Sounds perfect LeeAnne - I remember those teen yrs and New Years Eve - we had one kid that always "talked" the other kids called her the "narc" we depended on her info!!!

LeeAnne, I sure wished I lived closer to you. You sound like one fantastic cook. I'm more like an anti-Julia Childs.
Glad your skiing trip turned out so well. Sounds like everyone had a ball AND ate well!

Y'know, I was just thinking, it seems a good portion of my posts have to do with FOOD! Hmmm....what does that say about me? ;)

Yes we did eat well on our ski trip -- I just wish I could say we burned off all the calories on the slopes, but I think we ate too well even for that! On Christmas Day I made a new recipe for Prime Rib, which has a crust made of allspice and crushed pink & green peppercorns, and a cabernet reduction sauce. OhmyGOD it came out good -- I could have eaten that entire slab of beef myself! Luckily I had the rest of the family there to stop me.

See...there I go again... :rolleyes:

A Happy & Peaceful New Year to you all.
All our party friends have gotten sick so it looks like it will just be the two of us. I have just been to the mall to get Betty her birthday gift. She has a 12/31 birthday and after 57 years of shopping for gifts for her it is STILL difficult to find the right one for her!!! This year a new jewelry box, hope she likes it!
David.

David...hope Betty isn't reading the boards for the next two nights!

We're going out for an early dinner with friends...we go to our "local" bistro - owned by wonderful people that we now call friends as well. We'll be home early and attempt to stay awake until the ball drops.

Happy New Years to everyone!

Betty, you must have posted your pictures on the days I was cooking non-stop (I'm anti-Julia Childs, too. Love pretty kitchens, don't want to cook). Anyway, sorry I missed them but I'll look for them next year. A Derby party? Sounds fun except for the Mint Juleps, could I have champagne or a Mimosa? Southern ham, asparagus and strawberries sound delicious!

Glad your ski trip was fun, LeeAnne. It's a good thing you like to cook. I would be grouchy if I was on a vacation and did that much cooking. Just me, though. Your Christmas dinner sounded delicious. Maybe food writing is in your future?

David, sure hope Betty isn't reading these boards!

Happy New Year everyone. Here's wishing you a healthy, happy, well-traveled 2006. As we say at our house, "clink, clink." <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />

Donna I'm with you. Cooking and vacation definitely don't go together...now vacation and reservations...that's a different story! ;)

Well Gus and I get to celebrate the New Year at least five hours ahead of everyone else!!! So if you want to join us then crack open a bottle of whatever takes your fancy at 7pm in New York, 4pm in California and at the appropriate hours in between for those who don't live on the edges!

We'll be at my house celebrating quietly.....after the excesses of our Silversea cruise and the Christmas festivities we are both looking forward to a relaxing evening!

So here's to 2006 - may all your days at sea be smooth and sunny.

Our usual NYE includes snacks, movies (videos), games, and struggling to stay awake until midnight. I usually succeed at that, Grant usually does not.

This year we are doing something new. The facility where I work is hosting the first "Orange County's New Year's Eve" which is a festival-type event with several stages which will have live music. At midnight, there will be fireworks, lasers, and a giant orange will drop from a tower. (If NY can drop an apple, the OC can drop an orange!) I saw a test of the orange/lasers/etc. last night and it looked pretty neat! The best part is that it's not really a working event for me - an outside promoter is putting on the event so I have no real responsibilities other than observation and support. I can relax and have fun, for once! The performing artists are not quite at the top of my personal list (Sugar Ray is the main attraction, also Joan Jett and Berlin will play among others) but I think the event will be fun. As long as it doesn't pour down rain, which is a possibility! Keeping my fingers crossed...

Also our New Year's festivities will carry over to Wednesday when we have tickets to the Rose Bowl! They are awful tickets (end zone corner, low) but at least we will be there! Go Trojans!

Hope everyone has a fun, festive and safe New Year's. Thanks to all for including me as a newbie in the LCT community this year, I have loved it and learned a lot!

Dena

Dena, you NYeve sounds so fun! I'll be anxious to hear how the first OC NY Eve turns out. I will sure keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain...they're talking rain tonight or tomorrow last I heard?? Guess they'll start interrupting TV shows with "Storm Watch" (non-So.Calif wouldn't understand how ridiculous it gets at the first start of drizzle). I'll look for you at the game on Wednesday...you there live and us in our livingroom! Go Trojans (Don will get over it when his Longhorns lose!)

Sounds like a really fun time, Dena. In fact, our daughter, Rachel and her boyfriend will be there, too. Let's hope it doesn't rain! Right now, as I look outside my window, the sun is shining.

Yes, the sun is shining here too! The forecasts do not look too good for tomorrow night, though - 70% to 80% chance of rain. Let's hope the rain stalls in Santa Barbara or up north somewhere, at least until Sunday!

Marcie, my dad and I were just joking about "Storm Watch" last night. We said that all the TV stations were probably digging out their rain gear. We must be the laughing stock of those in rainier climates! For those who haven't experienced this - when it rains in Southern Calif., or sometimes when rain is just forecast, the local TV news stations provide extensive, live, on-the-spot "Storm Watch" coverage. This consists of sending reporters around the region, dressed in matching network-logo rain gear, to report on if it is raining where they are and if so, what is happening.

Denise, glad that your daughter and BF are coming! I hope they have a good time. The large buildings will be open, but the big midnight festivities will be outside, rain or shine. Still keeping my fingers crossed, hoping for the best!

Dena

Great description Dena!! When we've had friends from COLD climates visit us they just can't believe how the news in So. Cal make such a big deal out of a little rain when it's so Ho Hum to the rest of the country. It really is much ado about nothing!

We find our "STORM WATCHES" in SOCAL to be hysterical! Much ado about nothing is right, Marcie! STORM WATCH many times equates to a "SPIT" of water rather than torrential downpours. Hopefully this weekend is the much ado variety.

Dena, Rachel and Mike are so looking forward to this OC event. Hopefully, it will be a huge success and an annual event to look forward to.

Oops, in my earlier post, I mentioned NYC dropping an apple on NYE - my husband just informed me that it's a ball made of crystal, not an apple. He is more observant than I am. I stand corrected!

Dena