6 New Year’s Eve dinner ideas full menus, made ahead and timed to midnight

From two guests to twelve, each with its plan counted back from an 8:00 pm dinner and forward to the toast.

1. 

   1Steakhouse surf and turf

   For 4, and it scales from 2 to 8: a filet and a lobster tail for each guest, cooked in the last half hour, with everything else made on the two days before.

   • 75 min active
   • Make the day before

   Menu

   Shrimp cocktail on ice with drinks; pan-seared filet mignon (recipe below) with a broiled lobster tail and a coin of herb butter; scalloped potatoes and green beans amandine; chocolate mousse. Vegetarian guests: the mushroom Wellington from our Christmas menus.

   Buy

   One 7 to 8 oz (200 to 225 g) filet, 1½ inches (4 cm) thick, a guest (America’s Test Kitchen), and one 4½ to 6 oz (130 to 170 g) lobster tail a guest (America’s Test Kitchen; Taste of Home). The shrimp recipe makes about 36 and gives 6 to 8 each when it is the only starter: for four at dinner and four midnight cocktails at 4 to 5 each, one and a half batches (our arithmetic). For eight: eight steaks in two heavy pans (America’s Test Kitchen fits six in a 12-inch (30 cm) pan), eight tails, three batches of shrimp and two of mousse; the potato recipe already serves ten.

   Lobster tails

   Thaw frozen tails in the fridge for 24 hours (America’s Test Kitchen). Cut along the top of the shell, lift the meat to sit on it, brush with melted butter and broil (under the overhead grill) 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) from the heat for 5 to 8 minutes (Taste of Home’s method), until the flesh is firm, pearly and opaque (the FDA’s cue is the flesh, so a red shell is not a test).

   Whose temperatures

   America’s Test Kitchen takes filets out at 120 to 125°F (49 to 52°C) for medium-rare (its lobster pull is in the plan); Serious Eats’ reverse sear ends steak at 130°F (54°C) after a 200 to 275°F (93 to 135°C) oven. All are below the 145°F (63°C) minimum (USDA for beef, with a 3-minute rest; FDA for lobster), and USDA does not recommend ovens below 325°F (163°C). For guests at higher risk, cook theirs to 145°F (63°C) on a thermometer.

   Ahead

   Tue 29 Dec: herb butter, rolled in a log and wrapped (America’s Test Kitchen keeps it 4 days in the fridge). Wed 30 Dec: frozen tails into the fridge in the morning (24 hours to thaw); the cocktail sauce (the recipe: up to a week); the beans blanched (America’s Test Kitchen: 2 days). Thu 31 Dec, morning: poach the shrimp (the recipe: no more than 24 hours ahead) and make the mousse (the fancy desserts card stops at 1 day for its raw egg white; it needs 4 hours to set). From 6:00 pm: the potatoes (below).

   Midnight

   The shrimp kept back for midnight stay in the fridge, untouched, and come out at 11:30 pm on fresh crushed ice. Then the toast at midnight.

   On the plate

   Steak in front, the tail leaning on it meat side up, the butter melting on the steak (America’s Test Kitchen: as it melts it becomes the sauce), a square of potatoes behind and the beans to one side (plating steak).

   Allergens

   Crustaceans (shrimp, lobster); fish, and barley (UK) in British Worcestershire (the cocktail sauce); milk (butter, potatoes, mousse); egg (mousse); almonds (beans); celery (UK) in the shrimp’s celery seed, which the recipe lets you leave out; sulphites (UK) in the wine at the toast.

   Plan, dinner at 8:00 pm, toast at 12:00 am

   1. 6:00 pmOven to 350°F (175°C, the recipe’s figure). Potatoes simmered in their cream on the stove, as the recipe says, then into the dish.
   2. 6:45 pmPotatoes in, uncovered, 30 to 40 minutes.
   3. 7:25 pmPotatoes out to stand 20 minutes, covered (the recipe). Oven up to 450°F (232°C) with a baking sheet inside. Beans finished in their skillet (the card), then covered off the heat.
   4. 7:30 pmShrimp cocktail out of the fridge onto crushed ice, served with drinks as guests arrive.
   5. 7:40 pmSear the steaks, about 3 minutes a side.
   6. 7:46 pmSteaks onto the hot sheet in the oven. America’s Test Kitchen gives 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare, below USDA’s 145°F (63°C) (see the card); a thermometer in the center decides. Lobster tails buttered on a broiler pan.
   7. 7:53 pmSteaks out to rest about 5 minutes under loose foil. A steak for a guest at higher risk goes back into the hot pan on the stove, turned now and then, until it reads 145°F (63°C), then rests 3 minutes (USDA; the pan is our route, so the oven stays free). With oven gloves, a rack moved 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm) under the element; broiler on, tails under it 5 to 8 minutes.
   8. 8:00 pmEvery tail out when its thickest part reads 145°F (63°C), firm, pearly and opaque (FDA); America’s Test Kitchen and Taste of Home take them out at 140°F (60°C), below it. Oven off. Serve, with the butter.
   9. By 9:25 pmLeftover potatoes and beans in the fridge, 2 hours after they were cooked; shrimp left from the starter in the fridge or thrown away.
   10. By 9:50 pmLeftover steak, lobster and butter in the fridge.
   11. 10:00 pmMousse served, 10 minutes out of the fridge first (the fancy desserts card).
   12. 11:30 pmThe untouched midnight shrimp cocktails out of the fridge, on fresh ice.
   13. By 11:50 pmMousse back in the fridge or thrown away, 2 hours after it came out.
   14. 12:00 amMidnight: the toast.
   15. By 1:30 amThe midnight shrimp back in the fridge or thrown away.
   Quick recipe · 4 filets, for 4. After America’s Test Kitchen’s Pan-Seared Filet Mignon; not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 4 center-cut filets mignons, 1½ inches (4 cm) thick, 7 to 8 oz (200 to 225 g) each
   • Salt and black pepper
   • 4 tsp oil
   • Herb butter made ahead, to serve

   Method

   1. Heat the oven to 450°F (232°C) with a rimmed baking sheet inside. Pat the steaks dry, rub each side with ½ tsp oil and season them.
   2. Heat a heavy pan (not nonstick) until very hot, about 3 minutes. Sear the steaks without moving them until well browned with a crust, about 3 minutes a side.
   3. Move them to the hot baking sheet in the oven: America’s Test Kitchen gives 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare. Rest about 5 minutes, loosely tented with foil, and top each with butter. Full recipe: America’s Test Kitchen.

