On the Homefront: New Year's Day Table

Frost the Dalmatian, sans Santa hat, decided to stick around
for another winter-themed table!

We have had so little sunshine since Christmas that I had a hard time getting photos of our New Year's Day table.  Finally last Friday we had some sun, so I quickly snapped some pictures (we are now back to grey and gloomy, with record cold temperatures on the way).  I continued the wintry theme from Christmas, but I think my color choices must have been influenced by the weather -- lots of black, white, brown, and even some grey, which is not one of my favorites hues.  However, I do love the theme of animals from cooler climes, and I got the chance to feature my lovely Floating Puffin Cookie Jar, so the table was delightful to me despite the rather cool and somber color scheme!

Dark brown wooden bead placemat from Target; black round woven placemat from Bed Bath & Beyond; white dinner plate (Tivoli by Studio Nova); Winter Solstice Animal Dessert Plates from West Elm (no longer available); white flatware from Target; black napkin; black-stemmed wine glass; clear water glass.  The small white plate is a coaster for the wine bottle.

There are four different arctic animal designs on the dessert plates:

Playful penguin

Sweet seal pup

Omniscient owl

Prowling polar bear

I love this cookie jar -- Atlantic Puffins are my favorite bird!

Every Christmas one of my brothers, who lives in Maryland, sends us crab cakes.  We always have them either on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.  Like our Christmas dinner, the meal was quick and easy, as I went on a long trail ride that day, but everything was just as tasty as if I had made it all from scratch.  The crab cakes were baked for 20 minutes and then quickly sautéed.  The sweet potatoes came from Publix in a microwaveable bag -- they were ready in eight minutes!  The pickled beets were out of a jar, and the cake came from a relatively new supermarket in our area called The Fresh Market.  I also got one of my very favorite salad greens (the mâche rosettes) there, and was lucky to find them as they are not always available.  I dressed the salad with the absolute best bottled Lemon Vinaigrette and served the crab cakes on top with lemon and a blend of tartar and cocktail sauces.

New Year's Day Dinner:

Pinot Grigio/Unsweetened Iced Tea

Crab Cakes on a Bed of Mâche Rosettes

Lemon, Tartar-Cocktail Sauce, and Lemon Vinaigrette

Steamed Sweet Potatoes with Butter

Pickled Beets

Gingerbread Loaf Cake

Since our main dish was crab cakes, I chose a crab-shaped serving dish for the Extra Dark Lindt Lindor truffles:

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year!

"Here's a toast to the future,

A toast to the past,

And a toast to our friends far and near.

May the future be pleasant,

The past a bright dream,

May our friends remain faithful and dear!"