New Year's Eve

Matt and I have never been ones to party on New Year's Eve.  We've always been happy staying at home, drinking champagne, watching movies, and spending time together, and this New Year's Eve is no exception.... especially since Matt is getting over the flu.  I thought about inserting a picture of him asleep in his chair as he is right now, but decided not to..... I am well aware that paybacks can be a bitch.

Tonight's menu is all finger food.  In fact, if one wanted, one would not need any utensils at all.

We have garlic stuffed olives, tomato and mozzarella cups, boiled shrimp, sausage balls, and chocolate butterscotch tartlets.  The olives I didn't make nor did I make the tartlet cups.  My philosophy is why make something when its easier to buy it and tastes just as good.  

I have discovered these things in the frozen foods section, and they are amazing!  Already made, already baked.  You just heat them up, and you're good to go.  I used them for the tomato and mozzarella cups and the the chocolate butterscotch tartlets.

For the tomato and mozzarella cups, I just took about 1/2 a box of little tomatoes and cut them into quarters. 

To this I added half a ball of fresh mozzarella cut into chunks about the same size or littler smaller than the tomatoes and added a little salt and pepper.  Sometimes I make my own dressing, but I saw this at the grocery store this morning and decided to give it a try.

I ended up with something that looks like this, 

and then spooned some into each of the tartlet cups.

The other part of tonight's menu that I am excited about is my dessert:  Chocolate Butterscotch Tartlets!  I found this recipe by googling "New Year's Eve desserts."  It is very simple, and from the "Quality Control" samples that I tried a long the way, very tasty.

For this recipe you will need:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate because that is what I had in the pantry)

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tsp. Grand Mariner

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

3 pkg frozen miniture phyllo tart shells

Place the chocolate and butterscotch chips in a small bowl.

In a small saucepan bring 1 cup of cream just to a boil.  Pour over chips; whisk until smooth.  Stir in Grand Mariner.  Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.  Refrigerate until chilled and thickened.

In a large bowl, beat remaining cream until it begins to thicken.  Add sugar and vanilla, beat until stiff peaks form.  

Spoon chocolate mixture into tart shells, top with whipped cream, and refrigerate until serving.

 From my family to yours, Happy and Prosperous New Year!