One of my favorite parties I’ve ever thrown was a small New Year’s Eve Dinner Party. Every year we host a big New Year’s Eve party, but this particular year I was SUPER pregnant with Jane (like, exactly a week from my due date). I was determined to still throw the party, and my smart husband suggested we scale back the guest list to just a few close friends since I might be sort of tired at 39 weeks pregnant. After a bit of debate I finally agreed to the dinner party but was still planning to cook a fancy meal to celebrate the occasion. A few days before the party I was beyond exhausted and realized I had probably overestimated my capabilities – we made the call to order a bunch of trays of food for the party and have our friends pick it up on their drive over. We dressed up the take-out on pretty serving trays and set the table with festive details — and guess what? It was one of my most memorable New Year’s Eve parties we’d ever thrown.
The story always lives on in my entertaining-advice-vault, and actually gave me the idea for this easy party idea when my friends at Wegmans Food Markets shared their delicious sushi dishes with me. Wegmans sushi is prepared fresh daily right in their stores and is crafted from the world’s finest ingredients! It’s all made with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, and no gluten-containing ingredients. When I got the chance to try some of their amazing salmon sushi dishes, I thought it was the perfect occasion to put together a sushi night party! On the menu I started with a big plate of traditional rolls, like the King Salmon California Roll made with buttery, velvety Alpine King Salmon, avocado, cucumber, and toasted sesame seeds. The best ingredients make for the best sushi, and Wegmans uses Alpine King Salmon, sustainably harvested from the fresh Alpine waters of New Zealand. They also use traditional Koshihikari short-grain rice that’s freshly milled for Wegmans in California each month.
In addition to the sushi platter, I also brought in some poke bowls from Wegmans in lieu of a classic side salad on my menu. They are SO colorful and flavorful, full of quinoa and brown rice, Alpine King Salmon, avocado, and fresh veggies, topped with poke sauce, pistachios, and sesame seeds. They also offered a sneak peek of a new item coming out this summer: poke salads. The King of Poke salad is served over bright fresh zucchini noodles and greens – I love how festive and bright it looks when plated.
I rounded out the menu with a few Asian-inspired dishes I picked up in the restaurant foods section, like chicken teriyaki pot stickers, spring rolls, and veggie fried rice. I dressed up all of the take-out dishes by transferring them to pretty serving dishes, and adding little bowls of dipping sauces onto the table. A little effort in making it a pretty presentation gives the whole scene a festive, finished look! Everyone can serve themselves family style, and I’m confident that it’ll be just as fun of a celebration as it would have been if I’d cooked!
Please note: This post was created in partnership with Wegmans. All opinions, images and content are my own, thank you for supporting brands that support this site!
