Coastal Living 2, part iii

Our totally 80's New Years Dinner. We started around 2pm with a couple rounds of gin fizzes: my favorite new holiday tradition. And because the fizz itself dates back to the 1880's, it qualifies in our 80's meal. Around 6 we began the meal's preparations with salami, cheese and triscuits...honestly, is there really a better cracker out there than the original triscuit? One of my earliest memories is of hiding underneath the dining room table, eating triscuits and cream cheese. This was the 1970's, but triscuits are timeless.

I shucked a dozen oysters with my beloved oyster knife...

And then proceeded to defile them by attempting to go "Rockefeller" via improvisation. Sometimes, this just doesn't work. To be fair, they weren't disgusting. Storm said, "They taste like pizza!", which, bless him, he meant as a compliment. I'm not showing the photo now; maybe after I've perfected them I'll do a 'before and after post' on Oysters Rockefeller, but let's move onto our second course, Dungeness crab cocktail:

Also, please admire the last vestiges of my NYC manicure, inspired by the Rothkos at MoMA.

Our main course was Penne alla Vodka and broccolini with sausage, both flawlessly executed by Storm:

There was much debate over how much pasta to make for 6 people. The recipe called for one pound and served 6, but we all felt like we'd want more and be sad when there was no more to be had. Of course, 2 pounds was waaay too much. Multiple glasses of champagne and a few more rounds of gin fizzes didn't give any of us the kind of judgement needed to abstain from more pasta. By 11:40 we were drunk, painfully full, and sacked out on couches watching the Bourne Ultimatum on a 13" TV. But our midnight toast was so inspired, I feel completely redeemed: Alka Seltzer with crushed ice and lemon wedges:

Dessert really should have been a nice white chocolate mouse with raspberry coulis, but instead it was warm chocolate chip cookies and Patrick's homemade candy bars. And that was New Year's Eve 2011.