Saturday, December 31, 2005

Ringing In 2006 The Daily Gluttony Way



Several years ago, when I was just a wee twenty-something, New Years Eve was all about consumption--of all things inebriating and intoxicating, that is. Now that I'm an old fart thirty-something, ringing in the New Year is still about consumption no less, but is instead about the consumption of all things edible and peaceful.

This New Years Eve, Isaac and I decided to spend a quiet evening at home away from all the glitz and glam, away from crazy drivers and sobriety checkpoints, away from $100 cover charges and hiked up drink prices. Warm & toasty, and protected from the nasty weather outside, we spent it in our pajamas with a little
Netflix, a bottle of wine and some gourmet and ghetto eats!

I had gone to Trader Joe's earlier and picked up some
La Brea Bakery bread and little cheese and charcuterie to assemble a platter of Spanish manchego cheese, French Pyrenees sheep's cheese, and Dutch goat gouda cheese, some proscuitto and some serrano ham, a little pile of arugula tossed with lemon juice and olive oil, and a few apple slices. I would have loved a nice peppery syrah to wash all the goodies down, but we forgot to take a wine inventory before we headed to the store, so we settled for a reliable '03 pinot noir that we had sitting around instead.



At the same time, no party is complete without a little...
Domino's Pizza. Paired with that wine and cheese, it was the shiznit, yo.



On Tuesday, when I go back to work, as people will be exchanging stories about parties and clubs and champagne, I'll be just as content answering the obligatory "So what did you do for New Year's" question with "I stayed home." 'Cause sure, it may not have been very glamourous, but it was the best New Year's Eve ever.



Happy New Year everyone...Daily Gluttony wishes all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2006!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

aaaahhhh! i love the slippers!!!

and i am starting to love the extreme pairings, too, i.e. pairing a $$$ wine with...99 cent ramen. LOL!

happy new year, pam!

Daily Gluttony said...

Sarah,

I've made myself a cocktail and had it w/ packaged ramen before! Ain't that ghetto/gourmet combo the best? LOL! Happy New Year!!!

Passionate Eater said...

Loved your post Pam! I stayed at home too, but wasn't as inventive as you were. Did you arrange the the cheese plates? They look great!

Happy New Year (best "eating" wishes for the incoming year)!

elmomonster said...

HAHA! Sounds like the perfect night! Ditto on the slippers!

Happy New Year Pam!

Daily Gluttony said...

PE,

Staying home rules! I think that's gonna be my NYE of choice from now on. And yes, I did arrange the cheese plate myself--thanks!!!

Elmo,

Happy New Year! It was the perfect night...can't beat Domino's and wine! LOL!

e d b m said...

After working 14 hours on NYE and partying till 6 am, i think i'm envying you. I regret going out so late and waking up at almost 3 pm. Loser.

Next year i might have to do the stay-in with pizza and wine. I might even buy those slippers too. But that's another story. haha.

Daily Gluttony said...

Dylan,

If you end up buying the slippers, make sure you take a picture too, OK? LOL!

6am?? Dude, I woke up at 7. ha ha, but I do remember those days!!!

Anonymous said...

I, too, stayed home and had way too much wine and cheese.

How was the TJ's jamon?

LACheesemonger said...

sarah said...
aaaahhhh! i love the slippers!!!

and i am starting to love the extreme pairings, too, i.e. pairing a $$$ wine with...99 cent ramen. LOL!


Um, personally I prefer my Hello Kitty, way too pinka power , slippers with the rabbit ears (uh oh, did I just reveal TMI about my metrosexual character, lol) Sarah should talk, she she had $$$ as in 2.99 plastic bottle Manesheeetez kosher bulk wine for Christmas...makes Two-buck Chucks almost seem decent (almost ;) ).

As a Zinfandel whore, I should mention (not that I ever eat DimiNOes Pizza... though I'll admit to some frozen supermarket pizza on some nights ;), which is why I need to cycle more often) that the 2000 Mazzocco Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Cty Zinfandel at 15% alcohol is pretty damn decent with pizza for $7 bottle at Trader Joe's(closeout special, get some while they are still in stock). Pinot Noir (not really any $$$ meaning under $20) does go quite well with the ham/proscuitto & cheese choices you made, which the Zinfandel's do not do as well with. Of course, when well made Pinot Noir is the wine of love & seduction, IMHO; and Zinfandel is the wine of power, lust; wanton and wild, hehe, lol

But I'm worse than Miles in 'Sideways' when in comes to PN's, very, very picky; they've got to be really outstanding or I'll just pass them off as uninteresting and drink something else like a good Syrah or Grenache based wine, even some good Rose's.

Oh and honestly, try the creampuffs at Mouse Fantasy on Sawtelle Blvd., sometime (they spoil/get soggy & stale fairly rapidly like all really good creampuffs). But what I always do is get my mother a prepaid pre-order of the 'old-style' version, thicker cream, less whipped cream added, and they don't slice them open. These are similar to the kind my mother used to get as a child in Hawaii; that which is very, very rare to find any where these days. These are not the small bite sized, but nice and large size the way Sarah would approve of ;). They kept my mother from losing too much weight during her chemo/radiation therapy for her lung cancer in 2001, when she was too nauseated to eat much of anything else.