Happy New Year!

My husband and I rang in the new year in our favorite way, with a quiet dinner at home. I set a romantic table for two in the dining room, complete with candles and soft music.

  

I draped the table with a plum damask tablecloth from The Christmas Tree Shop, $5.99.  I reused the centerpiece from Christmas dinner, along with gold metallic candles from The Christmas Tree Shop.

I layered gold basketweave chargers with ivory and gold thrift shop plates.  I used our everyday flatware and plum napkins with gold napkin rings I found on eBay a couple of years ago.  The champagne flutes were a HomeGoods find a few years ago.

I also spreaded a few gold stars around the table for some New Year's Eve sparkle.

The dinner menu included shrimp ceviche, seafood casserole, rice pilaf, Italian green beans, with chocolate cream pie for dessert.

The shrimp ceviche was a refreshing change from our usual shrimp cocktail.  It would be wonderful as a cool appetizer served with Sangria punch on a hot summer day. Here is the recipe:


Ingredients:

• 1 pound medium cooked shrimp
• 3/4 cup lime juice (juice from 4-6 limes)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice (juice from 2-3 lemons)
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1  chile pepper, ribs and seeds removed, minced (optional)
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cucumber, peeled diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 avocado, peeled, seed removed, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Squeeze the juice from the limes and lemons in a glass or ceramic bowl using a strainer to remove the seeds.  
2. Remove tails from shrimp and add to the lime/lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour.  
3. Mix in the chopped red onion, chile pepper, chopped cilantro, cucumber, and avocado.  Refrigerate for an additional half hour; add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Happy New Year!

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