"new years eve" news and stories

References to Champagne drinks abound in old newspapers, novels and cocktail books. Champagne drinks containing brandy and orange liqueurs in the forms of punches and cups can be found in old cookbook recipe collections such as Mrs. Beeton's "Book of Household Management," first published in 1861.

I've seen mentions of Champagne cocktails in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle archives as far back as 1869, the same year Mark Twain mentions the drink in "Innocents Abroad." The first recipe citation for a Champagne cocktail goes back the "The Bar-Tenders Guide" written by Jerry Thomas in 1862.

Champagne during this time was generally much sweeter than today's popular dry style labeled "Brut," which didn't exist on a label until around 1876. Thomas' 1862 book calls for shaking the ingredients, including the sparkling wine, which was surely a mistake since shaking carbonated drinks can get explosive.

The Mt. Olive Pickle Company this year is slowing down its annual New Year's Eve pickle drop, milking a few more seconds of celebration from a year that's been very kind to pickle makers.

"We've seen good growth," confirms spokeswoman Lynn Williams.

Fittingly for a firm that flourished in the depths of the Great Depression, having been launched a Lebanese immigrant in 1926, the current recession has barely dented Mt. Olive's sales figures. While home pickling has caught on with the latest crop of penny-pinching backyard gardeners, Williams says store-bought pickles are equally popular with brown baggers.

"Our sense is more people are taking their lunch to work with them," Williams says.

Chocolate and raspberries conjure our favorite holiday desserts. You know, the real grown-up ones that emerge from the kitchen long after all the kids' cookies and confections have gone up to bed. This seriously adult cheesecake caught our eye for so many reasons. Check out that darker-than-dark crust, which seems to ground the lighter-than-air filling that dances on top of it. You can never go wrong when two chocolates join forces in one dessert -- and with the glaze, make it three.

We're also enamored with its delicate size. Instead of hefting out a whole dense cheesecake, tlboyd05 graces us with something that verges on being an all-too-decadent size for an individual serving. Studded with raspberries, this cake would make the perfect end to an elegant New Year's Eve supper or even a feast all its own. Either way, this dessert beckons, "by all means, have a glass of champagne with me."

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The sparkling wine we drink on New Year's Eve is not the stuff we drink at other times of the year. Beyond marking the end of the year, Dec. 31 also caps the end of holiday season, a last gasp of celebration -- and provides a ray of hope for what lies ahead. People want to party, not reflect. Chug, not sip.

Circumstances dictate that the sparkler you give or receive will likely be consumed by many mouths -- some quite inebriated already -- and not just by an intimate group of two or four. These factors influence what you buy.

Generally speaking, the ideal bottle will be inexpensive, widely available and fairly dry. The guide below walks you through New Year's Eve options, from fancy French Champagne to an international stable of less expensive, lesser-known alternatives.

Learn How to Open Champagne

The first Monday of 2009 is upon us: The first day reality sets in.

Was it just me or did the holidays fall in a very precarious position this year? Both Christmas and New Year's landed on Thursdays, leaving their respective Eves to precede on Wednesdays, resulting in anemic two-day work weeks barely worth thinking about, causing almost an entire 16 day period to be a wash, thus making getting back to any sort of actual life that much more difficult.

But here I am. My point: None.

However, I am building to a larger sentiment that New Year's Eve 2009 has come and passed without but a squeak from me on the beer blog -- begging the question: "How did Slashfood's resident beer snob kick off 2009 (beer-wise of course)?" Well, I'm not so proud to admit that after the requisite champagne toast, my first beer of 2009 was... drum roll please... a Budweiser!

Yikes! Equally requisite explanation: NYE09 was spent at a house party with but one keg to satisfy all beer drinkers' tastes, so I swallowed my snobbery and kicked off the new year with a Bud draft out of the barrel.

My beer expertise did come in handy though when someone was needed to tap said keg. So there: my knowledge did pay off after all.

We're now five days and one full weekend into 2009. What was your first beer of the year? Or fill me in on any interesting NYE beer drinking tales. Otherwise it's going to be a long, boring year, people!

[Photo Credit: anheuserbusch.com]