Your New Year Your Food

 It;'s New Year's Eve tomorrow and that means fancy parties and fancy foods. Yet supposedly just want a cozy celebration with either you or with a companion - whether animal or human. It;'s your New Year - your food.

It's a time when you can just splurge on whatever foods you want to eat.Lidl has a wide assortment of extravagant foods at affordable prices. Take a look at their Preferred Selcetion choices. A small Culver duck is only $34.99 and comes with a packet of orange sauce (which you can spruce up with orange juice and brown sugar). They also offer a shrimp ring for only $6.99  and some stores also have lobster. Other stores like Acme and Stop and Shop also have excellent seafood if you so choose. Indulge in crab legs with butter sauce or some coconut shrimp. You could also have petite filet mignons  again, many stores such as Walmart offer them for under twenty dollars. Serve with steamed broccoli or carrots for a simple yet elegant meal. Crack open a bottle of Prosecco or a good wine for a great drink. It's also a good night for cocktails and mocktails. try one you;'ve been dying to taste. Have two bottles of seltzer and a bottle of cranberry juice. These make the best bases for both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks.

Of course since it';s a small party fun food can abound. Think hot dogs and or hamburgers. Barbecue if your climate is warm enough. Try the famed Chicago dragged through the garden dogs.This is a hot dog, sharing a bun with fresh sliced tomatoes, pickles , chopped onions , small pickled peppers called sport ones along with neon green relish and mustard (Ketchup is strictly not allowed) Chili dogs are another fun dinner. You could also serve bacon cheese burgers, air fried to perfection.What about sides with these?. Frozen onion rings or fries that can easily be crisped up in the air fryer too. Another tasty treat are wings. You can have them extra hot Buffalo style or with lemon pepper.Nuggets are fun along with popcorn shrimp. These are nibbles that you can have with good craftsman soda or beer. Think Wild Bill's or Abita's root beer or a good woodsy birch beer such as Boylan's Beers, could be IPAs or APAs.As for dessert- again indulge in what you want. It could be cookies or a sundae with homemade hot fudge and decadent ice cream such as Lidl's. 

It's your New Year's . Celebrate with the foods you want. It could be fancy .It could be just fun. Ring in the New Year with great flavors and great tastes.

Chicago Style< Peruvian Flavor

 Our new pope is a Chicogoan.It's a huge honors for,the USAalong with Illinois and CHicago Pope Leo XIV is probably missing that good Chi-town food despite being in a culinary paradise.Chicago food is influence dby Italian and other ethnic groups who settled in the Windy City.

There are already POpe Leo themed dishes.An iconic CHicago  restaurant chain ,Portillo's has already created a dish for the pontiff born Robert Prevost .Its' Italian beef sandwich already has been named "The Leo".This is shredded beef smothered  with three kinds of peppers and a rich beef gravy .It's sandwiched between half a loaf of Italian bread. Bennison Bakery in nearby Evanston has baked a butter cookie with the pope;s image on it. The Pope also grew up with such CHi-town classics as deep dish pizza,  a spin on pizza rustica.It's loaded with sausage pepperoni and generous helpings of tomato sauce and mozzarella. There is also Chicago thin crust pizza which has an ultra fine thin crust and is cut into squares instead of wedges.There;s also Chicago style hot dogs or "dragged through the garden" dogs. This is a Vienna beef hot dog that;s topped with sliced tomatoes, relish, chopped white onions and a green pickle. A dash of celery salt and a stripe of mustard is added for more flavor. Ketchup is never ever used on these weiners. That's sacrilege to any Chicogoan!

The Pope spent a great deal of time in the seaside town of Chiclayo in northwestern Peru.His favorite dish was goat with beans and rice.He was also fond of ceviche, raw seafood "cooked in lime juice.Tje acid in the juice changes' the meat's composition while preserving its' raw ,briny taste.It can be made at home with either raw or cooked fish.Red onion and cilantro are also added for more flavor.Pope Leo also likes second which means dry in Spamish but is also a rich, savory stew.It's usually made from beef or kid macerated in vinegar. This is not quite marinating but softening the meat ,Yellow potatoes are added to thicken it.The recipe varies throughout South America. Ecuadorians also add avocados and ripe plantains along with achiote, a red spice sort of like cinnamon.The Pope may have also enjoyed a variety of potatoes too.A Peruvian staple quinoa is now an everyday American dish that can be made into a delicious bowl .It;s usually cooked with veggies for a healthy lunch or dinner.

POpe Leo has had a very good culinary background. First there was Chicago, then Peru and now Rome. He couldn't;t have asked for a better diet.