Are You Ready for New Year's Eve?

Only two days left to the biggest party of the year - are you ready? If you are the one hosting a party New Year's Eve can be almost as stressful as Christmas (although since it's probably your friends and not your entire family, they may cut you some slack) because there's so much to remember. Last minute things like extra glassware, appetizer-sized paper plates, napkins, party favors (including all those noise makers and funny hats), food, drink, entertainment...it's all up to you. Don't panic because this holiday is relaxed anyway and people just want a place to go and have fun and if everything isn't perfect I'm sure they'll forgive you. At any rate, this list may help you with those last minute plans.

• My first piece of advice if you find yourself scrambling to pull it off is to DELEGATE! Call one or two of your close friends and see if they can make the trip across town for the party favors, the shrimp you ordered or that special bottle of Champagne Jim's Liquor is holding for you. Even if it's something like asking them to prepare an appetizer or two, just to help you out, it's likely they'll do it. If you have to delegate remember to offer to reimburse them for any expenses - they won't always take the money but you are the host and you were going to do it anyway.
• Plan some sort of entertainment. You can't beat great music for New Year's Eve, it gets everyone in the mood for a party, some will dance and some will just sit back and relax. If you're thinking about trying to get a live band or DJ this close to the day I wouldn't recommend it unless you do some very careful checking - almost all of the good acts will be booked already, but you might get lucky. Your Ipod lineup or computer playlist will work just fine and you can always ask some music aficionado guest to be in control of the stereo system - the right people will love it and keep the tunes going all night. Also, if you plan to watch the "ball drop" be sure to have a TV ready and when it does reach midnight, revive an old tradition with a chorus of Auld Lang Syne.
• Food is important because people tend to drink more than usual on New Year's Eve. You can take care of this by pulling together a variety of appetizers and John Mitzewich's "Easy and Affordable Appetizers" are a great place to start, but I also encourage you to explore some of the ethnic and exotic options from all of our About.com Food Guides, they have such great ideas.
• And, my favorite part of course is the drink menu. Yes, Champagne is still in but Champagne Cocktails are even better. If you need some advice on selecting the perfect Champagne, Stacy Slinkard, About.com Wine Guide, is our resident expert and I wrote about a few Champagne cocktails yesterday. However, I also have a thematic list of a variety of drinks - Champagne and no Champagne, new and classic - that I love to serve on New Year's Eve and honestly if you make a little effort to create spectacular (even if they are simple) cocktails for your party your guests will appreciate it. I also have a fun list of resolutions for those who want to make '09 a little bit better in their drinking life.
• Okay, so you have the food, drink and entertainment, now you need to think about the responsibility. If you have people drinking at your place you need to make sure everyone makes it home safely by not driving when they're drunk (cab company number should be handy) or allow them to hang out until they sober up in the morning. Crashing a car or a morning in jail is not a good way to begin a new year and it's everyone's responsibility to keep our friends from ending up there. On the "somewhat" lighter side brush up on some hangover relieving skills. If I could take a poll I would have to say that New Year's Day has the highest concentration of hangovers than any other day of the year and it's always best to be prepared.

Anyway, have a great New Year's, be safe and I wish everyone the best in 2009. Cheers!