   Medium-rare is below USDA’s 145°F (63°C) for beef: for guests at higher risk, leave their steak in until a thermometer in the center reads 145°F (63°C), then rest it 3 minutes.

2. 

   2Dinner for two: oysters, salmon and a midnight tin of caviar

   For 2, and the smallest kitchen job on the page: oysters opened at the last minute, a salmon recipe that takes under 40 minutes, a dessert made the day before and caviar at midnight.

   • 50 min active
   • Make the day before

   Menu

   Oysters on the half shell with a shallot mignonette, or the same oysters baked; citrus salmon with pea purée, written for two; chocolate pots de crème; at 11:30 pm a small tin of caviar with blini and crème fraîche (how to serve it). No vegetarian swap here: the fondue night, made with vegetarian-rennet cheeses, scales down to two.

   Buy

   Six oysters each, the average UK portion in Food Standards Scotland’s risk assessment: twelve. Choose live ones from a sack with its harvest tag, leave any with cracked shells or that stay open when tapped, and keep them at 40°F (4°C) or colder for no more than 2 days (FDA). The salmon recipe uses two 5 oz (150 g) fillets. Caviar: every per-guest figure we found is a seller’s, and the caviar guide lists them.

   Raw oysters

   The CDC: “Do not eat raw or undercooked oysters or other seafood. Cook them before eating.” Food Standards Scotland finds norovirus in oysters significantly higher in winter, the season of this dinner, and lemon juice, hot sauce and alcohol do not kill Vibrio (CDC). For guests at higher risk, or for both of you, bake the shucked oysters at 450°F (232°C) for 10 minutes, the CDC’s time.

   Ahead

   Wed 30 Dec: the pots de crème (the fancy desserts card keeps them 2 days, covered and chilled) and the mignonette (Chatelaine’s keeps 3 days, covered, in the fridge). Thu 31 Dec, morning: buy the oysters and keep them in the coldest part of the fridge; the caviar stays unopened in the fridge until 11:30 pm.

   Midnight

   The caviar tin on crushed ice with warm blini and crème fraîche. USDA’s 2 hours applies to it like any chilled food; three sellers we read set a limit of 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature, for taste, which the ice is for. Then the toast.

   On the plate

   Six oysters on a deep plate of crushed ice, the mignonette in a small dish in the middle; the salmon skin side up on a pool of the purée, radishes on top, as the recipe plates it.

   Allergens

   Molluscs (UK) (oysters); fish (salmon, caviar); milk (butter, pots de crème, crème fraîche); egg (pots de crème, blini); wheat (blini); sulphites (UK) in the wine vinegar of the mignonette and in the wine; soy lecithin in most chocolate.

   Plan, dinner at 8:00 pm, toast at 12:00 am

   1. 7:00 pmOven to 450°F (232°C) if any oysters are to be baked. Radishes sliced and lemon zested for the salmon.
   2. 7:20 pmOysters shucked: the raw ones onto crushed ice, any to bake in their half shells onto a baking sheet and into the oven for 10 minutes (CDC). Mignonette out of the fridge.
   3. 7:30 pmOysters served. Oven off.
   4. 7:40 pmPeas on, then the purée made and kept warm over a very low heat (the recipe).
   5. 7:50 pmSalmon in the pan, skin side down 4 to 5 minutes, then 2 to 3 on the other side. The recipe stops at a blush of pink, below USDA’s 145°F (63°C) for fish; for a guest at higher risk, cook theirs on until the thickest part reads 145°F (63°C) (America’s Test Kitchen says immune-compromised people should avoid salmon cooked below it).
   6. 8:00 pmServe.
   7. By 9:20 pmOysters not eaten thrown away, not kept for later (our caution); the mignonette back in the fridge.
   8. 9:40 pmPots de crème out of the fridge to stand 20 to 30 minutes (America’s Test Kitchen, as the fancy desserts card quotes it); any salmon and purée into the fridge.
   9. 10:00 pmDessert.
   10. 11:30 pmCaviar, blini and crème fraîche out of the fridge; the blini warmed as their packet says; the tin opened and set in crushed ice.
   11. By 11:40 pmPots de crème back in the fridge or thrown away, 2 hours after they came out.
   12. 12:00 amMidnight: the toast.
   13. By 1:30 amCaviar and crème fraîche back in the fridge or finished.
   Full recipe →
3. 

   3Short ribs braised the day before, for a crowd

   For 8 to 12 as a buffet: the short ribs braise on Wed 30 Dec and only reheat on the night, so the oven is free and so is the host.

   • 90 min active
   • Make the day before

   Menu

   Deviled eggs with drinks; red wine braised short ribs (recipe below) with mashed potatoes and a green salad; crème brûlée cheesecake. At 11:30 pm, short rib sliders on dinner rolls. For one big cut instead, the brisket in our Christmas crowd menu works the same way. Vegetarian guests: a mushroom Wellington.

   Buy

   Bon Appétit braises 5 lb (2.3 kg) of bone-in short ribs for six: 10 lb (4.5 kg) in two pots for twelve (our scaling), and one 750 ml bottle of wine a pot. Half a pound (227 g) of potatoes a guest (Whole Foods Market). The deviled egg recipe makes 12 halves for six: two batches for twelve. One batch of rolls makes 16. The catering calculator sizes a buffet for any other count.

