New Year’s Eve on a Budget
What could possibly be better than champagne and caviar that taste expensive, but aren’t? I usually get my goodies at Trader Joe’s, but I’ve seen similar products at Wild Oats and Sunflower Market; I’d be surprised if Fresh Market and Whole Foods didn’t also carry them.
The thing about champagne is that it’s just sparkling wine from a specific region in France; Asti is sparkling wine from a specific region in Italy. Plenty of other places produce sparkling wine. Look for “methode champagnoise” on the bottle. Personally, I like the Prosecco at TJ’s. It’s inexensive enough that opening on a bottle on a weekday is not an unreasonable proposition.
As for caviar appetizers—pick up some rye, corn, or buckwheat crackers (I usually get get TJ’s rye mini-toasts), creme fraiche, and caviar. No, not that insanely expensive and ecologically-unfriendly Black Sea stuff. I’m talking about the kind in the deli case; usually lumpfish or salmon roe for $3-5 per 1-ounce jar. I’ve seen black, golden, red, and green, wasabi-flavored caviar. I’m sure that if your inner Martha Stewart stages a coup, you could do something mind-bogglingly seasonal with a combination of the red and green caviar.
But I digress.
TJ’s even has vegetarian black caviar that’s darned near indistinguishable from genuine salted fish eggs. Japanese supermarkets also often have some kind of fish roe in the same area as their sushi-grade fish. Spread the creme fraiche on the crackers and top with a generous amount of caviar (using a nonmetallic implement; caviar is salty enough to react with most metal flatware.)
Enjoy, and don’t save this just for parties. Very little feels more indulgent than sparkling wine and salty fish eggs eaten in a bubble bath after a long day at work.
There’s a good reason one of my best friends considers me the local expert on self-indulgence.
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December 24th, 2006 at 12:42 am
That sounds ever so much better than eating your breakfast cereal in the shower!