Ring in 2015 with a fun, progressive feast of foods from around the world. Serve as timed courses on small plates, buffet-style. Start with Russia and end up with Canada at midnight to symbolize the dawn of 2015 as it passes across our wonderful Mother Earth.

Olive’s made it easy with lots of suggestions for countries and ready-made food to pick and choose from. You don’t have to serve it all or run yourself ragged buying exactly what I suggest – let my ideas conjure your own neighborhood favourites.

Call ahead to pre-order wherever possible or stock your freezer well in advance to avoid last-minute disappointment.

If you want to decorate, set out a collection of vintage alarm clocks (from around the house or your local thrift shop) with alarms set for each course. If the clock is not working, set the time on the clock to match the time of the course and place it beside the course. Or make your own paper clocks using a printout.

Photo credit: funinthemaking.net

A vintage globe with a retro peace banner would make a charming centrepiece. Add some sparkle and glitter wherever you can. Click on the photo for a link to this DIY peace banner.

Photo credit: hellolidy.com

6:00 pm Russia

Start the night off on the other side of the planet, in Russia. If you are welcoming your guests with a cocktail, Sable & Rosenfeld has a great line of pickled cocktail garnishes – and you don’t need a cocktail to enjoy them. Available in grocery stores and specialty food markets. Click here for locations. I love the Garlic & Dill Tipsy Cocktail Stirrers.

Garlic & Dill Tipsy Cocktail Stirrers Photo credit: Sable & Rosenfeld

Serve simple but luxurious smoked salmon with slices of buttered black bread. Starsky Fine Foods sells a gorgeous vodka-infused smoked salmon. Click here for locations. 

Vodka-infused smoked salmon.

 7:00 pm Japan

Keep it simple with a bowl of freshly boiled edamame (green soybean pods widely available in the frozen food section of your grocery store). Lightly boil according to package directions, drain well and toss with crunchy sea salt. Serve in a pretty bowl with a side bowl for discarded pods. To eat, place the pod in your mouth while holding the opposite end; use your teeth to gently squeeze the beans into your mouth and then discard the empty pod.

Photo credit: loblaws.ca

Or order a tray of ready-made sushi. My favourite, local take-out sushi is Mac’s Sushi (Erin Mills Town Centre and other locations). I love their Spicy Crunch Vegetable Rolls.

Photo credit: Mac Sushi Spicy Crunch Vegetable Rolls

8:00 pm China

Hot or cold spring rolls make easy finger good. Fresh or frozen options abound in your local grocer. I love the store-made Handmade Vegetarian Spring Rolls at Mississauga’s Michael-Angelo’s (Erin Mills and Folkway). Crispy on the outside and stuffed with a generous filling of shredded cabbage and other veggies – so fresh tasting. Call ahead to pre-order. Pick up in foil tray and reheat gently.

9:00 pm India

Banish boring bbq meatballs from your party and spice up the night with meatballs simmered in an Indian-spiced sauce. Costco sells delicious chicken meatballs in a spicy tikka masala sauce: Sukhi’s Gourmet Indian Foods Masala Meatballs. Call your Costco ahead to make sure they stock them.

Sukhi’s Masala Meatballs

Olive’s taken a shine to Vij’s Delhi-Licious Kettle-cooked Potato Chips made by Neal Brothers Foods Inc. and wonderfully spiced by Vikram Vij, owner of world renowned Vij’s Indian Restaurant in Vancouver, BC. Great balance of spicy, salty, sweet. I found them at Goodness Me (Mavis and Bristol).

Vij’s Delhi-icious Kettle Chips

10:00 pm Middle East

Pick up your favourite Middle Eastern dips like hummus, baba ghanoush, or muhammara and serve with pita triangles for dipping. Adonis sells really good, ready-made versions of all three plus wonderful, fresh pita (baked in-store) to serve with it. If you can’t get to Adonis and have a hard time finding the less common muhammara, you can make my recipe ahead.

Muhammara Dip

11:00 pm Europe

Lots of choices for Europe and United Kingdom. Here are just a few suggestion.

Starsky Fine Foods has lots of delicious, ready-made Polish food including pierogies, delicate crepes stuffed with cheese and spinach, or Victorian Salad (Polish potato salad with peas and carrots that you could serve on endive spears).

For Italy, I have an easy recipe for Tomato Bocconcini Basil Skewers…

Tomato Bocconcini Basil Skewers

…and for Spain, you could switch out the peaches for pears in my Peaches with Serrano Ham, Creamy Blue, & Honey.

Peaches with Serrano Ham, Blue, & Honey

French ideas include pâté. I adore Spirit Tree Estate Cidery’s luxurious Pâté with Ice Cider & Shallots sold in a charming ceramic pot.

Spirit Tree Cidery’s Pâté & Evelyn’s Crackers

Sweet ideas include French macarons (I love the ones from Whole Foods),

Macarons from Whole Foods

or marzipan from Belgium (available at the Cheese Boutique).

Beautiful Neuhaus marzipan squares.

or even Dutch syrup waffles from your local grocer.

Dutch syrup waffles.

Midnight: Canada

You will likely be popping champagne, so a cheeseboard featuring Canadian cheeses that work well with champagne would be your easiest choice. Ask the local experts at Cheese Boutique (Toronto), Mill Street Cheese Market (Georgetown), or Cheese Shoppe on Locke (Hamilton) for advice. My Cheese Market directory lists all of their contact info.

You could also consider serving cold PEI lobster salad in shooter glasses or on individual spoons, crackers, or puff pastry (click photo for recipe suggestion).

Lobster salad on puff pastry. Photo credit: themeaningofpie.com

Finish off on a sweet note with the quintessential Canadian dessert, butter tarts.