   Ahead

   Rolls par-baked and frozen from early December (King Arthur Baking: up to 6 weeks). Tue 29 Dec: the cheesecake (at least 6 hours to chill; 4 to 5 days before it is torched). Wed 30 Dec: eggs hard-cooked, inside both the recipe’s US week and its UK 2 days; braise, then cool it the way our brisket recipe does: ribs in one layer in shallow dishes no more than 2 inches (5 cm) deep, the sauce in wide containers of the same depth, all in the fridge within 2 hours of leaving the oven, never in the pot (Bon Appétit cools its ribs in the sauce; we do not). One rib for every two guests goes in its own container: the sliders. Thu 31 Dec: fill the eggs; lift the set fat off the sauce.

   Safety

   Two pots of ribs fill a fridge: leave space between the containers and check it stays at 40°F (4°C) or colder. Every reheat goes to 165°F (74°C) in the center, and the sauce to a rolling boil (USDA).

   Midnight

   Sliders from the meat kept back in the fridge, reheated to 165°F (74°C), never from the buffet dish. Then the toast.

   On the plate

   Ribs bone side down in one layer in the dish with the sauce spooned over until they shine; the mash in its own warm bowl, so the sauce does not flood it.

   Allergens

   Wheat (flour in the sauce, rolls); milk (mash, cheesecake); egg (deviled eggs, cheesecake); mustard (UK) (deviled eggs, salad dressing); celery (UK) (in the braise and most stock); sulphites (UK) (wine).

   Plan, buffet at 8:00 pm, toast at 12:00 am

   1. 6:30 pmOven to 350°F (177°C).
   2. 6:45 pmSauce for the first dish brought to a rolling boil on the stove (USDA) and poured over its ribs; the dish covered with foil and in (Bon Appétit reheats them covered at 325 to 350°F (163 to 177°C)).
   3. 7:00 pmSecond dish in, the same way. Potatoes on.
   4. 7:30 pmDeviled eggs out of the fridge as guests arrive. Mash made, brought to 165°F (74°C) and into a preheated slow cooker, which holds at 140°F (60°C) or above but does not reheat (USDA).
   5. 7:45 pmCheck both dishes: 165°F (74°C) in the center of the thickest rib, or they stay in until it does. The first comes out, covered; oven down to 225°F (107°C), the FDA’s range for hot back-ups, with the second inside.
   6. 8:00 pmBuffet opens with the first dish, the mash and the salad.
   7. 9:00 pmThe first dish swapped for the second, never topped up (FDA).
   8. By 9:30 pmDeviled eggs off the table: thrown away at 2 hours out (the recipe), or back in the fridge before that.
   9. By 9:45 pmThe first dish and the salad in the fridge.
   10. 10:00 pmCheesecake torched and served.
   11. By 11:00 pmThe second dish and the mash in the fridge, 2 hours after the dish left the oven.
   12. 11:10 pmOven to 425°F (218°C). The kept-back ribs pulled into pieces and reheated in their sauce, brought to a boil, in a covered pan until the meat reads 165°F (74°C).
   13. 11:20 pmFrozen rolls in, 8 to 12 minutes.
   14. 11:30 pmSliders. Oven off.
   15. By 12:00 amCheesecake back in the fridge or thrown away, 2 hours after it came out.
   16. 12:00 amMidnight: the toast.
   17. By 1:30 amSlider meat in the fridge or thrown away. UK readers: it has had its one reheat.
   Quick recipe · For 6; double it, in two pots, for 12 (our scaling). After Bon Appétit’s Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs (Jenny Rosenstrach and Andy Ward); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 5 lb (2.3 kg) bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2 inch (5 cm) pieces
   • Kosher salt (coarse), black pepper and 3 tbsp vegetable oil
   • 3 medium onions, 3 medium carrots and 2 celery stalks, chopped
   • 3 tbsp all-purpose (plain) flour and 1 tbsp tomato paste
   • One 750 ml bottle of dry red wine
   • 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise; parsley, thyme, oregano and rosemary sprigs; 2 bay leaves
   • 4 cups (950 ml) low-sodium beef broth

   Method

   1. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Season the ribs and brown them in the oil in a large Dutch oven (a heavy casserole pot), in two batches, about 8 minutes a batch. Pour off all but 3 tbsp of the fat.
   2. Brown the vegetables, about 5 minutes, then stir in the flour and tomato paste for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine and the ribs and simmer until the wine is reduced by half, about 25 minutes.
   3. Add the garlic, herbs and broth, bring to a boil, cover and braise in the oven until fork-tender, 2 to 2½ hours (Bon Appétit: start checking at 2 hours, it can take closer to 3). Lift out the ribs, strain the sauce and spoon off the fat. Full recipe: Bon Appétit.

   Cool and chill it as the card’s Ahead row says, never in the pot. USDA’s retention table leaves 10 percent of the alcohol after 2 hours of cooking and 5 percent after two and a half, so it is not alcohol-free.

4. 

   4Cheese fondue night, or raclette

   For 4 to 6 and meat-free by default: one pot of cheese fondue made in ten minutes, a board of dippers cut in the hour before, and chocolate to dip for dessert.

   • 45 min active
   • Last minute

   Menu

   Cheese fondue (recipe below) with Gourmet’s dippers, via Epicurious: bread cubes, apple and pear slices and blanched broccoli; plus boiled new potatoes (ours; Gourmet roasts them) and cornichons; a green salad; a pot of melted chocolate with fruit to dip for dessert. At 11:30 pm, marinated Hermelín with bread. Raclette instead: a raclette grill does the same job over the same potatoes and cornichons.

