Get festive with these New Year’s Eve Food ideas

Recently, I was talking with a neighbor about a dilemma she was having for New Year’s Eve: her and her friends need some sort of dinner, but nobody wants to cook and their group is too big for a restaurant reservation.

I’m guessing this could be quite a common issue, so I figured I would put together a board of New Year’s Eve appetizers that eats more like a light dinner, with cheese AND charcuterie AND seafood AND sweet treats AND even a simple homemade appetizer, if you want. 

While this board of New Year’s Eve finger food looks pretty epic, it actually consists of one item I made, a few things I heated up in the oven, and 98% stuff I bought at the store.

This post will give you a ton of ideas to put together the New Year’s appetizers spread of your dreams. The board pictured here is for a big crowd, but if your gathering is a little smaller, just cut it down to a few of your favorite things.

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Make Turkey Meatballs in Air Fryer for a quick dinner!

If you’ve ever been disappointed with turkey meatballs, this is the recipe that will change your mind about them.

I know this because I have a friend who texts me at the start of every summer, asking how to make a turkey burger that isn’t dry. Every year, I tell him “you have to add fat and moisture.” It’s the same for turkey meatballs.

I know that the whole reason many people eat ground turkey instead of beef is because turkey has less fat and saturated fat. I get that, I do. But you simply can’t use super lean ground turkey and no additional fat or moisture, and then wonder why your burger or meatball is dry.

So, I like to think of it in terms of adding GOOD fat. Instead of relying on the saturated fat that beef would contain, I’m using 85% lean ground turkey, and adding good fat like olive oil, and moisture from Greek yogurt.

Not only does the yogurt add moisture to the meatball mixture, but the enzymes in the dairy help tenderize the turkey, which makes it more . . . tender . . . to eat.

My friend reports back that his turkey burgers are improved, and I’m confident you’ll feel the same way about your turkey meatballs, too.

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This DIY Butter Recipe will change your life

Once you know how to make homemade butter, you will dream about homemade butter. It’s soft and luscious, and tastes better than you ever thought butter could taste.

This homemade butter recipe will change your life not only for it’s pure, magical flavor, but because you’ll soon come to realize it’s a great idea to keep in your back pocket anytime you are whipping cream.

If you’re making homemade whipped cream or something else that involves whipping cream to soft peaks, but you accidentally go too far and you’ve got stiff peaks, well, just keep going. You’ll have to get more cream to make the whipped cream anyway, but at least you can turn your mistake into something useful!

Why it is better to make Butter?

Make it for the pure joy of it, honestly! Making your own butter at home is a culinary experience where you can take two simple ingredients and transform them into pure, rich butter.

Also, by making butter yourself, you have all the the control over the quality of your ingredients. Your homemade butter will taste far superior to any store-bought version you’ve ever tried.

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These Halloween Snacks are perfect for spooky season

While it used to be that my husband was the biggest Halloween fan I’d ever met, and I was just along for the ride, somewhere along the way, I really started enjoying it all, too.

I’ve gotten into it so much that I’ve even started specializing in Halloween recipes, and this blog has become quite a popular hub for spooky snacks!

If you’re hosting or attending a Halloween party this year, or you just want to serve a big plate of delicious but kind of creepy snacks for dinner before trick-or-treating, the Halloween food ideas I’m sharing below have you covered!

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Halloween Mini Pizzas everyone is sure to love

These Halloween Mini Pizzas are actually a recipe that has been around here for years, as part of my epic Halloween food ideas platter.

But I thought it was time they got they got special treatment, where I can visually show you, step-by-step, how to cut the olives to make the spiders.

This recipe is incredibly beginner-friendly. Even if you’re a little unsure of your knife skills, as long as you have a sharp knife, you can whip up these spider pizzas without any hassle.

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These Halloween Jalapeno Poppers are so spooky fun!

These Mummy Jalapeno Poppers are actually a recipe that has been around here for years, as part of my epic Halloween food ideas platter.

But they’re so cute that I thought they deserved their own spotlight today!

These jalapeno popper mummies are a playful twist on classic jalapeno poppers that will thrill your taste buds and add a ghoulish charm to your Halloween spread.

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Spooky Deviled Eggs will be a hit at your Halloween party!

If you’re looking for a Halloween deviled eggs recipe to serve at a party or just round out your family’s dinner before trick-or-treating, you’ve come to the right place!

Whether you want to make just one variety, or four, I’ve got you covered. I’ll walk you through step-by-step how to make deviled eggs decorated like pumpkins, eyeballs, spiders and . . . some spooky green thing.

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Serve Crab Stuffed Shrimp as an appetizer or dinner!

One of the best things about cooking at home is realizing how possible it is to create a restaurant-quality dish without being a trained chef.

One of the best examples of this is a recipe like Stuffed Shrimp with Crab.

It’s nothing more than cutting open some shrimp and stuffing them with an easy-to-stir-up mixture of crab and seasonings, but it couldn’t be more impressive.

And even better – it only takes 10 minutes to bake, thanks to starting with a grocery store shortcut of pre-cooked shrimp.

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I’ve only been drinking Bloody Marys for ten years or less, but I already have strong opinions on the best part: the garnishes.

When a lot of trendy brunch food spots have gone all in and garnished their drinks with crazy things like chicken tenders or slices of pizza or whatever in recent years, their only goal has been to go viral on TikTok or Instagram.

I’m not here to go viral. I’m here to make Bloody Mary skewers that taste great while I’m nibbling on my vegetarian quiche and blackberry muffin.

As I’ll explain in the post below, the best Bloody Mary garnish skewers are a simple combination of three flavors that our taste buds love.

You can get all of the ingredients needed for these Bloody Mary toppings at your local grocery store. And nobody here will ask you to stick an entire fried chicken on top of your drink. My only request is that you use everything bagel seasoning as bloody mary rim salt. Deal?

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Ground Chicken Meatballs

Now that I’m my 40’s and ever-so-predictably watching my cholesterol, ground beef, pork and lamb recipes are happening in our house less and less (lamb bolognese is saved for a special occasion).

In red meat’s place, I’m definitely turning to ground turkey and chicken wherever possible. Meatballs are one recipe where I don’t feel like they NEED to be beef to be delicious.

In fact, these Greek chicken meatballs are not only one of my favorite New Year’s Eve snacks (along with ham and turkey sliders), but I make them just about every other week as a quick dinner by adding a few side dishes.

So grab a rosemary gin cocktail, and let’s chat about these delicious Mediterranean meatballs. They can be baked or air fried, and served with things like feta, orzo and tzatziki to make them extra special.

“I have made this recipe so many times in the last year, I don’t even need to look at it anymore. The meatballs are so tasty, and when I was trying to lose weight, these were one dish I could enjoy guilt free. The whole family enjoys them too; you can throw them in a marinara sauce and use them in a meatball sub, or with pasta, or even cold leftovers out of the fridge!”

—Sharon

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