New Year’s Eve has always freaked me out a little bit. Maybe it’s because it marks the loss of something that can never return. Or maybe it’s because it makes particularly salient the uncertainty surrounding what lies ahead.

In either case, New Year’s Eve is typically celebrated with a lot of crowds, noise, and alcohol, and I don’t tend to do well with any of those things.

NYE 2007

As per usual, however, I want to celebrate somehow. What has worked for the past few years has been to have a quiet but celebratory evening. We fix a steaming pot of soup, pour a glass of champagne, and make chocolate fondue.

Here is our favorite recipe:

Ingredients:

3/4 c. heavy cream

14 oz. your favorite dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

1. Heat the cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan, until it just begins to boil.

2. Add the chocolate, and let sit for 3-5 min., until it begins to soften

3. Whisk the cream with the chocolate, and set on a rack above a lit tea candle.

Dip with your favorite treats. We have found fresh strawberries, dried apricots, chunks of madeleine cookies, and crystallized ginger to work particularly well.

photo by: Berndt Fernow

How will you be celebrating this New Year’s Eve?