   Buy

   America’s Test Kitchen’s batch makes 3 cups (720 ml): one batch for four, one and a half for six (our reading; the recipe gives no servings), plus whatever goes in the apple juice pot. Buy the cheese in blocks; America’s Test Kitchen says deli Swiss turns stringy.

   Vegetarian?

   No meat, but not automatically vegetarian: as our scalloped potatoes recipe notes, traditional Gruyère is made with animal rennet, as Parmesan always is. For vegetarian guests, buy cheeses labelled as made with vegetarian rennet, the midnight Hermelín included.

   Wine stays in

   A cheese fondue cooks for minutes, so most of its wine stays in: Sucht Schweiz, the Swiss addiction body, says a dish boiled ten minutes keeps up to 60 percent of its alcohol, and SRF, Swiss public radio, says kirsch stirred in at the end keeps up to 85. Make a second pot without wine for children, pregnant guests and drivers: apple juice and a little more lemon juice (ours; SRF’s kitchen experiment suggests Apfelwein, cider, which itself usually contains alcohol). It needs its own cheese and its own heat.

   The burner

   Never pour liquid or gel fuel into a burner that is lit or still hot: the vapour can ignite and shoot flames across the table, and in Canada this has killed people (Health Canada). Use sealed gel or paste cans or electric bases, one for each pot: the cheese, the apple juice pot and, later, the chocolate, which goes on an electric base or a burner not lit tonight, so nothing is ever refilled hot. Put a flame out with the burner’s snuffer lid, never by blowing; keep curtains and blankets at least 3¼ feet (1 m, the BFB’s figure) away and children back (the Swiss fire-prevention body BFB).

   Meat fondue instead

   Germany’s post-holiday Campylobacter peak is linked to meat fondue and raclette, most strongly with chicken (Robert Koch Institute); separate plates for raw and cooked meat cut the risk in a Swiss study. Raw meat on its own plates, nobody eats from the fondue fork, chicken to 165°F (74°C) (USDA; Germany’s BfR: 70°C in the core for 2 minutes). Use a heavy, stable or electric pot; fat burns from about 536°F (280°C, the TÜV association’s figure), and a fat fire takes a lid, never water.

   Ahead

   Marinated Hermelín: garlic acidified on Sat 26 Dec (24 hours, the recipe’s first step), the jar layered on Sun 27 Dec and marinated at least 3 to 4 days in the fridge (finish it by day 10). Wed 30 Dec: salad dressing made; potatoes bought. Thu 31 Dec: everything else is cut in the hour before dinner.

   Midnight

   The Hermelín on a fresh board with bread: only the pieces you will serve, lifted out of the jar 30 to 60 minutes ahead; what is left on the board is thrown away, never returned to the jar (the recipe). Then the toast.

   On the plate

   The pot in the middle on its stand, the dippers grouped by kind on one board around it, a long fork and a small plate for every guest.

   Allergens

   Milk (cheese, chocolate, Hermelín); wheat (bread); sulphites (UK) in the wine (not in the apple juice pot); soy lecithin in most chocolate; mustard (UK) in most salad dressings.

   Plan, dinner at 8:00 pm, toast at 12:00 am

   1. 7:00 pmBread cut into cubes.
   2. 7:30 pmPotatoes on to boil; broccoli blanched. Cheese shredded, tossed with the cornstarch and left 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature (America’s Test Kitchen). Salad dressed.
   3. 7:45 pmWine and garlic to the boil, the cheese whisked in a handful at a time, 2 to 4 minutes; the apple juice pot beside it. Apples and pears sliced.
   4. 7:55 pmGel cans or electric bases on at the table, then the pots on top.
   5. 8:00 pmFondue.
   6. By 9:30 pmLeftover potatoes, broccoli and salad in the fridge, 2 hours after they were made.
   7. 9:45 pmThe cheese pots off; each burner put out with its snuffer lid, never blown out (BFB), and left to cool: none is refilled until it is cold (Health Canada). Leftover cheese and the dinner fruit in the fridge. Chocolate melted on the stove; fresh fruit cut from the fridge.
   8. 10:00 pmChocolate fondue, over its own heat: an electric base, or a fresh sealed gel can in a burner not lit tonight, never a hot one.
   9. 11:00 pmOnly the Hermelín pieces you will serve lifted out of the jar to soften 30 to 60 minutes; the jar straight back in the fridge (the recipe).
   10. 11:30 pmHermelín served with bread and fresh onion rings.
   11. By 11:45 pmFruit for the chocolate in the fridge or thrown away, 2 hours after it was cut; the chocolate’s heat off, a burner put out with its lid.
   12. 12:00 amMidnight: the toast.
   13. By 1:00 amHermelín left on the board thrown away, never returned to the jar (the recipe).
   Quick recipe · Makes 3 cups (720 ml): one batch for four, one and a half for six (ours; the recipe gives no servings). After America’s Test Kitchen’s Cheese Fondue; not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 8 oz (227 g) Emmentaler cheese, shredded, about 2 cups (480 ml), at room temperature
   • 8 oz (227 g) Gruyère cheese, shredded, about 2 cups (480 ml), at room temperature
   • 2 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour) and a pinch of ground nutmeg
   • 1½ cups (360 ml) dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
   • 1 garlic clove, halved, and ¼ tsp pepper

   Method

   1. Toss the cheeses with the cornstarch and nutmeg and leave them 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature, so they do not clump in the wine.
   2. Bring the wine and garlic to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat and take out the garlic. Turn the heat to medium-low and whisk in the cheese a handful at a time, then keep whisking until smooth and warm but not yet bubbling, 2 to 4 minutes.
   3. Stir in the pepper and move it to the fondue pot. Full recipe: America’s Test Kitchen.

   The wine is not cooked out: make the apple juice pot for anyone who should not have alcohol. Never refill a burner that is lit or hot.

5. 

