Hosting and Toasting 2018

In a few days the giant ball will slowly drop in the heart of Times Square, NYC, heralding the new year.  All across the country people will glitter and bling up to celebrate. Hey, it's not too late for a little hosting and toasting. Really!

There is an amazing bakery right here in Los Gatos that can help you ring in the new year with a dash of the savory and a touch of the glamorous and sweet.  It's called Icing on the Cake (50 W. Main Street).  You'll find it easily because there's always a crowd gathered.

Well here are a few really quick, easy, and fun additions to help you get your party on.  This bakery hotspot has the most delicious cheddar and rosemary wafers.  Let's be honest, what grown-up doesn't love a handful of cheddar cheese goldfish (fun to serve adults the fishies in a fishbowl with one of those long-handled green nets for scooping them up)?  But these wafers are for adult-ing in a sublime and sophisticated way.  They are attractively packaged, crisp and buttery, with a hint of cayenne.

Try adding them to a cheeseboard, serve them as a bread substitute alongside a simple butter lettuce salad (dressed to the nines in champagne vinaigrette), or pop one on top of a tomato soup shot glass like a New Year's Eve top hat.  Now don't forget to serve guests (or just yourself) a flute of crisp bubbly too.  A must!

Of course this bakery has the most outrageous selection of sweetness too.  Their version of the old school chocolate cupcake classic is called a Swirly Cake.  You remember it - devil's food cake with a cream-filled center.  Theirs is a dessert standalone.

This year our new year's ending bite will be the cookie bon bons.  How could you go wrong with a tiny shortbread cookie bottom, peanut butter and crunchy pretzel filling, and a dark chocolate drench on the outside.  These little mounds of goodness come in cookie dough too.  Need I say more?

Like Julia Child says:  "A party without cake is just a meeting."  So raise your glass and get hosting and toasting.  Cheers to 2018.