On New Year's Eve 1978, the Clarkes and Odells planned to go out. But there was a huge snowstorm, driving was awful, so Tom and Linda bundled 2-year-old Jennifer into the car and went to the Clarkes, where Jennifer could play with Megan while the old (relatively speaking, we were all in our 20s) folks watched people celebrate in Times Square from the warm comfort of the Clarkes' Dartmouth Road home.
The Odells spent the night, shared breakfast the next morning, and a New Year's Eve tradition, now in its 30th year, was born.
This blog is a place for both families, and others that have joined us over the years, to capture the memories of food and events of New Year's Eves past, and chronicle what we hope will be 30 New Years to come.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Chronology: 1978-2008
This is a brief overview of where, when and what, with a whole lot of holes to fill in. If something here triggers a memory that can help us complete this list, submit a "comment". Additional (later) posts will fill out some of the details with recipes and notes about highlights of some of the Eve action.
The Dartmouth Road Years
1978 - All we recall is watching tv images of people misbehaving in Times Square on the Dick Clark New Year's Eve special, while we stayed safe, comfy and warm inside.
1979 - Two new babies, George (5 months old) and Robbie (2 months old) joined the festivities. Linda thinks we might have served Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons, better known as Julia Child's Chicken Boobs.
1980 - We don't remember what we had. We don't even remember where we had it - maybe Dartmouth Road, maybe Topeka.
The Topeka Years
1981 - Linda thinks this is the year we did our Chinese extravaganza for New Year's Eve. There is no record of what we actually fixed but our Chinese menu usually included egg rolls, egg drop soup, sweet and sour pork, chicken and vegetables, oyster beef fried rice and almond cookies.
1982 - Vonnie thinks this is the year we made a dill stroganoff roast, and friends Mike and Cindy Maud and their children joined us.
The Blue Springs Years, aka the failed memory years
1983 - ? The Clarkes had just moved in. It was probably pretty simple.
1984 - Three-month-old Becky joined the annual gathering. No recollection of food.
1985 - May be the year the Clarkes, who had gone to Hawaii for Christmas, scheduled their return date specifically to keep the New Year's Eve tradition alive.
1986 - ? Somewhere in here, we had boiled shrimp for dinner.
1987 - ? One of these years, George and Robbie took pots and pans outdoors to bang on them in the cul-de-sac at midnight.
1988 - ? Somewhere during the Blue Springs years our menu was entirely appetizers and hors d'oeuvres. Nobody remembers when.
1989 - ? The Clarkes' friends Kim and Carol Day joined us one of these years. Might have been 1989... or not.
1990 - The first child defection from the tradition, as Jeni opted to go to her friend Amy's birthday party instead. May also have been another year the Clarkes returned home early from Christmas in Hawaii.
The Meadow Lane Years the failed memories continue
1991 - Both girls are in high school now and have better things to do than hang out with their parents on New Year's Eve. No recollection of food.
1992 - ?
1993 - Sometime during this period we had pork tenderloin with mustard sauce.
1994 - ?
1995 - We had Steak Diane, a perennial favorite (recipe to be posted). Megan was home from college with friends Alice and Heather.
1996 - Surf and turf, with lobster tails and small beef filet steaks. Yummmm. By now, George and Rob had bailed on the old folks, too. But Becky was still around, and this year invited her friend Tricia Huber to spend the night. Jeni was by now far, far away in Portland.
1997 - Steak Diane again, along with cream of mushroom soup and risotto with vegetables, another perennial favorite (recipe to be posted) and home made bread. Becky's friend Rachel spent the night, and George had to work at Luigi's.
1998 -?
1999 - We think this was the year Vonnie got tired of Tom complaining about her dull knives and bought a good knife set. Unknown is what we cooked with them, or whether she considered using the new knives on Tom.
2000 - One of these years - maybe 2000, maybe not - we had Tom's barbecued shrimp. Vonnie's mother Doris joined us, after she had a car accident on her way home to Lake of the Ozarks and the Clarkes spent New Year's Eve day driving to Sedalia to bring her back to Kansas City.
2001 - Grilled pork chops, risotto with vegetables and green beans made up the New Year's Eve fare. Jeni was back from Oregon but did not join us.
2002 - Somewhere between 1998 and 2003, Becky cut her finger while slicing cheese; she and Vonnie spent the day in the emergency room, worrying about both Becky and the standing rib roast in the oven.
2003 - Steak Diane for our 25th New Year's anniversary. This might have been the year Tom committed heresy, going on a ski trip instead of dinner at the Clarkes. But a good time was had by all anyway.
2004 - ?
2005 - We think this might have been the year we had an encore of Julia's Chicken Boobs. This is also the year Linda thinks we had a really good, and really expensive, bottle of champagne, thanks to a gift from Linda's work.
2006 - George kept really good notes on this one. Our appetizers were stuffed mushrooms, cream cheese/jalapeno raspberry spread with crackers and olive pesto with crostini. Dinner was creamy artichoke soup with mascarpone cheese, Alaska King crab legs, cheesy potatoes and tossed salad with Tatsu's dressing. Blue Moon Belgian wheat beer was the beverage of choice.
2007 - Grilled pork tenderloins. Vonnie and George's friends the Robinsons joined us. Scrambled eggs, toast and fried potatoes for breakfast.