   5A lucky-foods dinner: pork, sauerkraut and lentils

   For 6: a dinner built from foods families eat for luck at New Year, with a Czech roast pork at its center and twelve grapes ready for the chimes at midnight.

   • 120 min active
   • Make the day before

   Menu

   A small bowl of Czech sour lentils to start; roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, the Czech vepřo knedlo zelo; sautéed greens; lemon posset. At midnight, twelve grapes each and chlebíčky, Czech open-faced sandwiches. Vegetarian guests: the lentils made with butter, not lard (the recipe says lard makes them non-vegetarian), with their fried egg, as a main.

   Why these foods

   Pork and sauerkraut (Pennsylvania Dutch), lentils (Czech) and greens (the US South) are eaten for luck (what the sources say); serving them together on 31 December is our choice. Other ways: Hoppin’ John, or cotechino with lentils (Il Post).

   Buy

   The pork recipe serves six from a 3 lb (1.36 kg) boneless neck or shoulder. One batch of lentils (four servings) as six small starter bowls (our reading). Twelve grapes a guest, and a few more.

   Ahead

   Wed 30 Dec, after lunch: the lentils, cooked without the vinegar and cooled quickly (the recipe keeps them 3 to 4 days in the US, 48 hours in the UK, so New Year’s Day lunch is inside both); UK readers keep New Year’s Day’s portion apart, unheated (the Food Standards Agency: reheat once). The sauerkraut, which the recipe says is better made a day ahead; the posset (America’s Test Kitchen keeps it 2 days). Thu 31 Dec, afternoon: the chlebíčky toppings sliced and the eggs boiled, kept in the fridge (the recipe chills the finished chlebíčky no more than an hour, so the bread stays crisp); grapes washed and counted.

   Midnight

   One grape with each of the twelve chimes, the Spanish custom (where it comes from). For children under 5, cut them up (the CDC lists uncut grapes among choking hazards) and let them eat at their own pace, not one a chime (our caution). Chlebíčky, assembled at 10:45 pm, from the fridge, then the toast.

   On the plate

   Two slices of pork overlapping, gravy spooned beside them and not over the crust, four dumpling slices fanned on one side and the sauerkraut in a neat mound on the other.

   Allergens

   Wheat (dumplings, gravy, sauerkraut, lentils, bread); egg (dumplings, the lentils’ egg, chlebíčky); milk (dumplings, posset); celery (UK) in ready-made stock; mustard (UK) and sulphites (UK) in the lentils’ pickles, mustard and wine vinegar, and sulphites (UK) in some jarred sauerkraut (the recipe). Chlebíčky toppings vary: check the recipe.

   Plan, dinner at 8:00 pm, toast at 12:00 am

   1. 4:30 pmOven to 320°F (160°C), or 300°F (150°C) with a fan (the recipe). Pork seasoned.
   2. 4:45 pmPork in, covered, for 1¾ hours.
   3. 5:45 pmDumpling dough made; it rises 45 to 60 minutes.
   4. 6:30 pmLid off, pork fat side up, about 1 hour more, basted every 20 minutes. Dumpling water on: it takes 20 to 30 minutes to boil.
   5. 7:00 pmDough shaped into two loaves to rest 15 to 20 minutes. Sauerkraut reheated, covered, to 165°F (74°C), then kept covered over the lowest heat (the recipe).
   6. 7:20 pmDumplings in, 18 to 20 minutes.
   7. 7:30 pmPork out when a probe reads 176 to 185°F (80 to 85°C) in the thickest part (the recipe), to rest 20 to 30 minutes. Oven off. Lentils reheated to 165°F (74°C) and re-soured with their vinegar (the recipe). Gravy made in the roasting pan.
   8. 7:45 pmLentils served as guests sit down. Dumplings out, pricked and sliced; the greens on in their place.
   9. 8:00 pmPork carved and served.
   10. By 9:30 pmPork, dumplings, gravy, sauerkraut, lentils and greens in the fridge, 2 hours after the roast left the oven.
   11. 10:00 pmPosset, 10 minutes out of the fridge first (the fancy desserts card).
   12. 10:45 pmChlebíčky assembled and chilled, uncovered (the recipe: no more than an hour in the fridge).
   13. 11:30 pmChlebíčky out of the fridge; twelve grapes in a small glass at each place.
   14. By 11:50 pmPosset back in the fridge or thrown away, 2 hours after it came out.
   15. 12:00 amMidnight: the grapes, then the toast.
   16. By 1:15 amChlebíčky, and any grapes cut for children, back in the fridge or thrown away: 2 hours out, counting the assembly.
   Full recipe →

For a bigger crowd, a standing party in three rounds.

1. 

   6An appetizer party instead of dinner

   For 10 to 20 with no sit-down dinner: cold bites waiting in the fridge, hot ones from the oven, put out in three rounds so nothing sits out longer than 2 hours.

   • 150 min active
   • Make the day before

   Menu

   Cold, from the fridge: shrimp cocktail, deviled eggs, gravlax on pumpernickel and a cheese and charcuterie board. Hot, from the oven: sausage rolls, stuffed mushrooms and spinach and artichoke dip; for the late round, pigs in blankets and cocktail meatballs. Sweet: chocolate truffles. Vegetarian guests: the eggs, the dip and the mushrooms made with a vegetarian hard cheese (the cards say why).

   Buy

   Appetizers instead of dinner: 12 to 15 pieces a guest, at least 6 kinds (Dummies; Nicolet College’s catering textbook, as our appetizers hub prints them): 240 to 300 pieces for 20 (our arithmetic). The party food calculator does the sums for any count.

   The rounds

   Cold rounds at 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm and 11:30 pm (our schedule, on the FDA’s method): each replaces the last, which goes back in the fridge or is thrown away, never topped up; hot back-ups wait in a 200 to 250°F (93 to 121°C) oven.

