New Year

Latkes, Blinis, and Clementine Mimosas

I’m superstitious about New Year’s Eve. Whatever the mood, activities, or company; the evening’s ambiance spills into the year ahead. I take control over the festivities and guard them with the jealousy of a vehement lover.

This year we spent a quiet evening at home with a decadent menu of lobster, filet mignon, and our favorite chocolates by B.T. McElrath. We counted down to midnight and wandered outside to view the breathtaking bright blue moon.

New Year’s Day brought more feasting, this time with my favorite meal of blinis and latkes. Both petite treats are crowned with crème fraiche, gravlax, caviar, radishes, fresh dill and chives. Ted eats his blinis soaked in maple syrup.

This year I added Clementine zest to the sugar, salt, and dill gravlax cure; then mixed our mimosas with freshly squeezed Clementine juice to pull all of the flavors together. It takes forever squeezing those tiny tangerines to produce enough juice for mimosas. My hands smelled like citrus all weekend. Not a bad predictor for the months to come.