Hi, I’m Daneyl and I have waaaaaay too many jobs, all at once.
While the Mix Taste Eat studio is still new and developing and growing, I still have my steady job in retail that helps to…pay the bills. But this also means that I work in retail, over the Christmas period, which is all kinds of crazy.
This is my fourth Christmas and New Years there and when NYE rolls around, I’m exhausted. I decided a few years ago that our Christmas lunch would be a very simple, tasty Christmas platter in which I had very little to do so I could enjoy the one day a week I had off.
Now that Christmas is done and dusted, we’re all looking forward to bringing in 2023 with a celebration (I know I am ready to leave 2022 behind!). I don’t know about you but I’m a big fan of a grazing platter. You can jazz them up, keep them simple or make it out of your favourite things to eat and no one is going to judge you for it. I like to offer a big variety of things, so that I get to snack on what I feel like, when I feel like it.
For me, grazing platters have to include a few simple ingredients:
- Always two or more fruit options, for a quick sweet treat.
- At least two different dips. Homemade are great but if you don’t have time there are some amazing store bought options available. I like to mix it up with one fresh (ie: pesto or roasted capsicum) and one creamy (ie: French onion)
- Veggie sticks and crackers, for the dips.
- A selections of meats or savoury snacks, such as olives or sun-dried tomatoes. To balance the sweetness from the fruits.
- Amazing crackers!
- The best cheese you can afford.
- Chocolate, or nuts. Something different and little that fills in the rest of the spaces on the board
You can make your platter savoury focused (more deli meats, olives, crackers and cheese), dessert (meringues with chocolate sauce, lemon butter and fruits) or a mixture of everything you like. There’s so much inspiration on Pinterest, here’s a link my platter board that I keep for inspiration. Even a Cocktail platter filled with different mixers and toppers would be great for your NYE celebrations!
For so little time and effort, you can have the best New Years platter that everyone will enjoy!