   Ahead

   Weeks before: sausage rolls frozen raw, meatballs and their sauce frozen (America’s Test Kitchen: a month); from Thu 17 Dec, pigs in blankets frozen (BBC Good Food: two weeks). Mon 28 Dec: the gravlax cure starts (2 to 3 days). Wed 30 Dec: eggs hard-cooked; the cocktail sauce; mushrooms stuffed and the dip assembled (The Kitchn: a day ahead for both). Thu 31 Dec, morning: the shrimp poached (the recipe: no more than 24 hours ahead) and the boards arranged (Penn State Extension); in the afternoon, every cold bite split into three small platters and chilled, the eggs filled last, as close to the party as the day allows (the recipe).

   Midnight

   Round three at 11:30 pm: the late hot bites, fresh from the oven, and fresh cold platters from the fridge. Then the toast.

   On the plate

   One kind per small platter, so a round is swapped whole (arranging the bites). A dish for used picks beside the meatballs and shrimp, and picks kept out of small children’s reach (our caution).

   Allergens

   Crustaceans (shrimp); fish (gravlax; Worcestershire in the cocktail sauce and the meatballs); barley (UK) in British Worcestershire and rye (UK) in most pumpernickel; egg; milk; wheat; mustard (UK); celery (UK); sulphites (UK) in cured meats and wine. Each linked card lists its own.

   Plan, first round at 7:30 pm, toast at 12:00 am

   1. 7:00 pmOven to 425°F (218°C).
   2. 7:20 pmSausage rolls in from frozen, 30 to 35 minutes (the card: Delia’s 20 to 25, plus 10), until the middle reads 160°F (71°C) (USDA).
   3. 7:30 pmRound one, cold, out as guests arrive: shrimp on crushed ice, eggs, gravlax, the board (straight from the fridge: the hour it might warm counts toward its 2 hours).
   4. 7:55 pmSausage rolls out and served. Oven to 400°F (204°C), mushrooms in for 16 to 18 minutes, plus 2 to 3 from the fridge.
   5. 8:20 pmMushrooms out and served. Oven to 375°F (190°C), the dip in for about 30 minutes.
   6. 8:50 pmDip out and served. Oven down to 225°F (107°C) for hot back-ups.
   7. 9:30 pmRound two: fresh cold platters from the fridge replace round one’s, which come off at 2 hours out: deviled eggs thrown away (the recipe), the rest in the fridge or thrown away.
   8. By 9:55 pmSausage rolls in the fridge or thrown away, 2 hours after they left the oven; the mushrooms by 10:20 pm and the dip by 10:50 pm.
   9. 10:00 pmThe truffles. Meatballs simmered in their sauce to 165°F (74°C), then into a preheated slow cooker.
   10. 10:45 pmOven up to 375°F (190°C).
   11. 11:00 pmPigs in blankets in from frozen, 20 to 30 minutes (BBC Good Food), until the middle of a sausage reads 160°F (71°C) (USDA).
   12. 11:30 pmRound three: pigs in blankets, meatballs and fresh cold platters, which replace round two’s, never added to them; round two’s come off at 2 hours out, the eggs thrown away, the rest in the fridge or thrown away. Oven off.
   13. 12:00 amMidnight: the toast.
   14. By 1:20 amRound three in the fridge or thrown away, the eggs thrown away: the cold platters, the pigs in blankets and the meatballs.
   Count the pieces for your guest list →

Every bite from the six menus, earliest first: mix them as you like.

Our estimates, from each card’s plan.

Named sources’ figures, with the arithmetic for eight. Where two disagree, both are printed.

Planned for Thursday 31 December 2026 and New Year’s Day, Friday 1 January 2027. Pick out your menu’s jobs.

1. Early December
   • Rolls par-baked and frozen for the crowd menu (King Arthur Baking: up to 6 weeks); the party’s sausage rolls and meatballs (a month).
2. Thu 17 Dec
   • Pigs in blankets for the party, frozen (BBC Good Food: two weeks).
3. Sat 26 Dec and Sun 27 Dec
   • Acidify the garlic (24 hours), then layer the marinated Hermelín for the fondue night’s midnight board.
4. Mon 28 Dec
   • Start the gravlax cure for the party. Make room in the fridge, which must stay at 40°F (4°C) or colder.
5. Tue 29 Dec
   • Herb butter for the steaks (America’s Test Kitchen: 4 days wrapped in the fridge).
   • Bake the crème brûlée cheesecake for the crowd menu (4 to 5 days before it is torched).
6. Wed 30 Dec
   • Morning: frozen lobster tails into the fridge to thaw for 24 hours (America’s Test Kitchen). Eggs hard-cooked for the deviled eggs, inside the recipe’s US week and UK 2 days.
   • Braise the short ribs and chill them the card’s way, never in the pot. After lunch, cook the lentils without their vinegar and cool them quickly; make the sauerkraut for the pork.
   • Desserts: pots de crème and lemon posset (2 days). The mignonette, the cocktail sauce and the blanched beans. Party: stuff the mushrooms and assemble the dip.
7. Thu 31 Dec, morning
   • Poach the shrimp (the recipe: no more than 24 hours ahead). The chocolate mousse for the surf and turf menu: it keeps 1 day and needs 4 hours to set.
   • Buy the oysters; arrange the party’s cheese boards. Sparkling wine into the bottom of the fridge for a few hours (Comité Champagne).
8. Thu 31 Dec, afternoon
   • Chlebíčky toppings, the party’s cold bites split into three small platters each, deviled eggs filled last. Pork in at 4:45 pm; the surf and turf potatoes in at 6:45 pm. Each plan has the rest.
9. 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm
   • Guests, the first course and the party’s first round at 7:30 pm, dinner at 8:00 pm (our clock).
10. About 10:00 pm
    • Dinner off the table and into the fridge, 2 hours after it left the oven; dessert out, and back in the fridge by about 12:00 am, 2 hours after it came out. Each plan gives its exact time.
11. 11:30 pm and 12:00 am
    • The midnight bite, fresh from the fridge or the oven, then the toast at midnight. The midnight bite goes back in the fridge, or is thrown away, by about 1:30 am.
12. Fri 1 Jan 2027, New Year’s Day
    • Lentils for lunch, the Czech way: reheat to 165°F (74°C) and add the vinegar again (the recipe). UK readers reheat only the portion kept apart, once (Food Standards Agency).
13. Fri 1 Jan to Mon 4 Jan
    • US leftovers (USDA FSIS): 3 to 4 days, counted from the day each dish was first cooked. Thursday’s steak, pork, shrimp and lobster to Sun 3 Jan or Mon 4 Jan, the dumplings to Sat 2 Jan or Sun 3 Jan (the recipe gives them 2 to 3 days); the short ribs and lentils, cooked on Wednesday, to Sat 2 Jan or Sun 3 Jan.
    • UK leftovers (Food Standards Agency): 48 hours from cooking, reheated once. Thursday’s cooking by Sat 2 Jan; Wednesday’s by Fri 1 Jan. The short ribs had their one reheat at dinner: the slider meat kept apart had its own at 11:30 pm.

