This year I helped my good friend with his New Year’s Eve Party. I can’t speak for Andrew, but I had a lot of fun running errands and prepping snacks.

We joked our way through several stores including an adventure to Costco. I have a theory that going to Costco alone can be overwhelming ly depressing but in pairs it can be overwhelmingly fun. While I refuse to touch the samples in the aisles or the hotdogs at checkout, I have no qualms about jumping in for a little in-store karaoke if the opportunity arises. Luckily for Andrew, it didn’t happen this year. And we found some good cheeses and a couple deals while we were there.

For his party, I made an easy artichoke dip and assembled a cheese board with two cheeses, locally cured meats, grapes and toasted baguette. I experimented with a Caramel Covered Brie recipe from one of my favorite  Martha Stewart books – her Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook. The recipe was surprisingly easy – just making a quick caramel and pouring it over a round of brie. The tricky part came in transporting it from Westerwood to Fisher Park – but I covered up the casualties with extra shards of caramel. The consistency of this cheese was delightful – just imagine a creme brulied rich brie. I recommend this when you are trying to jazz up your next cheese tray.  

To a new year of cooking. Happy 2011!