Readying for a new date + one last party list

With love and thanks to you all for being here — and for all good things to come for #teamcake

Hello! Hello!

Never mind that I wrote 2024 on the first pages of a couple of notebooks. Or that I filled a notebook — actually, I used two 2024 notebooks to develop the recipes for my new book. (I’ll have some book news for you soon.) That I did many things, went many places, had many adventures and spent time doing what I love most — being with my family, baking, cooking, sharing meals and writing to you every week. Still, the turn of the page snuck up on me. I can’t gather my thoughts fast enough to say farewell to ’24. To welcome ’25. To grip that time has passed. That it felt fleeting.

I may have told you this anecdote, it’s one I think of often. My mother-in-law once told me that she used to feel sorry for her mother because she imagined that as her mother got older, time must have slowed down for her, must have weighed on her. But, she said, now that she was older — I don’t remember how old she was when she talked to me about this, maybe 65, maybe 70 — she felt that time sped up, that it all went so quickly.

I feel as she did. For me, it’s a whoosh. It’s Monday, it’s Sunday, it’s 2025. And there’s so much to do.

Seeing The Nutcracker with Gemma and VV this fall

I did a lot this year. I bet you did, too. We probably all did enough. More than enough. And as hard as it is to realize this, to pat yourself on the back, take a deep breath and reward yourself with a bit of quiet time (my pref), a luxurious dinner (I’d take that, too) or a blowout party, it’s what we should do.

And if you’ve got tips for how to do the quiet thing, I’m all ears!

In the meantime, I’m making more lists and more plans and also packing my bags to head back to Paris, which is where I’ll be the next time you hear from me. Here’s a sneak peek at what I’ll be dipping into — I can’t wait to tell you about the desserts at Pontochoux Cafe and Akira Takahashi, the chef who makes them.

But First…

I won’t be in the kitchen much for the next week or so. We’ll be spending time with friends in New York and then flying, but I’ve been thinking back to all the New Year’s Eve dinners Michael and I made — maybe 20 of them in Paris — and thinking about what I might do if I were in charge this year. And I keep coming back to apéro-dinatoire, the casual French kind-of-a-meal, the one where everything gets put out on the table and friends get to nibble away at their own pace.

I wrote about this a lot during the lead-up to the Paris Olympics and, now, six or so months later, it’s still looking good to me, still looking like a really fun and festive way to celebrate with friends. So here are gift links for my New York Times story, How to Eat Like You’re in Paris for the Olympics, and my recipe for Honey Mustard Salmon Rillettes.

nytcooking

A post shared by @nytcooking

And here are two stories with links to recipes from the xoxo Dorie archives (with the paywall lifted).

Look at the beautiful spread from The Real Emily in Paris’s apéro. I love the way Emily does things, which is why I’m a faithful reader of A Week in Paris as well as her new Substack, What Women Want.

And here’s the spectacular Olympics-themed apéro — complete with prizes — that my friend Sophie Guiton organized. Like the real Olympic’s, Sophie’s Apéro’lympics was an international team sport. It may be a little late to organize something like this for New Year’s Eve, but hey, there are 365 other days ahead of us.

And As Always …

I love you. I love that you’re here. I love that we’re together. Thank you, thank you. I’m so looking forward to sharing our adventures in this coming New Year.

My mother’s favorite wish for all occasions was: I wish you everything that you’d wish for yourself.

As a child, it never really sounded right to me. Now, just as I see that my mother-in-law was right about how we feel about time as we get older, I see that my mother had crafted the perfect wish. Ah mothers.

And so, I wish you everything that you’d wish for yourself.

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