Butter tarts from Kate’s Town Talk Bakery.

However you wish to celebrate it, have a healthy and happy 2015!

Left your Christmas shopping to the last minute and stumped for gift ideas for the foodies on your list? Here are a few of my favourites.

In his cracking new book, Jamie’s Comfort Food, Jamie Oliver turns one-hundred classics from around the world into mind-blowing recipes, perfecting the method, and layering on flavour in each step. Brilliant. Ultimate Black Daal is fragrant and sumptuous. My son cooked an awesome No. 1 Toasted Cheese Sandwich with a crispy cheese crown. We aim to set up a little charcoal grill in our garden this summer and try the Chicken Tikka Masala. I’m eying the Hummingbird Cake for my birthday and Ossobuco alla Milanese for my husband’s. When you are going to indulge, this is your book.  Nutritional info is included. A fantastic gift for the passionate cook.

Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook: by Ina Garten. I don’t have this book yet (my BFF and I are exchanging copies this Christmas) but often rely on the Barefoot’s recipes for entertaining (I always start with half the salt). She has finally published a book focusing on make-ahead recipes. Recipes include Ginger Shortbread, Cauliflower & Celery Root Soup, Make-Ahead Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes...”how gorgeous is that?”. Great for someone who loves to entertain.

I haven’t tried the recipes yet but this book is so splendid, I have to tell you about it. À la Mère de Famille is filled with recipes from a well-loved Parisian confectioner (founded in 1761). French cakes, jams, caramels, chocolates, cookies, ice creams, candies, and drop-dead-gorgeous candied fruit (whole pineapples, kumquats, and pears – oh là là!). Total eye candy. Hope I have time to make the Candied Orange & Lemon Slices before Christmas. A real treat for the serious, francophile foodie who loves pretty sweets.

A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse: by Mimi Thorisson. Though I follow Mimi’s swoon-provoking food blog, Manger, I’d love to own her cookbook too.  In her blog, Mimi’s storytelling and her husband’s stunning photography give us a glimpse of a dreamy, romantic life in charming rural France with classic, seasonal recipes to bring home to your own kitchen. Judging by the reviews, her recently released cookbook does not disappoint.

Fitbit One

I have been using a Fitbit One wireless activity and sleep tracker since September 2014 to log my food and track my steps, stairs climbed, and calories burned…and I love it. It took some work setting up my favourite foods and meals; I prefer to cook from scratch and the database is flooded with prepared foods. But now that I have my own favourites set up, Fitbit’s online journal is an easy way to log my food and track my caloric, protein, fibre, carb, fat, and sodium intake. It syncs wirelessly with my devices (compatible with select smartphones). I chose the tiny One clip rather than the bracelets; it’s easy to slip into my pocket.

One stop at Cheese Boutique and all stocked up with gourmet treats for the holidays!

Christmas is the perfect time to indulge in fine cheese. So easy for entertaining, so luxurious. I asked the experts at Cheese Boutique to describe three cheeses they might like to serve on their own cheeseboard this Christmas.

Brebiou

Brebiou: a sheep’s milk cheese from the Basque region of France. Very ripe due to its 4 months of wet aging. Quite mild with a nice finish.

Glengarry Celtic Blue

Glengarry Celtic Blue: a soft, creamy cow’s milk blue with a mild, buttery flavour. Produced in Glengarry, Ontario by award-winning Glengarry Fine Cheese.

Majestic Henry

Majestic Henry: A pasteurized cow’s milk cheese, aged in barley and Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Developed by Cheese Boutique co-owner Afrim Pristine in conglomeration with Samuel Adams. Made in Quebec exclusively for Cheese Boutique. Aged 6 months in-house. Named after Afrim Pristine’s dog (the rind resembles his coat).

Go for the glorious cheeses and come back with so much more. Cheese Boutique is brimming with gourmet goodies from around the world. Cole’s Great British Christmas Pudding from England, Kirriemuir Gingerbread with Candied Orange from Scotland, JCQ Almond Filled Pastry Ring from Holland, and DiGennaro Marrons Glacés from Italy are just some of the special Christmas treats.

Cheese Boutique has the widest variety of marzipan I have ever seen. There are marzipan chocolates, fruits and ladybugs…

Marzipan ladybugs and fruit.

and adorable, little marzipan pigs.

Traditional marzipan pigs.

I am smitten with these beautiful marzipan squares from luxury Belgian chocolatier Neuhaus. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Beautiful Neuhaus marzipan squares.

You’ll find great gourmet stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, and special delicacies to make your Christmas extraordinary.

Merry Christmas!

Whether your loved ones are travelling from across the pond or across the province, here is a sweet way to welcome them home for the holidays: a mini gingerbread house from Elm Hill Cookies.

Aromatically spiced and artisanally crafted using the finest ingredients. These absolutely adorable, wee cottages are decorated with charming fondant pieces.

Very reasonably priced. Perfect for homecomings or hostess gifts.

There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays (music by Robert Allen, lyrics by Al Stillman, artist Perry Como)

If you live in my neck of the woods and are interested in placing an order for my shortbread cookies, you can find pricing and all of the information you need on my Shop Olive My Love/ Contact Olive page on the very top menu of my site (beside Grocery Store and Farmers Market Directory) or by clicking here: http://olivetoeat.com/?page_id=460.

Please take note of my Christmas order cut-off dates below.

OLIVE MY LOVE CHRISTMAS ORDER CUT-OFF DATES:

Last date to place an order to guarantee delivery before Christmas will be: Sunday December 7th, 2014.

Last week of delivery before Christmas will be: Monday December 15th to Friday December 19th.

If you have missed these dates please contact me. I may have some frozen dough still in stock and will try my best to accommodate you.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

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