I rang in the New Year with my parents on the couch 
Partyin’ hard.
I must say I was surprised to see there were so many other 80 year old bloggers rockin’ the couch at midnight. I thought I was going to be the only one! I can always count on y’all to make me feel normal
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Let’s back track a few hours to revisit the Seafood Fest that was our New Year’s Eve Din Din–the last one of the year!!
Our family has a tendency to dig in and wolf down food. So, at the beginning of our celebratory dinners, I look at the clock and announce the time out loud. Then we make a concerted effort to enjoy our food and hold conversations so that we can slooooow down.
Okay, maybe I’m the only one who cares but it does remind everyone at the table to actually taste the food in front of them and savor each bite. I’m proud to announce we lasted 30 minutes. Go FAM!!
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Chilean Sea Bass: This is officially my favorite fish. FAVORITE. It’s naturally so buttery and soft. I swear it just melts in your mouth. Sort of like chocolate
Okra, green pepz, and 1 rando tomato sliver? I love okra. When I was little, I would pronounce it ‘orca’….like whales
I made the Eggplant Casserole again (from Christmas Eve dinner) because we had an ancient eggplant that needed to be eaten up! This time I added more veggies and sauce and it turned out WATERY. Oops!! It was still delicious though.
My dad bought 1 lb. of crab meat and we MADE crab cakes together. We were a great team! I browsed some recipes online but we ended up winging it and creating our own recipe. It was pretty much restaurant-quailty for a lot cheaper than restaurant costs.
We didn’t have bread crumbs on-hand so we used crushed rolled oats. Woah!
Cross section:
Also on the menu was bacon-wrapped scallops and pork chops.
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Dessert was a Marzipan Stollen that my Pops picked up from…
…Trader Joe’s!! Where else? He was delighted by the fact that it was only $1.99. It was actually pretty tasty! I even learned (from the box) that stollen dates back to the 1300s!!
My Pops also picked up these Dark Chocolate Covered Butter Biscuits. They were nice and flaky. Thanks, Buttah!!
I’m going to miss all of this seafood when I go back to school in just over a week (WAHH!! Someone call the waahhhhmbulance). Too bad the ‘wahh’ is referring to the going-back-to-school part and not the lack-of-seafood part. I’m violating one of my rezzies already. Oops.
Stay positive, Allie, STAY POSITIVE.
***
Today is going to be busy busy preparing for our non-stop drive to Florida.
- Laundry
- Charge Garmy (I’m hoping to run in FL since it’ll be in the 50s!)
- Pack
- Figure out car snax
- Update my iPod (which is also one of my holigoals)
- Roast kabocha for the car ride!
- Misc. errands galore
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Still haven’t updated my iPod either…too much work ahh.
And you know how I feel about okra…
Happy new year!
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=6
You should probably check this out.
Anonymous–I didn’t know that! Thanks for the info. I guess it’s not my favorite anymore
Yum, chilean sea bass is one of the best fishes ever!
lol– I had a total grandparent NYE. Whatever floats your boat, right?
Your NYE eats look delicious. Those crab cakes look SO full of crab! I hate it when you get crab cakes that are mostly bread crumbs and filler.
Have a great day, Allie!
I had seafood on New Years too, but we just went out for sushi instead of creating a feast like you had! It all looks wonderful… especially the crab cakes and okra! I loveee okra and definitely don’t get to eat enough of it!
STaying in with your parents on new years is all the rage!!!
Oh and that eggplant casserole looks divine! I LOVE eggplant.
have a safe trip girl!!
i wana come over for new years-that food all looks AWEEESOME!
Allie, its beautiful again of course. The sea bass looks nice. The crab cakes and the german cake from TJ’s outstanding. Wow, wow. 2010 will be good to you for sure. You are such a good gal.
Have fun packing, will miss your posts when you leave for your trip to Florida…what a pain – going to Florida in winter hey!
Count your blessings lovely, you are blessed with opportunity and things others only dream of
good lordy! gurl knows how to eat!! i am esp. drooling over your okra!! it is my all time fav. veggie, and i can NEVER find it raw. I mean, unless I want to drive to the asian district….but me sorta laze.
