Ringing in the New Year

Ryan and I celebrated New Year's this year just the two of us. We started off the day by visiting our favorite local park to get fresh air, exercise and to feed the birds! It's something pretty special, even a little magical, to connect with nature like this. Despite the cold, we were each visited numerous times by the little feasting fowls. 

As for our evening, we opted to stay home. Being winter in the Northeast, a night of homemade food, a roaring fire and cuddly blankets appealed to us more than venturing out in the snowy cold to countdown midnight. We made a feast of vegetarian appetizers that were first-time recipes for us. All were successfully delectable! 

Raspberry Lemon Drop Martinis with fresh raspberries and lemon juice!
Basic recipe from here, but I changed it around a bit, adding more raspberries and some tonic water. 

Ryan made these delicious grapes. Pretty simple- green grapes dipped in caramel and chopped nuts. Very tasty!

Whole wheat pizza puffs with sun-dried tomatoes and onion. Basic recipe found here, but we used different fillings. 

These spring rolls probably took second place for the night. They were delicious and definitely nutritious, filled with lots of vegetables. This is another dish we will make again, and is substantial enough to be a main course. Recipe found here.