New Year’s Eve Weekend
28-Jan-2006
Before I take off on this Superbowl challenge and all the things that go along with it, I had better take care of some old business. I can’t believe that I haven’t talked about our New Year’s Eve dinner and it’s already January 28th. Where in the world did the month go? I guess I’ve just been a bit discombobulated lately. Well, I resolve to get back on track by February 1!
This New Year’s Eve was such a nice, perfect time. My friends E and BR invited R and I to spend the weekend with them at a family residence on Camano Island. Their house sits near the Southwest end of the island, right on the water (actually on a hill but with a path down to the beach), looking out at Whidbey Island. It’s a beautiful and peaceful place filled with the sounds of wind, waves and birds. The house is both large – with plenty of room for private mediation or napping – and cozy.
Our plan was to arrive early afternoon on New Year’s Eve, spend a leisurely afternoon and evening, take our time getting out and about on New Year’s Day with everyone contributing to either the evening meal or Sunday’s breakfast.
I won’t bore you with the all the relaxing details – there was a lot of time spent reading, gazing out at the water, and napping – instead I’ll jump right to the food portion of the weekend! E and BR were responsible for appetizers. They had arrived earlier in the day and took a trip up to Taylor Shellfish Farms to pick up fresh oysters. To keep us occupied while he was shucking oysters E first put out bowls of his favorite crackers and "dip". The dip is actually mostly grated cheese mixed with a sauce for spreadability. It comes in a hot and not-so-hot version. He also treated us to more of his cheese crackers. Yum!
Then he set about shucking Olympia Oysters; our little native oysters that have recently been brought back from near extinction. These are amazing little, fresh bites of the sea. Sweet, delicate, salty, mineral: all the things you want to taste in these amazing bite-size morsels. We were spoiled with four or five dozen of the beautiful little guys. Add a glass of champagne to the mix and there isn’t much you can do to improve the experience.
After we rested for awhile we set about making the main portion of the meal. I had volunteered for this piece of the celebration and had decided to make what I thought was called Steak Diane, or at least used to be by a place called Henry’s Off Broadway. This was a nice restaurant with a huge fan base but it closed several years ago. I’m not sure why but I miss it. Well, when I looked up Steak Diane recipes they weren’t what I was expecting but the concept was easy enough so I just set about making my own.
Fillet Mignon is wrapped in bacon, grilled and then topped with crab and Bearnaise sauce. I’d decided that garlic mashed potatoes were just the thing to accompany it. And we also had a nice green salad to round out the meal. There are many slight variations on Bearnaise recipes so I chose one that was a bit lighter on eggs but nice and lemony to really complement the crab. I have to say this dish was awfully good!
For out finale E brought out a gorgeous cheesecake! I haven’t had a piece of cheesecake forever and this was an excellent one to remind me just how much I love cheesecake. I forgot where he purchased it but I need to find out. It was rich, dense with that perfect tang that good cheesecakes embody. I really should have had a piece for breakfast, too!
At midnight, after watching fireworks on Whidbey Island while keeping one eye on the TV to see those on the Space Needle, we headed off to our cozy rooms. I was the first one up in the morning (as I think I always am…) and quietly made my way out of the house to start the New Year with a refreshing walk. After about 45 minutes of walking in the rain I was refreshed enough! I returned to the house and others started making their way up and into the living areas. Before you know it we were watching the NFC Champion Seahawks and enjoying Bagels and Lox and all kinds of accompanying trimmings as presented by R. She’d brought all kinds of schmeers and vegetables so we could assemble various combinations of salmon-goodness.
This was really a great way to start the New Year! It was such a completely relaxing and refreshing weekend. There was conversation if you wanted it and quiet when you preferred. With fires going all weekend, the rain outside the windows was an interesting element that made being inside all that much more pleasant.
The New Year was off to a great start – already I’d done some of my favorite things. Cooking, relaxing, discussing and hanging around with great friends – what more can you ask for?
The Seahawk win was just an added bonus! :-)
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Culinary Fool 
I actually made the cheesecake……well ok….. I did buy it. Whole Foods. It was delicious, wasn\’t it. Now I\’m paying the price with my diet shakes!
:-) but you *could* have made it – that\’s the relevant point! I thought it might have been Whole Foods but wasn\’t positive. It was awfullly good….
~ B