I WUV YOU
Ahh your seafood feast looks ah-maaazing!! And don’t worry, my NYE was lame lame lame too
Have fun in FL! I always miss seafood after going home, too! Darn land-locked Chicago!
Don’t worry, I was on the couch for New Year’s too!
At least you will have a fun trip before you go back to school, right? Try to enjoy yourself and stay positive. Happy New Year Allie!
I loveee seafood- it all looks soo good! And totally agreed- I’m going back to school next week and I’m gonna miss my mom and dad cooking amazing food for me!!
I love crab cakes…those look delicious! I think your NYE sounds really fun Allie!
delicious eats- the crab cakes loook amazzing
Your family seafood meals always looks sooo yummy! Go you and your Dad for winging the crab cakes! I can’t wait to see your adventures in Florida. Ahh 50’s. One of my goals is to be more positive/not complain…so I won’t say anything about the weather here. Nothing about how it is 5 degrees and feels like -13. Nope, won’t say a word.
the food looks amazing!! thats the best way to ring int he year, with friends and family
and you didn’t spend a dime!! I wish I came over for dinner 
I am craving a piece of that marzipan stollen
!!!!
Chilean Sea Bass = Merluza! and I do love merluza
I can’t think of a better way to exit the year than with a seafood feast on the couch.
I totally agree that Chilean Sea Bass is one of the best things on this earth. Taste like butta!
Glad you had a wonderful New years and I am so happy for you and your upcoming trip. Happy safe travels hun!
See you in FL!
Everything looks delish, Happy New Year x x
OMG, everything looks amazing! I’ve just discovered that I like Chilean Sea Bass too – too bad its like the most expensive fish – $19.99 a pound by me!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I love the wahmbulance!
Have a safe drive to Florida! Hope you at least get somethings on your to-do list crossed off
Cute post title. Hope you were able to check of your to-do list. Have fun in Flo-rida!
I love your seafood spread!
I also had a grandparent NYE – I was in bed by 12:05 am.
On my list for tomorrow is also updating my ipod and figuring out some snacks for Disney!
seems like a fun night with your fam!! And congrats on the 30 min meal!! I hope you and they enjoyed the food just a little bit more!!! =] The chocolate butter Biscuits look devine, 3 cheers for good ‘ol trader joes!!!! Hehe
Im dreading going back to school as well but routine is a good thing thats what I keep telling myself “soon your sleeping schedual will be all back to normal” Hope ya stay energized this upcoming semester AND enjoy the sea food that much more when you return home in the spring!
lol, your traveling to do list looks like mine: pack food, update music
Have a good trip in FL!!
Ooooo seafood is one of my favorites. So jealous!
Can the wahmbulance pick me up tomorrow night? I’m going back to work Monday after 2 weeks of vacation and I have a feeling I might be a little sassy, if you know what I mean. Positive thoughts! Positive thoughts!
We stayed in, too. I don’t like to be away from my kids on NYE for some reason.
Love all that scrumptious looking food! What a feast…
I was glad to see that I was not the only one not partying hard on new year’s eve too! Leave it to the blogworld to keep me grounded
Stollen is traditionally a German dessert, and it’s a HUGE deal on my dad’s 100% German side of the family. My grandpa makes it homemade, but it’s always dry
I was totally rockin’ the couch at midnight. I could barely keep my eyes open—this winter break has really weakened my resistance to lack of sleep!
Your New Year’s Eve dinner looks like a FEAST! I love Chilean sea bass, too—that and salmon were my favorite types of fish when I was younger. Soft and melt-in-your-mouth—delicious. 
Homemade crab cakes sound awesome, too, and using crushed rolled oats is totally a bloggie thing 
Hurray for roasted kabocha!
Have a wonderful January 3rd
such a sea food feast!! I’d love to try your homemade crab cakes!!! one week until back to school? wooo! !!!! that’s early!
wow, that seafood fest looks incredible!
OMG i totally thought that it was just my family that does that…I always look at the time before we eat and we always finish in 30 minutes or less!! we always put an hour in the meter if we go out for dinner and we never ever use the whole hour even when we deliberately try to eat slow! i dont want to go back to school either! poo we shall stay positive and be excited?!
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