New Year's Eve Party

New year's Eve, the biggest party night of the years, offers numerous opportunities for celebration. You can catch the midnight mob scene and surround yourself with strangers in silly hats tooting horns in your face; or you can skip the impersonal mayhem and host your own year-end gala.

We're not talking about cocktail wienies, cole slaw and Cold Duck. Your New Year's Eve party will be one that auld acquaintances won't forget. And, yes, you'll be a guest at your own party. Our countdown calendar on the previous pages outlines a day-by-day strategy for the month of December. Follow it and you won't find yourself with four hours to spare, still attempting to rent extra wine goblets while the champagne is getting warm.

Year-end blowouts come in all sizes, but when a bash becomes bedlam, what's the point? That's why 20 to 25 revelers seems to be a manageable number. A group that size is large enough to encourage mingling but small enough to preserve intimacy. What's more, you won't have to continuously circulate from group to group to ensure that the level of frivolity stays at Mach one.

On New Year's Eve, black tie is traditionally the stylish way to step out (or, in your case, stay home), but because your party will be an open-end buffet, with guests who may have other commitments dropping by and possibly moving on, you may wish to make black tie optional.

Since you've hired a bartender early in December (as we suggest in our countdown), he or she will mix the drinks with flair and keep the champagne well iced and flowing into the wee hours of the morning, so you don't have to lift a (continued on page 188) The Party (continued from page 167) finger. Nothing can put a damper on fun more quickly than a frazzled host madly dashing about in an attempt to keep everyone happy.

How much and what kind of champagne you serve depends on your budget and your friends' palates. Caterers estimate about a bottle per person, but with designated drivers and the trend toward drinking less but better, you may wish to adjust your order accordingly. And because the French bubbly that you'll be pouring will cost at least $20 a bottle, we suggest that you stick to good nonvintage crus, such as Moët & Chandon White Star.

California sparkling wine, which costs about 30 to 50 percent less than champagne, is no longer considered the bubbly's homely stepsister. If you opt for serving a West Coast sparkler rather than champagne, look for wine from such top vineyards as Gloria Ferrer, Iron Horse, Schramsberg and Mumm Napa Valley, and pay particular attention to the labels. Most sparklers will be labeled "blanc de blancs" or "blanc de noirs." The former usually means the wine was made from all white grapes, primarily chardonnay. The latter means it was made with red pinot grapes. Blanc de blancs sparklers tend to be lighter; blanc de noirs are fuller. Take your pick.

A good red wine, such as American pinot noir, should also be added to your list of spirits. Why? Because it's an excellent red wine to serve when you're offering both seafood and meat—as you'll be doing at your party. Pinot noir is voluptuous and smooth with relatively little tannic bite, so if you drink it directly after popping an oyster into your mouth, your taste buds won't kick back with an unpleasant metallic taste. California wineries to look for include Saintsbury, Robert Mondavi, Sterling, Carneros Creek, Sanford and Calera.

While you're still thinking about beverages, you also might plan to serve a New Year's Eve punch. When the line starts forming at the bar, thirsty guests can help themselves. The following punch, which serves 20, is easy to make and delicious.

[recipe_title]New Year's Eve Punch[/recipe_title]

[drinkRecipe]4 6-oz. cans chilled apricot nectar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]6-1/4 cups chilled ginger ale[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1-1/2 cups chilled Grand Marnier[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 bottles chilled California sparkling wine[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 lemon, thinly sliced[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 can pineapple wedges, drained and chilled[/drinkRecipe]

Mix a 6-oz. can apricot nectar with 6 ozs. ginger ale and freeze in ice-cube tray. Put cubes in chilled bowl or pitcher. Pour remaining nectar, ginger ale and Grand Marnier over them. Stir well. Add sparkling wine and float lemon slices and pineapple wedges on top.

With all the merriment going on, you'll want to provide the gang with some serious sustenance to keep them straightened up and flying right. But with 20 people floating through your abode laughing, drinking and having a good time, it's no occasion to serve veal medallions with wild mushrooms in a cream sauce. A buffet that's laid out for a large gathering should be easy to eat and, unless you're lucky enough to have a staff of ten, simple to prepare. The most practical solution when planning such a spread is to rely on mail-order services, local specialty stores and caterers. That way, you can order everything over the phone and just arrange a delivery or pickup time.

Our recommended menu includes pheasant pâté, a side of smoked salmon, Southern country ham, freshly shucked oysters, chilled shrimps, crudités and salad dressing, a wheel of stilton or brie and, of course, caviar. The last is a must. Caterers estimate at least half an ounce of caviar per person. There are many kinds to choose from, including American sturgeon, but the best caviars are either Russian or Iranian. Guess which one is embargoed.

