New Year's Eve Menu

Before we had kids, we went to a New Year's Eve party every year at our friends' house. It was great, because it was an overnight party and we didn't have to worry about people making it home safely late at night. We would eat a lot of food and play a lot of games and have a few drinks. There were a number of appetizers and desserts that we would enjoy.

Most years at our house, we do an appetizer (small bites) meal for dinner for New Year's Eve.

One of our favorites is of course pizza. To achieve bite size pizza, we like to make pizza using rolls. Whether French bread or Ciabatta mini loaves, simply slice them open long ways. Top with sauce whatever suits your fancy and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Here are some combinations that you could try:

• Peloponnese Pitted Kalamata Olives, caramelized onions, Hormel chunk breast of chicken and some Feta Cheese for an easy Greek Pizza
• Banana Peppers, Onions and Crumbled Sausage with Pepper Jack Cheese for a pizza with kick
• Mini Pepperoni and Mozzarella for a traditional pizza
• Diced Ham and Pineapple Tidbits with Mozzarella for an easy Hawaiian Pizza

Another favorite is tortilla roll-ups. Again, there are a few options for these as well:

• Chicken and Salsa Tortilla Bites - combine Hormel Chunk Chicken, a cream cheese spread and some salsa. Roll up and enjoy.
• Salsa and Cheese - spread the tortilla with cream cheese, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and add some salsa. Roll up, slice and enjoy.
• Turkey/Ham/Bologne and Cheese - choose your favorite lunch meat, sliced cheese and mayonnaise or dressing to create a personal favorite. Roll up and slice into bit size pieces.
• Southwest Chicken and Bacon Rollups
• Turkey Tortilla Rollups

We also enjoy meatballs. My favorite is turkey sausage meatballs and pineapple in a sweet and spicy sauce.

Meatball & Pineapple Fondue
2# Turkey sausage, rolled into meatballs
pineapple chunks
1 1/4 c ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Combine the sauce ingredients and pour over the meatballs and pineapple. Bake at 250 for 2 hours. Serve with toothpicks. I like to put this in a small crock pot for serving at a party, so that it will stay warm.

You could also do traditional Italian meatballs heated with spaghetti sauce and serve them on mini-buns with mozzarella as a mini-meatball sandwich.

What other type of appetizers does your family enjoy? Do you have a traditional New Year's Eve Menu?


No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are mine or those of my family. I am completing this post as a participant in the Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger program. Hormel Foods provided a thought starter and some of the information for this post.