New Years Menu

Hoppin' John is a traditional southern beans and rice made with black-eyed peas...

It is traditionally served on New Year's Day to bring prosperity for the next year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppin%27_John

There are a bunch of recipes for it... just google it.

it is similar to ham and beans, and you can spice it up a bit depending on what your guests might like. It would be easy enough to put in a crock pot for people to scoop into bowls.

Hoppin’ John Soup

1 T olive oil
1 onion chopped
½ lb kielbasa, chopped or sliced
2 cans black-eyed peas drained
1 cup brown rice, cooked
2 cans chicken broth
1 t garlic powder
½ t cayenne pepper
½ t thyme
Salt & pepper

In a soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook till translucent. Add kielbasa, peas, beans, rice, broth, and seasoning. Stir well to blend and heat. Mash beans slightly to help thicken soup. Serve when hot.

Pulled Pork in the Crockpot

1 (2 pound) pork butt roast
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle root beer
1 (18 ounce or more) bottle your favorite barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns

Directions
1. Place the pork in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily, 6 to 7 hours. Note: the actual length of time may vary according to individual slow cooker. Drain well. Stir in barbecue sauce. Serve over hamburger buns
(I've doubled the meat and had this come out well). Serve with cole slaw, pickles.

One year we had a crockpot of meatballs or little sausages (I don't eat either, so I can't remember), another with queso dip. You could have a veggie tray, maybe a cold cut tray. I would set up a buffet and just have paper plats. You cold also do a crockpot of chilli or soup. Crockpots will allow you to keep it warm.

Have fun!

I'd make a crock pot of the sweet small BBQ meatballs, small buns on the side, and maybe 2 more warm apps like stuffed mushrooms and brushetta.

Placed around randomly for snacking throughout night: Cheese & crackers, chips and dips, pretzels, salsa, pepperoni, olives, pickles, etc.

do a crock pot of chili, of course you are supposed to eat black eyed peas on new years day for money luck

I think they'd be FUN!!!

We do "theme" potlucks all the time... helps people know what to bring... esp since we're the "orphan/expat" group round these parts (out of all our friends, only 1 couple is from Seattle... everyone else is midwest, cali, south, deep south, east coast, yankee)

We've done 'low brow game night' and '60's game night' ... which is essentially childhood/ americana favorites that would fit with sloppy joes,

Sloppy joes
Devilled eggs
beenie weenies
celery w peanut butter or frogs on a log (aka add raisins or marshmallows)
dear god the concoctions made with jell-o
fruit cocktail
mac'n'cheese
etc.

As would a simple southern (aka not creole) theme
- greens w bacon
- red rice and beans
- hoppin john
- corn bread
- brussels sprouts
- etc

Since you will have children there, I'd do an appetizer party. A large veggie platter, a large fruit platter each with dips. I would do mini pizzas made with the canned biscuits, mini quiche done in the mini cupcake tips with a ritz cracker as the crust, bruschetta on toast points, mini cucumber sandwiches, mini meatballs rachal ray has a reciepe on her site,then crackers and cheese and cut up sausage. Nothing has to be big or heavy and appetizer meals can be served throughout the house so everyone doesn't gather in one room. Desserts can also be done appetizer style as well very small tastes such as small cheese cakes(nilla wafers for crust), shots of trifle, slivers of various cake, and then As far as drinking goes I would offer up one drink to the adults be it a mixed drink or wine and then non-alcoholic versions as this limits usually who over indulges. The kids can have kiddie smoothies or kiddie cocktails or baby shakes. Everything small nothing way overdone. If you want to have a meal or sandwich bar to keep things moving it would be fine, just remember if you don't have room to sit it may be difficult to navigate a sloppy joe with one hand or balance a plate on the lap to eat with 2.

Most people eat while standing at a party and I think sloppy joes would be a little hard to eat. I would do appetizers. Meatballs in a crock pot, veggies and dip, fruit, cheese and crackers, other dips. I have a tasty recipe for a Buffalo chicken dip if you want it (too spicy for the kids). Maybe some little dollar buns with deli meat for sandwiches. We do appetizers for Christmas Eve and we have potstickers or egg rolls, mini tacos, shrimp and cocktail sauce, bruscheta, etc.

You could do a chicken or pork in the crockpot. Cook it all day (even the day before) and shred it with a little bbq sauce. Then take little dinner rolls and people can make sandwiches. Serve a big salad and/or potato salad and the hoppin johns. Along with a veggie/cheese tray (I just put them together myself). Then have a desert (it could be as simple as a frozen pound cake, some vanilla ice cream and berries).

We just had a big party and I was these apps in Better Homes and Garden and they were SUPER easy and everyone LOVED them.

You take pie crust and cut it to fit into a mini muffin tin (you can cook them up to 3 days in advance and store in an airtight container) then I bought the marinated tomato and Mozzarella salad at the deli and cut it into smaller pieces and filled the little pie shells.

I also sauteed onion and celery and added it to a box of stove-top stuffing. I then put the stuffing, some turkey and a splash of canned cranberry sauce into the little pie shells and it was a turkey dinner all in one bite.

It was all women at our party and they loved them... I can only imagine that a guy would like them even more!! Super easy.