The Spirit World

The end of 2006 is zooming at us and the dawn of 2007 is just around the corner. After what is often a hectic holiday season it’s nice to start the New Year on a more relaxed, but still celebratory, note. And to that end when in comes to New Year’s celebrations our thoughts are more about New Year’s Day than New Year’s Eve.

There is nothing better than waking up to a nice, lazy day spent with friends. Perhaps the day will eventually include a brisk walk to enjoy the crispy winter weather or maybe it will revolve around football and bowl games and laying around on the couch. Either way you want a nice easy breakfast but something that’s still a little special.

A favorite beverage for New Year’s morning is the Bloody Mary. What’s great about this drink is that you can set out the ingredients and let everyone mix to their own taste. This drink is more about finding something you enjoy than precision measuring. It can also be made without the alcohol and a little less spicy to make it suitable for younger folks.

You can start with a recipe if you’d like or to make guests who may not have done this before feel more comfortable, but I often find that just eyeballing what goes in the glass is good enough.

Here’s a list of ingredients to present so that folks can customize their own masterpiece.

• Tomato juice, Bloody Mary mix, or Vegetable cocktail (like V8)
• Vodka
• Hot pepper sauce like Tabasco
• Worcestershire sauce
• Horseradish - make sure it’s pure and not a mixed sauce
• Ice
• Garnishes such as: Pickled green beans; Pickled asparagus; Lemon wedges; Celery stalks; Olives

Place all ingredients together (on a tray is nice) along with some tall glasses and a few tall spoons or stir sticks and let your guests mix to their hearts content.

You may choose to make a whole brunch - scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, fruit and pastries - to have on hand but on a day like this you can get buy with just a really good batch of savory scones to go along with those Bloody Marys. Ina Garten has a version of Cheddar Dill Scones that I absolutely love! The recipe is in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. They can be made up the night before and then baked to be fresh and hot in the morning.

Other great sounding scones are Tyler Florence’s Pancetta, Pear and Parmesan Scones, Herb and Cheese Scones from a Cooking Live episode (available for a limited time), or Emeril’s Bacon-Cheddar Cheese Scones