New Year’s Eve’s Long Dinner tradition in Louisiana is a winning way to celebrate

New Year’s Eve can be a complicated holiday for some folks to celebrate. With so much hype and lore, many people feel pressure to mark the passing of one year and the welcoming of the next in spectacular fashion. 

I have spent New Year’s Eve in Times Square — and ended up leaving early because it was so cold and the festivities really amounted to people standing around on a crowded street waiting for a countdown and a ball to drop. When you think about actually doing that, maybe you’ll agree with me that it’s not really much fun or very exciting. 

In sharp contrast, in 1991, on the first New Year’s Eve that my now husband and I were dating, we went to see James Brown in concert and the night really couldn’t have been more fun. Jimmie (Jay Jay) Walker sat in front of me wearing a purple fur coat. James Brown did all the dance moves. The man brought out the cape and Brown eventually threw it off to keep dancing. It was the most amazing live show I’ve ever seen. 

Now, however, for the last eight years, we celebrate New Year’s Eve with friends. Dare I say my friends have developed a tradition that’s even better than a James Brown show? Perhaps! 

These days, our family looks forward to New Year’s Eve the whole year through. Our 27-year-old daughter says it’s her favorite night of the year. Much of the credit goes to my friend, Amy Martin, in Lafayette. She and her husband, Michael, host what we call the Long Dinner each year.

In total, five couples and their families get together on New Year’s Eve for exactly what it’s called — a long dinner. The event starts at 5 p.m. and finishes up after midnight. We all sit at one long table for a 12-course meal. There is much visiting and up and down between courses as each couple and some of the adult children prepare and serve the various courses inspired by a theme. 

The Long Dinner themes have ranged from home, the empty nest, the elements (air, water, wind), television shows, the Roaring 20s and more. This year, we each suggested an ingredient, the event’s host made a roulette wheel and we assigned people to ingredients to determine what each course needed to include.

I was assigned saffron as the appetizer course. I’m still debating between preparing a Persian tahdig or a saffron cucumber pickle with tuna. The tahdig is a complicated and risky choice. The other just takes time but should be simple to do.

I’m leaning toward the simple — primarily because I could serve the saffron cucumber pickles with tuna in the scallop shells I bought last week at an incredible estate sale in New Orleans. 

Part of the fun of the event is figuring out interesting ways to serve the dishes. Last year, with the “empty nest” theme, I served individual micro-green nest-looking salads in hollowed satsuma peels.

Our daughter has sweet potatoes and the amuse-bouche course. She’s planning to adapt a potato pave and make it with sweet potatoes. It’s a good choice because most of the work can be done in advance. She will simply need to pan-fry the multiple layers of sweet potatoes before they are served. 

We are aware that we think about how to create, prepare and serve our dishes more than is rational, but that’s where the fun lies. Ten adults will enjoy the meal this year. Amy Martin says the decorations will be “silver, gold and white” inspired by tinsel on trees.

“Mirror balls and candles will be incorporated,” she said. 

She says, and I agree, that the event works for us “because we all get along so well and accept each other. We are willing to try different things. We like to spend time together.”

All true.

We all look forward to the cheese spread midway through the meal. One friend orders a smorgasbord of cheese from France and gives us a tour of the country and the cheese.

Yes, the event is a bit over the top, but it’s the time with friends that continues to make it special.

Knowing that we’re going to be there for so long makes the evening have a relaxed feeling that is unlike most meals — basically, it’s an eight-hour meal. We’ve all learned to adjust the portions accordingly so that we aren’t stuffed by the fifth course. 

Another thing that make it all work is Amy Martin’s efforts toward striking a balance between elegance and comfort.

“I try to make it very homey and comfortable but also elegant at the same time,” she said. “I want it to be a night to remember.”