Serving Russian Beluga caviar to your 20 closest friends is a grand gesture, but if you're not in the mood to cash in a six-month CD to do it, you might consider considerably less expensive Sevruga as an alternative. It's still the real McCoy and the flavor is only slightly different. But it's less rare and, hence, less costly. If you can't find caviar in your area, place a call to Zabar's (212-787-2000) or Macy's Department Store (212-695-4400, extension 2647) in New York no later than the first week in December. Each holiday season, those two rivals declare a serious caviar price war.

Expect to spend at least $200 for 20 ounces of Sevruga and $675 for the same amount of Beluga. Schedule your caviar delivery to arrive no more than a week before your party, because that's about how long caviar keeps when refrigerated. Store it unopened in the coldest part of your fridge, usually the back of the lowest shelf. (Don't freeze it or you'll have expensive trash on your hands.)

When serving caviar, avoid fussy accompaniments. Some toasted brioche and a glass bowl filled with créme fraîche (available in specialty stores) are all you'll need. The caviar should also be served in a glass bowl resting on a bed of cracked ice with a mother-of-pearl spoon for scooping. Avoid metal; it reacts badly with caviar, causing it to taste strange.

Nothing is easier to buy than smoked salmon. Order a side of a good Scottish, Irish or Norwegian brand that has been cut on the diagonal into paper-thin slices. Lay the side out on a silver platter and place a serving fork nearby, along with a basket of lemon wedges and plenty of slices of buttered pumpernickel.

Oysters on the half shell are a New Year's rite of passage. Order them at least a week before your party from a local fish market and be sure to have them shucked just before you pick them up. Don't forget to ask for the shells. Caterers estimate about six per guest, but, because oysters aren't to everyone's liking, you may wish to order fewer. Before your guests arrive, lay out a selection in three or four big glass bowls filled with cracked ice.

Chilled shrimps are a near-perfect party food. Any fish market that carries oysters also will stock jumbo shrimps that have already been cooked, peeled and chilled. Order about five pounds early, along with the oysters, but pick them up at the last minute for maximum freshness.

Preparing the shrimps is simple. Cut a tiny notch in the belly of each one and hang it on the lip of a big glass bowl filled with crushed ice. Make a dipping sauce by combining equal amounts of mayonnaise and sour cream spiced with a bit of minced garlic and ginger, a dash of Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce and a teaspoon or two of tomato paste for color.

The centerpiece of your table should be a whole country ham. Not the processed excuse for ham that's too often served at Easter, but a true, lean Southern ham that has been smoked and cured naturally. Order it from your butcher well in advance of the party. Serve it on a platter and slice about half of it before your guests arrive. Slice the rest halfway through the party. If you simply lay out a knife and leave the cutting to your guests, you'll end up with a mess on your hands.

Pheasant or duck pâté is a wonderfully easy party food—and an ideal complement to the ham. Order it at least one week in advance from your favorite food emporium. You can pick it up the weekend before the party and keep it refrigerated. But remove it an hour or so before your guests arrive so that it warms to room temperature. Serve partially sliced—in one-half-inch-thick pieces—on a platter, with nuts or dried fruits for garnish. And be sure to lay out a pâté knife for serving (you know, the kind with the rounded end).

A brimming bowl of crudités will round out the appetizer/entree section of your buffet. But instead of wasting time chopping veggies in your kitchen, simply drop by a local full-service supermarket or upscale deli that has an ambitious salad bar and buy about $15 worth of your favorite fixings. Then choose a variety of bottled dressings to serve in glass bowls on the side. Buying carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, etc., already cut and chopped will save you time in the kitchen and will look smart, to boot.

Lastly, dessert. It's likely that you'll have sung Auld Lang Syne and welcomed in the New Year with hats, noisemakers, serpentines, confetti and the like before you get around to it, so no one will be in a stuffy mood. Our suggestion is to serve a huge frosty bowl heaping with scoops of different flavors of ice cream. Alongside it, set out a dozen or so toppings in clear glass bowls: maybe shredded coconut, chocolate chips, roasted nuts, chopped berries, sliced bananas, granola, raisins, whipped cream and broken pieces of peanut brittle, plus pitchers of hot fudge sauce, Kahlúa, etc. Then watch everyone gleefully dive in with the kind of damn-the-calories, fullspeed-ahead attitude that befits New Year's Eve. For those guests who avoid ice cream, place a selection of truffles, pastries and other sweets on the table so they don't feel left out of the caloric action.

At some point in the evening, you—or someone else—should offer a toast to the New Year. If you're up to it, fine; but otherwise, assign the task to your wittiest guest. Stopping the party as one, two or even three merrymakers pay sentimental or outrageous homage to the New Year adds psychological fuel to the social fire and gives everyone an attitude kick. Onward, into the night!

As the evening winds down, strong black coffee will be in order, and, of course, you'll want to have plenty of soft drinks and plain and flavored bottled waters on hand for the designated drivers.

Have fun and a happy New Year!

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