2008 - Peppered Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and Special Scalloped Potatoes (recipes to be posted) with wedge salad for dinner. Stuffed mushrooms, cream cheese/jalapeno raspberry spread and artichoke-spinach dip for appetizers. George Patrick cooked up some great french toast for breakfast. Discussed burning issues of the day such as how to fall on ice and whether it's possible to get from Crown Center to Waldo without going uphill.
The Dartmouth Road Years
1978 - All we recall is watching tv images of people misbehaving in Times Square on the Dick Clark New Year's Eve special, while we stayed safe, comfy and warm inside.
1979 - Two new babies, George (5 months old) and Robbie (2 months old) joined the festivities. Linda thinks we might have served Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons, better known as Julia Child's Chicken Boobs.
1980 - We don't remember what we had. We don't even remember where we had it - maybe Dartmouth Road, maybe Topeka.
The Topeka Years
1981 - Linda thinks this is the year we did our Chinese extravaganza for New Year's Eve. There is no record of what we actually fixed but our Chinese menu usually included egg rolls, egg drop soup, sweet and sour pork, chicken and vegetables, oyster beef fried rice and almond cookies.
1982 - Vonnie thinks this is the year we made a dill stroganoff roast, and friends Mike and Cindy Maud and their children joined us.
The Blue Springs Years, aka the failed memory years
1983 - ? The Clarkes had just moved in. It was probably pretty simple.
1984 - Three-month-old Becky joined the annual gathering. No recollection of food.
1985 - May be the year the Clarkes, who had gone to Hawaii for Christmas, scheduled their return date specifically to keep the New Year's Eve tradition alive.
1986 - ? Somewhere in here, we had boiled shrimp for dinner.
1987 - ? One of these years, George and Robbie took pots and pans outdoors to bang on them in the cul-de-sac at midnight.
1988 - ? Somewhere during the Blue Springs years our menu was entirely appetizers and hors d'oeuvres. Nobody remembers when.
1989 - ? The Clarkes' friends Kim and Carol Day joined us one of these years. Might have been 1989... or not.
1990 - The first child defection from the tradition, as Jeni opted to go to her friend Amy's birthday party instead. May also have been another year the Clarkes returned home early from Christmas in Hawaii.
The Meadow Lane Years the failed memories continue
1991 - Both girls are in high school now and have better things to do than hang out with their parents on New Year's Eve. No recollection of food.
1992 - ?
1993 - Sometime during this period we had pork tenderloin with mustard sauce.
1994 - ?
1995 - We had Steak Diane, a perennial favorite (recipe to be posted). Megan was home from college with friends Alice and Heather.
1996 - Surf and turf, with lobster tails and small beef filet steaks. Yummmm. By now, George and Rob had bailed on the old folks, too. But Becky was still around, and this year invited her friend Tricia Huber to spend the night. Jeni was by now far, far away in Portland.
1997 - Steak Diane again, along with cream of mushroom soup and risotto with vegetables, another perennial favorite (recipe to be posted) and home made bread. Becky's friend Rachel spent the night, and George had to work at Luigi's.
1998 -?
1999 - We think this was the year Vonnie got tired of Tom complaining about her dull knives and bought a good knife set. Unknown is what we cooked with them, or whether she considered using the new knives on Tom.
2000 - One of these years - maybe 2000, maybe not - we had Tom's barbecued shrimp. Vonnie's mother Doris joined us, after she had a car accident on her way home to Lake of the Ozarks and the Clarkes spent New Year's Eve day driving to Sedalia to bring her back to Kansas City.
2001 - Grilled pork chops, risotto with vegetables and green beans made up the New Year's Eve fare. Jeni was back from Oregon but did not join us.
2002 - Somewhere between 1998 and 2003, Becky cut her finger while slicing cheese; she and Vonnie spent the day in the emergency room, worrying about both Becky and the standing rib roast in the oven.
2003 - Steak Diane for our 25th New Year's anniversary. This might have been the year Tom committed heresy, going on a ski trip instead of dinner at the Clarkes. But a good time was had by all anyway.
2004 - ?
2005 - We think this might have been the year we had an encore of Julia's Chicken Boobs. This is also the year Linda thinks we had a really good, and really expensive, bottle of champagne, thanks to a gift from Linda's work.
2006 - George kept really good notes on this one. Our appetizers were stuffed mushrooms, cream cheese/jalapeno raspberry spread with crackers and olive pesto with crostini. Dinner was creamy artichoke soup with mascarpone cheese, Alaska King crab legs, cheesy potatoes and tossed salad with Tatsu's dressing. Blue Moon Belgian wheat beer was the beverage of choice.
2007 - Grilled pork tenderloins. Vonnie and George's friends the Robinsons joined us. Scrambled eggs, toast and fried potatoes for breakfast.
2008 - Peppered Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and Special Scalloped Potatoes (recipes to be posted) with wedge salad for dinner. Stuffed mushrooms, cream cheese/jalapeno raspberry spread and artichoke-spinach dip for appetizers. George Patrick cooked up some great french toast for breakfast. Discussed burning issues of the day such as how to fall on ice and whether it's possible to get from Crown Center to Waldo without going uphill.
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