American and British advice differ in places, so each rule names its authority.

• Dinner in the fridge by about 10:00 pmUSDA: nothing perishable sits out more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C), because bacteria grow fastest between 40 and 140°F (4 to 60°C). The clock starts when food leaves the oven or the fridge, not when guests sit down. So every plan puts dinner away around 10:00 pm, dessert and each party round 2 hours after they come out, and brings a separate, fresh plate for midnight. Nothing on this page is meant to sit out from dinner to midnight.
• Swap, never top upThe FDA’s buffet method: make several small platters ahead, keep the cold ones in the fridge and the hot ones in an oven at 200 to 250°F (93 to 121°C), and replace a platter rather than add new food to one that is already out. Cold seafood that stays out longer than 2 hours sits on ice (FDA).
• Holding food hotUSDA’s line is 140°F (60°C) or above; the FDA suggests an oven at 200 to 250°F (93 to 121°C) and warns that some warmers only reach 110 to 120°F (43 to 49°C), so check the product label. A slow cooker holds food that went in hot; it does not reheat (USDA). Britain’s 63°C is a legal rule for food businesses; the Food Standards Agency’s pages for home cooks give no hot-holding temperature.
• The UK clockThe Food Standards Agency says to cool and refrigerate cooked food within 1 to 2 hours, and to keep chilled food out of the fridge “for the shortest time possible during preparation (a maximum of four hours)”; Food Standards Scotland gives buffet food no longer than four hours. Four hours is a ceiling, never an allowance: this page plans on the US 2 hours.
• Hot food and the fridgeThe two countries give opposite instructions. USDA and the CDC say hot food can go straight into the refrigerator; the Food Standards Agency says to cool it at room temperature first. Either way, divide big pots and roasts into shallow containers. The CDC says most outbreaks of Clostridium perfringens food poisoning happen in November and December, most often from food cooked in large batches and held at unsafe temperatures.
• Leftovers, by countryUnited States (USDA FSIS): into the fridge within 2 hours, in shallow containers; eat within 3 to 4 days, reheated to 165°F (74°C). United Kingdom (Food Standards Agency): within 48 hours, reheated until steaming hot throughout, once only. We count both from the day each dish was first cooked, so food made on Wed 30 Dec runs out first (the dates).
• Alcohol stays in the foodUSDA’s nutrient retention table keeps 75 percent of the alcohol in a flamed dish, 70 percent in an uncooked one left overnight, 40 percent after 15 minutes of simmering 10 percent after two hours and 5 percent after two and a half, the short ribs’ braise. A cheese fondue is cooked for minutes, not hours (the fondue card). Offer children, pregnant guests and anyone who avoids alcohol a version without it.
• AllergensThe US names 9 major allergens (sesame since 1 January 2023) and UK law 14, adding celery, mustard, sulphites, lupin and molluscs. Oysters and scallops are molluscs, on the UK list only; shrimp and lobster are crustaceans, on both. US wine says “Contains sulfites” at 10 parts per million or more (TTB). Cooking does not remove an allergen: ask guests beforehand and keep the packets (Food Standards Agency).
• Smoking drinks and sparklersNo dry ice in drinks: the FDA says it must never be swallowed and must have fully evaporated first. Sparklers burn at about 2,000°F (1,090°C) (CPSC): never for young children; and never on food (our caution).

For pregnant guests, older adults, young children and anyone with a weakened immune system.

