New Year’s Eve can be a complicated holiday to celebrate for some people. With so much hype and tradition, many people feel compelled to mark the passing of one year and the welcoming of the next in spectacular fashion.
I spent New Year’s Eve in Times Square – and ended up leaving early because it was freezing and the festivities were really just people standing on a crowded street waiting for the countdown and the fall of the ball. When you actually think about it, you might agree with me that it’s not really fun or very exciting.
In contrast, in 1991, the first New Year’s Eve my husband and I were dating, we went to see James Brown in concert and the evening really couldn’t have been more fun. Jimmie (Jay Jay) Walker sat in front of me, wearing a purple fur coat. James Brown did all the dance moves. The man took out the cape and Brown eventually threw it away to continue dancing. It was the most incredible live show I have ever seen.
The Long Dinner table setting and dessert for the empty nest theme of New Year’s Eve 2023.
But for eight years now, we have been celebrating New Year’s Eve with friends. Dare I say that my friends have developed a tradition even better than a James Brown show? Maybe!
Nowadays, our family looks forward to New Year’s Eve all year round. Our 27 year old daughter says it’s her favorite night of the year. Much of the credit goes to my friend Amy Martin of Lafayette. She and her husband, Michael, host what we call the Long Dinner every year.
A total of five couples and their families gather on New Year’s Eve for exactly what they call it: a long dinner. The event starts at 5 p.m. and ends after midnight. We all sit at a long table for a 12-course meal. There is a lot of visiting and going back and forth between courses, with each couple and some adult children preparing and serving the different courses inspired by a theme.
The Long Dinner, a dinner between five couples who celebrate New Year’s Eve 2023 together.
Long Dinner themes range from home, empty nest, the elements (air, water, wind), TV shows, the Roaring Twenties and much more. This year we each suggested an ingredient, the event host made a roulette wheel, and we assigned ingredients to people to determine what each dish should include.
I was assigned saffron as an appetizer dish. I’m still hesitant between making a Persian tahdig or a cucumber pickle with saffron and tuna. Tahdig is a complicated and risky choice. The other just takes time but should be simple to do.
I’m leaning towards simple – mainly because I could serve the saffron cucumber pickles with tuna in the scallop shells I bought last week at an amazing estate sale in New Orleans.
Part of the fun of the event is finding interesting ways to serve the food. Last year, with an “empty nest” theme, I served individual salads resembling microgreen nests in hollowed-out satsuma peels.
The Long Dinner tablescape in 2022 in Lafayette, Louisiana
Our daughter has sweet potatoes and appetizers. She plans to adapt a potato cobbler and make it with sweet potatoes. This is a good choice because most of the work can be done in advance. She will simply have to fry the multiple layers of sweet potatoes before serving them.
We realize that we think more than rationally about how to create, prepare and serve our dishes, but that’s where the fun lies. Ten adults will enjoy the meal this year. Amy Martin says the decorations will be “silver, gold and white”, inspired by the tinsel on the trees.
“Disco balls and candles will be incorporated,” she said.
The Long Dinner in 2018 in Lafayette, Louisiana
She says, and I agree, that the event works for us “because we all get along really well and are accepting of each other. We’re willing to try different things. We like spending time together.”
Everything is true.
We all look forward to the cheese spread in the middle of the meal. A friend orders an assortment of cheeses from France and shows us around the country and the cheese.
Yes, the event is a bit over the top, but it’s the time spent with friends that continues to make it special.
Knowing we’re going to be there this long gives the evening a relaxed feel that’s unlike most meals – basically, it’s an eight-hour meal. We’ve all learned to adjust portions accordingly so that we’re not full by the fifth course.
Another thing that makes it all work is Amy Martin’s efforts to strike a balance between elegance and comfort.
“I try to make it very warm and cozy but also elegant at the same time,” she said. “I want it to be an unforgettable evening.”