All my friends know that I’m not much of a cook. My contribution to dinner parties is normally a few bottles of wine and shrimp ring, but recently, I have been making an effort and trying easy things that are stress-free to make. So I thought I’d give you a few ideas for what to serve at your new year’s party this December 31st.

Punch

I had to start with the drinks first! I love punch! It’s great. You can make it pretty much however you like it. It’s really really hard to mess up punch!
Ok, so one thing you need to do beforehand is to prepare an ice/fruit ring. It’s both functional and pretty!
So you need to find an ice mold that will fit inside your punch bowl. A bundt cake tin is the best, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can use things like tupperware, or even a muffin tray. They will make really cute shaped ice! Just look through your cupboards for something that will work.
Once you have found a mold, fill it with 1/2 inch of water or juice. Make sure you pick a juice that goes with your punch! Juice is good as when it melts, it won’t dilute your punch!
Then place your fruit on top of the water/juice. You can use strawberries, peaches, grapes, lemon, lime, oranges, mandarins, maraschino cherries, mint leaves.. ANYTHING you want basically!
Now put it in the freezer. Once it’s completely frozen, take it out of the freezer and add more water or juice – enough to cover the fruit completely and return it to the freezer.
Now for the punch. This recipe makes enough for around 15-20 people (depending on how much they drink!)

Ingredients:
2 cans of frozen orange juice (thawed)
2 quarts (8 cups) of apple cider, ginger ale or sparkling apple juice
3 750ml bottles of champagne/sparkling wine

Make sure all of the ingredients are cold before you start mixing!
Put the orange juice concentrate into your punch bowl and stir it so that it’s softened.
Stir in the apple juice, apple cider or ginger ale.
Add the champagne and remember to stir gently!!!

When you’re ready to serve your punch, take your ice mold out of the freezer. Quickly dip the mold in hot water to loosen the ice and the invert it into your punch bowl and your punch is ready for your guests!

Always remember when dealing with fizzy things to put them in last and stir the liquid gently so that you don’t lose any fizz!!!

If you don’t want alcohol in your punch, you can use sparkling grape juice instead of champagne. And for this recipe, an ice ring made of apple juice works really well!

Hors D’oeuvres/Finger Foods

Ok, so we’re going with simple and easy.
You will need:
1 baguette
1 big package of smoked salmon
2 tubs of herb & garlic cream cheese
chives to garnish

Slice your baguette, spread on the cream cheese, tear bits of salmon and place them on top.
Dice up some chives and sprinkle on top. Or, you can cut them into 2 inch long pieces and put 2-3 pieces on top of the salmon.

Veggies & Dip

This is really simple, just make sure you have some cute serving dishes and take some time in presenting it nicely.

Buy some baby carrots, a cucumber, some broccoli, red/green/yellow peppers. Wash everything. Cut the broccoli into tinier trees, and slice the cucumber and peppers. Arrange onto a big serving dish, or separate evenly onto smaller serving dishes.

For your dips use the Philadelphia ones. Get a Roasted Red Pepper dip, a Onion dip and a Garden Vegetable Ranch dip. Place the dips into small bowls – don’t just dump the Philly tub on the table! And you’re ready to serve!

Good luck & Happy Hosting!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 80g tins of tuna (drained and flaked)
• 1 tomato – diced
• 1/2 cup corn
• 2 garlic cloves – finely diced or pressed
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• oregano
• pepper
• dash of lemon juice

Mix the tuna, tomato, corn, garlic and mayonnaise together. Add a dash of lemon juice – this is optional, but I find a dash of lemon juice makes any fish taste better; even if it is just humble tinned tuna!

Add the oregano and pepper to taste, and it’s ready to serve!

Serve with warm toast cut into triangles, and cubes of cheese.

Bon Appetite!

• 200 g / 4 cans of tuna (drained and flaked)
• 200 g mashed potato
• 4 spring onions (chopped)
• 100 g / 1 cup of frozen peas or petit pois (defrosted)
• zest of 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 tbsp bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp olive oil

For the Mayonnaise

• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of red paprika
• Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix together the first six ingredients. Slowly add enough egg to bind the mixture together.

Wet your hands, so that the mixture doesn’t stick to you, and shape it into patties – make them roughly the size of your palm and about 1 inch thick. Lightly cover each one with breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over low-medium heat and cook the tuna-cakes for a few minutes on each side. Be careful when turning them!

In the meantime, mix together the ingredients for the mayonnaise – add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the hot tuna-cakes with a lemon wedge, the lemon mayonnaise, some green salad and a glass of cold Chardonnay. Bon Appetite!

* You can substitute the tuna for tinned salmon.