• Raw oystersThe CDC: “Do not eat raw or undercooked oysters or other seafood. Cook them before eating.” The FDA tells pregnant women, children, older adults and anyone with a weakened immune system to avoid raw oysters even if they were treated after harvest. Freezing does not kill Vibrio either (North Carolina’s public health division). In the UK the NHS puts raw shellfish on its avoid list in pregnancy. Bake theirs: 450°F (232°C) for 10 minutes, the CDC’s time.
• Cold shrimp cocktailThe NHS says cold, pre-cooked ready-to-eat prawns must be cooked until steaming hot in pregnancy; the FDA’s list names only partially cooked shrimp. The starter and midnight shrimp on the surf and turf menu and the party’s shrimp are served cold.
• Caviar, gravlax and cold-smoked fishNo authority page we read names caviar; the nearest lines: the NHS says “You should avoid raw, cold-smoked and cured fish” in pregnancy; the FDA lists raw fish and refrigerated smoked seafood as higher-risk foods; in July 2023 the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland told pregnant women and people with weakened immunity to avoid ready-to-eat cold-smoked or cured fish unless cooked until steaming hot. None of these makes an exception for pasteurized caviar: ask a doctor or midwife (our advice).
• Rare beef, lobster and pink salmonMedium-rare steak, lobster pulled at 140°F (60°C) and salmon with a blush of pink are below the 145°F (63°C) minimum (USDA for beef, with a 3-minute rest; FDA for seafood), which the CDC repeats for adults 65 and older. For these guests, cook theirs to 145°F (63°C) on a thermometer; do not judge by color: the FDA judges the flesh, not the shell. The NHS pregnancy page counts whole cuts of beef “thoroughly cooked on the outside” as safe; the US advice is the thermometer.
• Raw-egg desserts and saucesThe chocolate mousse on the surf and turf menu has raw egg white: the FDA says to use pasteurized eggs for anything served raw or lightly cooked; in the UK, British Lion eggs can be eaten raw by pregnant women, children and older people, but not by the severely immunocompromised (Food Standards Agency, 2017). Hollandaise and béarnaise are a last-two-hours job: Gisslen’s Professional Cooking holds them no longer than 2 hours and then throws them away, so the steak gets a herb butter.
• Soft cheese and cured meatThe NHS says to cook camembert-style cheeses until steaming hot in pregnancy, so the marinated Hermelín at midnight is not for pregnant guests, and the recipe also leaves it off the plate for older guests and anyone with a weakened immune system; the CDC lists unheated deli meats, such as the charcuterie on the party board, for pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weakened immunity. The hot cheese fondue is cooked.
• AlcoholThe CDC: “There is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy.” The NHS: “It’s safest to avoid alcohol.” That includes the wine in the fondue and the short rib sauce (what stays in) and the rum in the mousse; the toast has an alcohol-free version.
• Small childrenThe CDC’s list of foods to avoid for young children, from USDA’s WIC program, includes uncut grapes, marshmallows, hot dogs and sausages, whole or chopped nuts, bones in meat or fish, raw apple pieces and large chunks of cheese. For under-fives, cut the twelve grapes and the fondue apples small and the pigs in blankets lengthwise into strips, not coins (our advice), and keep whole nuts, such as any on the cheese board, off their plates: the NHS says no whole nuts under 5, and no raw shellfish for babies. At the fondue table a child’s face is at flame height (the Swiss fire-prevention body BFB).

Chilling, opening and pouring, with an alcohol-free glass for anyone who wants one.

• How coldThe Comité Champagne, the Champagne trade body, serves it at 46 to 50°F (8 to 10°C). The American Academy of Ophthalmology wants the bottle at 45°F (7°C) or colder before it is opened, which a bottle from an ice bucket meets.
• How to chill itAn ice bucket half filled with water and ice for 20 to 30 minutes, or the bottom of the fridge for a few hours (Comité Champagne); Perrier-Jouët says about 2½ hours there. Perrier-Jouët says never to freeze it.
• Opening itThe American Academy of Ophthalmology: chill it, do not shake it, take off the foil and wire, hold the bottle at 45 degrees pointed away from yourself and everyone else, put a towel over the top, hold the cork and slowly twist the bottle, not the cork. The Comité Champagne eases the cork out “without letting it escape”. If a cork hits an eye, see an eye doctor at once (AAO).
• The glassFlute or coupe is on our types of glasses guide. The Comité Champagne itself prefers a tall tulip-shaped glass, though it says flutes and coupes are fine if you like them.
• How muchSix 12.5 cl glasses to a 75 cl bottle (Comité Champagne); Moët & Chandon divides the guests by six, rounded up (per guest).
• A toast without alcoholChildren, drivers, pregnant guests and anyone else not drinking get the same glass at the same moment: sparkling grape juice, or an alcohol-free sparkling wine (check the label’s alcohol figure), chilled the same way (our suggestion).

What named sources say, in brief. Several are New Year’s Day customs, and the stories behind some are disputed: where they are, we say so.

• Twelve grapes, SpainOne grape with each of the twelve chimes at midnight. Madrid newspapers describe the custom by the 1890s; the popular story that it began with a 1909 grape surplus in Alicante is contradicted by those earlier papers (ABC; El País). Cut them up for children under 5.
• Lentils, Czechia and ItalyCzechs eat lentils on New Year’s Day for money (Radio Prague International). Lentils looking like coins is the modern explanation; the old Czech folklore records, and what they actually say, are on our sour lentils recipe: the custom is documented by the 1890s. In Italy most families eat cotechino with lentils on 31 December (Il Post).
• Pork and sauerkraut, PennsylvaniaThe Pennsylvania Dutch New Year’s Day dinner. Pigs root forward, so pork moves you ahead into the new year (the folklorist Don Yoder, as LancasterOnline quotes him); chicken stays off the plate because it scratches backward. Butchering often fell around Christmas, so fresh pork was at hand (the food historian William Woys Weaver, same article).
• Hoppin’ John and greens, the US SouthPeas and rice with bacon on New Year’s Day; its first written recipe in English is in Sarah Rutledge’s The Carolina House-wife of 1847 (South Carolina Encyclopedia), and Robert Moss found its New Year link in print by 1909. Collards stand for dollars, “or so they say” (Moss). Cornell Botanic Gardens counts it part of Watch Night, the African American New Year’s Eve tradition that remembers 31 December 1862, quoting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on Watch Night itself.
• Soba, JapanToshikoshi soba on 31 December: Japan’s agriculture ministry gives two of the explanations, long thin noodles for a long life and noodles easy to cut, to cut off the old year’s hardships, and says more than 60 percent of Japanese households eat it.
• Round fruit, the PhilippinesTwelve kinds of round fruit for the Media Noche, the midnight meal, round for money (Inquirer); Arab News’s Manila report gives thirteen, one for each month and one for extra luck. No chicken, because it scratches backward (Arab News).
• Vasilopita, GreeceA bread or cake with a coin baked inside, cut on 1 January, St Basil’s day, a slice for each person present (the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America). Wrap the coin in foil: a loose coin is a choking hazard (our caution).