At about 11:45 p.m. last night the six adults at our New Year’s Eve party threw in the towel and admitted we were officially old and could not stay awake any longer.  We packed up the kids and drove home to welcome 2008 on our own.  We did see the East Coast ball drop and the accompanying festivities as well as the motorcycle jump in Las Vegas.  And we’d already accomplished the main goal of the evening which was seeing friends we too seldom get together with and having a great meal.

Once we were home, I put my black-eyed peas in to soak for today, and Adventure Guy started his brisket.  He was up quite a while, but I got to bed so that I could be ready for our party today. 

Around 12:30 p.m. Adventure Guy suggested I have a blog topic about “what happens if you throw a party and no one comes.”  We put noon to six on our open house invitation, but I’m making a note for next year that noon is a bit early.  Our first guests arrived a little before 1:00 and we had a steady crowd until about 5:30 with the last people leaving right about 6:00.  It was a nice group, and I think everyone had a good time.  With people from work, old high school friends, and church friends, it’s always fun to see who ends up talking to each other and how all the personalities mix.

It does bring me to my pet entertaining peeve, though.  I put “regrets only” on the invitation.  So, if I didn’t hear from people I assumed they were coming.  We had a total of around 25 people who didn’t call and also didn’t show.  I know I could do RSVP instead, but I’ve found that doesn’t get a very accurate count either.  If I had known those families were not attending, I would have cut down my catering order.  The plus side of that, however, is that I have a nice stash of divinity and chocolate covered strawberries now.  I will be taking the leftover cheesecake along with some of the candy and strawberries in to work on Thursday.  It will be gone in a flash in the break room.

The desserts were definitely a hit.  We had mini cheesecakes in turtle, chocolate, key lime, chocolate peanut butter, berry, and plain.  We also had key lime mouse and chocolate mouse, the strawberries, and the divinity. 

Yesterday’s post has the appetizer recipes.  I also had a veggie tray, some hummus and pita chips, and some assorted cheese and crackers.  The main dishes were black-eyed peas for good luck, chicken and wild rice soup, and taco soup.  This was the first time I’d made the chicken soup, and I highly recommend it.  It was easy to make and everyone liked it. I did substitute chicken broth for the water called for in the recipe as was suggested in the review, and I would recommend that as well.

Adventure Guy’s brisket and some breads from our local bakery rounded things out.  Yes, I know…”My name is LSM, and I’m an over-preparer.”  I just hate the idea of not having plenty for people to eat.

And, now, I am going to take a well-earned break to watch more football, read blogs, and try not to think about all the Christmas decorations I need to take down tomorrow!