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I can’t believe the New Year has finally approached us and we’ll be ringing in 2016 in just a few more days! Like many of you, I have a list of things I’d like to do better in the coming year but one thing in particular was on my mind. I decided it would be a fun idea to incorporate that into our New Year’s Eve celebration, along with the perfect foods!
I defnitely get stuck in a routine and find that I don’t venture outside of my comfort zone as often as I used to do. Maybe that’s because I’m so busy being a mom and running a household… I’ll never know for certain. One of my New Year’s resolutions in 2016 is to try new things and I made a list! Yea for me! Now we’ll see if I’m able to implement it. In order to start the year off right, I thought it would be fun to have “Try Something New for New Year’s Eve” party.
This party doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to be jumping out of airplanes or into frigid water. This is a fun and family friendly party that focuses more on trying new foods and some new games too.
Here’s how it’s going to go.
First, you need an invitation. While it is getting down to the wire, you could still email these or post it to Facebook. You could even surprise your family and friends by hand delivering them! You can see on my example that I am asking my guests to bring a new recipe they have never tried before. How many recipes do we all have on our Pinterest boards or stacked up in our pantries that we haven’t tried yet? This is the perfect opportunity to do it! The download is available at the end of the post.
Next, let’s move on to the food. The holidays are all about good food, right? I am going to follow up with my guests, since it’s mostly family, and asking them what they are bringing in order to have a good balance of things (we don’t want a table full of only cookies!). For the star of the show, I will be supplying a fun cheese pairing tray. It couldn’t be easier to put together.
I grabbed a Cracker Barrel cheese tray from Walmart that includes 4 kinds of cheeses and is good for up to 12 people (I bought another one to resupply). The included cheeses are Pepper Jack, Cheddar Jack, Asiago, and Extra Sharp Cheddar. For a cheese foodie like me, this cheese tray is heaven!
Because we are trying new things, I’m going to put out a selection of foods and condiments that can be paired with the cheeses-honey, guacamole, pepperoni, jam, apples, pears, nuts, and herbs.
To encourage them to really branch out of their comfort zones, I’ve made the pairing and food table into a game. In fact, the entire evening will be a little competition to see can branch out of their comfort zones the most! I made these cards to put out on the table. Guests are encouraged to pair things up with the cheese they have never tried before (at least 3 to qualify for the contest), to try 2 new things on the table besides the cheese, and then to try a new game or activity that will be happening throughout the evening. The download for the cards is at the end of the post.
Some examples of tasty pairings would be pepper jack cheese with grape, pear with the asiago, cheddar jack with guacamole, and the extra sharp cheddar with apple. I tried some basil with asiago too and it was delicious! So many fun combinations; you can really get creative.
With the food taken care of, a party needs some entertainment. I found some games that are new out this year which means most of us have probably never played them before:
Pie Face
Spontuneous
5 Second Rule
Reverse Charades
To ring in the New Year, I bought cans of silly string because that’s something we have never done before! We’ll have some noise makers too because the kids really love that as well.
You can find more awesome holiday recipes using Kraft products here! Also look for other great savings on Kraft Heinz products. You can save up to $13 this holiday season! And be sure to visit Walmart to pick up your own Cracker Barrel Cheese Tray in the deli section.
Grab the Invitation Download Here:
Grab the Try Something New Cards Here:
Grab the small banner download here:
