Not my dinner, no - Tom, Kate, and I had meatballs in bone broth with winter greens, solidly good but not exactly fancy. And as predicted, I was asleep before midnight - I never seem to manage to stay awake to ring in the New Year. (Happy Happy, everyone.)
But I wanted to share Adam's New Year's Dinner with you, because I think it's extraordinary. It's not a secret that I think Adam's a pretty special kid, and together with his best friends, twins Alex and Jonah, he's unstoppable.
The scheme (thought up by the boys) was this: They would make a homemade feast of favorite food, with no help (except monetary) from either set of parents. So, on Monday, the boys made their menu and figured out the shopping list. Tuesday, they rode their bikes down to Whole Foods and purchased their supplies. Wednesday, they made the dessert. And Thursday morning, they prepped the veg and got everything ready for the big night. Thursday night, they started cooking about 4 pm and were done with the feast (and the cleanup!) by 9. It was a tremendous success.
Alex & Jonah's mom made a really wonderful menu for them to remember the occasion forever.
I love this whole thing. I couldn't love it more. These kids, all of them interested in good food (and being teenagers, in eating in general), all of them nurtured over the years by parents and grandparents who cook daily and have cooking traditions, decide to have a week-long project to celebrate their friendship and their year by making something entirely themselves. I may be a teensy bit biased, but I think this could be some sort of great movie (though everything would have to go wrong for it to be entertaining, and in real life, it all went right. Nothing burned, nothing failed, I guess it would be quite boring that way in a movie). I love these kids.
A final brag: These guys made PIE CRUST. Most of the adults I know wouldn't attempt pie crust.
But I wanted to share Adam's New Year's Dinner with you, because I think it's extraordinary. It's not a secret that I think Adam's a pretty special kid, and together with his best friends, twins Alex and Jonah, he's unstoppable.
The scheme (thought up by the boys) was this: They would make a homemade feast of favorite food, with no help (except monetary) from either set of parents. So, on Monday, the boys made their menu and figured out the shopping list. Tuesday, they rode their bikes down to Whole Foods and purchased their supplies. Wednesday, they made the dessert. And Thursday morning, they prepped the veg and got everything ready for the big night. Thursday night, they started cooking about 4 pm and were done with the feast (and the cleanup!) by 9. It was a tremendous success.
Alex & Jonah's mom made a really wonderful menu for them to remember the occasion forever.
I love this whole thing. I couldn't love it more. These kids, all of them interested in good food (and being teenagers, in eating in general), all of them nurtured over the years by parents and grandparents who cook daily and have cooking traditions, decide to have a week-long project to celebrate their friendship and their year by making something entirely themselves. I may be a teensy bit biased, but I think this could be some sort of great movie (though everything would have to go wrong for it to be entertaining, and in real life, it all went right. Nothing burned, nothing failed, I guess it would be quite boring that way in a movie). I love these kids.
A final brag: These guys made PIE CRUST. Most of the adults I know wouldn't attempt pie crust.