Celebrating The New Year With Luxe du Jour
After a relatively quiet Christmas with a small family gathering, we are ready to welcome the new year. It certainly has been challenging the last couple of years and we hope that we can get back to something that resembles normalcy. Let’s hope that good things happen in 2022.
We are having a few close friends over to celebrate the new year here at our home. Of course, selecting a delicious menu was the first item on our list. This year we are serving an old favorite that always gets rave reviews — San Francisco Cioppino (sometimes just referred to as seafood stew), hearts of palm salad, crusty bread and a surprise dessert that a dear friend is bringing. Another friend (the “queen of charcuterie”) is bringing a cheese selection for us to enjoy while sipping on some bubbly. You just gotta have some bubbles on New Years Eve!
Good Wine And Good Friends
With dinner we will serve a nice Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay to pair nicely with our main course. There are a few bottles of Nickel & Nickel Truchard Vineyard 2019 Chardonnay in our wine cabinet that would be excellent to serve to our guests. I know they will love it! Unfortunately, this vintage is currently sold out, but their chardonnay wines are all delish.
The Perfect Meal For Entertaining
San Francisco Cioppino
- December 28, 2021
- 4
- Print this
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 teaspoon each: basil, thyme, and fennel seeds (we add additional fennel seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 to 1/2 bottle of good quality white wine
- 12 little neck clams, cleaned thoroughly
- 1 pound mussels, cleaned thoroughly
- 1 pound mixed white fish (we prefer a combination of cod, shrimp and scallops)
Directions
- Step 1
- Heat oil in soup pot
- Step 2
- Add garlic, tomatoes, herbs and white wine
- Step 3
- Bring mixture to a boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes
- Step 4
- Just before serving, add seafood and cook until clam and mussel shells are completely open
- Step 5
- Add shrimp, fish and scallops and cook through (this only takes a couple of minutes
- Step 6
- Serve with a crispy green salad and crusty sourdough bread
- Step 7
- A nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc is perfect with this meal
- Step 8
- Enjoy!
No “Resolutions” For Us
As far as committing to any resolutions, we prefer to “plan our goals” for the upcoming year. We decide where we want to travel (if things become a bit more accommodating with the virus), what we want to accomplish from a business perspective, anything to improve our home environment, health goals, future plans, etc. Our philosophy is that if you don’t have a plan, you probably will not get what you want.
We just moved to Bluffton, South Carolina last year and, needless to say, have accomplished several projects around the house. Our kitchen counters were original to the house and in pretty bad shape, so we had them replaced with a beautiful quartzite and subway backsplash. What a difference! The lighter color brightened everything up and made the kitchen look new again. Whew! Even small projects can become a big project to get completed.
Then there is our 92 year old father living with us during the winter, that can make things are a bit uncertain for the future. Everything depends on his health, wellness and needs. It is best to take things a day at a time, but we still want to focus on our goals and aspirations.
Take Time To Enjoy The Simple Pleasures
The most important thing is that you enjoy time together and take some time to enjoy the little things in life. Right now, I am sitting on our front porch with a large glass of iced tea and writing this blog post. The birds are chirping and the sun is shining and things are pretty great around here.
A short golf cart ride down to the dock is on the agenda for later today. Hopefully we will see a dolphin or two swimming in the river. Living here in the Lowcountry is a slice of paradise.
Happy New Year to y’all from Luxe du Jour, and thank you for all of your support throughout this journey.
Cheers!
My name is Kim and my passion is surrounding myself, family, and friends in a life of luxury. Each week, I’ll share with you new tips and recipes to create a luxurious life .