Sneak Peak - New Year's Eve Menu December 30 2016

I am busy getting ready for our annual New Year’s Eve Celebration. I’ve decided to give you a sneak peak at this year’s menu. How many products from our marketplace can you spot?

I may add a few other surprise items to keep it interesting. For those of you attending… come hungry!

Happy New Year!

Julie

Devilled Eggs with La Boîte Izak N. 37 & Rick’s Picks Hotties

Caviar with traditional condiments(egg white, egg yolk, chives, red onion, crème fraiche)

Smoked Fish from Barney Green Grass with lemon wedges, toast points and crackers

Cheese Plate with Paul and Pippa Don Manchego and Tomato Bravo Biscuits

Baked Brie in Puff Pastry with Gus & Grey Jam

Simple Pizzas with Due Cellucci Tomato Sauce( cheese, mushroom & truffle oil)

Tiny But Mighty Microwave Popcorn

Rococo Chocolates Dipped Pretzels and Strawberries

Fudgy Brownies

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcake Menorah

Cheers! Berry Pomp Punch Recipe December 16 2016

We’re just over 1 week away from Christmas and Hanukkah. While I’m looking forward to celebrating those holidays with family and friends, I am actually focused more on New Year’s Eve.  We have a tradition of hosting the New Year’s Eve festivities at our home.  The tradition has changed a bit over the past 2 years now that I have two small children. The party that used to last until 2am and beyond now begins at 6pm and everyone is gone by 10pm. It is great for my other friends with children and serves as the warm-up for those who have bigger and better plans afterward.

Each year my husband and his friend spend hours if not days and weeks trying to decide what will make the perfect punch.  There used to be 2 punches that no-one drank but last year I limited them to one and it seemed to work out.  We had guests drink every drop of that punch.  This year I am going to make a suggestion by placing this recipe from P & T for Berry Pomp Punch out on the counter. It is the perfect punch for all of your upcoming holiday celebrations.

Cheers,

Julie

P&T Berry Pomp Punch

Makes 4-8 servings

Ingredients:

2 bags P&T Berry Pomp Tea

350 mL Vodka

200 mL Fresh Lemon Juice

400 mL Cloudy Apple Juice

400 mL ginger beer

Orange Slices for Garnish

Ice

Method:

-Infuse P&T Berry Pomp Tea in vodka overnight

-Strain vodka into punch bowl

-Mix all ingredients together and serve with ice and orange slices

April is Here April 01 2016

Ahh… April is here. Does that mean April Fools or April Showers or that spring is finally here? It definitely means we are into the second quarter of 2016.  I thought this would be a good time to check in on my New Year’s Resolution.  If you don’t remember, my resolution this year was to be more organized.

I started off on the right foot and was very focused on making sure everything had a place and returning it to that place.  Somewhere between the middle and end of January I started losing focus and I can say that once Valentine’s Day was celebrated I was completely off track.  I could make a lot of excuses for not keeping up with this resolution like living in temporary housing or having a second child.  Unfortunately I knew those things were going to happen when I made the resolution and perhaps are some of the reasons I made it. 

April 1 is going to be my wake-up call to get back on track.  I’m going to refocus my efforts into organizing my life. Hopefully that will mean I will be able to carve out more time to try new recipes and look for more amazing products! 

I hope you’ve done better with your New Year’s Resolution and if not, use this as a wake-up call like I am. There is still a lot of time in 2016 to get back on track.

Happy Friday,

Julie

Happy 2016! January 01 2016

As I write this post, I am recovering from another wonderful New Year’s Eve!  It has become a tradition that we host New Year’s Eve at our home. This year was the sixth or seventh party at the Rosenberg’s and boy have they changed over the years.

There are some consistencies from year to year and that is why we continue to host.  The evening always includes good friends, good wine, interesting punch and great food.  The guest list continues to grow even though we now start the party at 6 pm and kindly ask everyone to leave at 9pm.  There is a little one at our house who doesn’t understand sleeping in, and I need to get some sleep too!  This means I am finished cleaning up in time to watch the ball drop and then head straight to bed. I remember a few years back getting to sleep around 5am… that doesn’t happen too often anymore.

The drinks continue to get better.  My husband is in charge of all beverages from the wine to the punch. The punch is usually very involved and doesn’t get touched. This year the punch included grapefruit, honey, banana liquor, strawberries, basil and Szechuan Peppercorn infused vodka. I’m not giving away the recipe here but you can see it was interesting.  The wine is always a safe bet and we have a champagne saber which usually results in one minor injury but allows everyone to enjoy a lot of bubbly.

The menu was streamlined this year and included meatballs, pigs-in-a-blanket, guacamole and a caviar display.  My friend Jeremy brought some decadent foie gras and chicken liver mousse. I couldn’t help but serve that with some Notorious F.I.G. from Gus & Grey.  I used some of the spices from La Boite to season the meatballs and had some D.A.T. Sauce out with the pigs-in-a-blanket.  As you can imagine, there wasn’t much left! 

Overall I feel the party was a success and know we will do it all over again to ring in 2017.  I am looking forward to an eventful 2016 and am very excited to share it with all of you.

Happy Friday,

Julie

A Fast Start to 2015 February 13 2015

Wow, it seems like it was just yesterday that I was ringing in the New Year.  Maybe that is because it has been a very busy start to 2015.  Last year I became a mother and quickly learned life gets much busier when there is a child involved.

The year started off with our annual New Year’s Eve party with friends.  My husband and I decided to modify the party this year and include the children. No one seemed to mind the early start to the festivities and I definitely did not mind getting to bed at 12:01. My son, my daily alarm clock, hasn’t learned about sleeping in yet.  January seems to have flown by after that and here we are in the middle of February.

The really exciting part of 2015 is getting Julie’s Beet up and running.  I have been dreaming about having my own business since college really. I guess that is why I chose Mathematics and Business as my major.  I really started working on the business  when I left my full time job in June 2011.  A change of plans, including a move abroad, delayed that realization for a few years.

I moved back to New York in January 2014 and have been working on Julie’s Beet since.  The goal of the site is to create a marketplace sharing products I love and know you will too.  These products are the labor of love of the artisans who create them and are sure to find a place in your heart, your kitchen and your tummy.  With Valentine’s Day tomorrow, it could not be a more appropriate time to think about the people and the foods we love. I’ll be cooking some of my husband’s favorite dishes for our romantic dinner!

I look forward to introducing you to the fantastic collection of artisans we will feature on Julie’s Beet and telling you each of their stories.  I hope you will join me in this exciting adventure of food, friends & love.

Happy Friday,

Julie