perfect New Year's Eve

Cheers and Happy New Year to all! I hope that you had a fabulous end to 2013. After an apres ski beer  out with friends, we enjoyed a cozy dinner in last night. I made everything ahead of time, which allowed me to

ski all day

warm up

and play a ferocious three generation game of Mexican Train before we sat down to eat together.

I'd made and/or prepped everything ahead of time, so all I had to do was toss the salad {one of my favs, particularly on a chilly winter day: jicama, mango with a lime vinaigrette}.

Then I put a bunch of toppings out,

and we all enjoyed a test-run on my Winter White Chili. It was so, so good. A total keeper, which is great because I'm trying to come up with more top-notch, freezer-friendly meals to add to the current "Stock Your Freezer in a Snap" batch of crowd-pleasers.

It was a perfect, casual New Year's Eve meal-- great for any time you want to feed a crowd, big or small, and get the cooking done ahead of time. Here's a link to other freezer-friendly meals and resources I've jotted down here on the blog, in case you're looking for some make-ahead meal inspiration as we head into 2014. Cheers!       - Eila