Need some last minute, easy activities for a family New Year’s Eve party?  I thought of one (the lights, camera, action one) and found two on the Family Fun site.  Hope these help you in your party planning.  (You might be interested in my Celebrate New Year’s Eve with Grandchildren that I wrote last year.)

Lights, Camera, Action. If you have a video camera, divide family members into teams and give them 15 minutes to write a script for a skit.  Give them a few minutes to practice it.  Then, have the group ‘perform’ in front of the others and film it with your video camera.  After each group has been filmed, hook your camera up to your TV and watch the skits.  Everybody will love watching themselves in their Oscar winning performance!

From Family Fun
Midnight Balloon Shower — directions on how to make a balloon drop for your party.
Around the Clock — ideas for a clock theme party. (I think grandchildren would like the idea of painting their face white and then drawing on black clock hands.)

Hope you have a great time ringing in the new year!

(Since my husband is on call and our friends are partying in with their own families, we’ll be spending a quiet time at home.  By ourselves.  ROCKIN’ OUT WITH THE BEATLES’ ROCK BAND!  Can’t get any better than that . . .)

If you are having a family party on New Year’s Eve, you’ll probably want to have something to drink.  And have I got a great recipe for you!  It’s called Punch.  (Punch.  You’d think that who ever came up with this recipe could come up with a clever title for it, too.  But no.  Just plain and simple — Punch.)

The almond extract gives it a delightful flavor.  Something that you’re not quit expecting.  This is always a hit when I fix it and I think your grandchildren will love it.  Not too sweet.  Not too carbonated.

You’ll need a big punch bowl to serve this in because it makes quite a lot of punch.  (Sometimes I put in a 3 liter bottle of Sprite if I’m going to have lots of family members at the party.)   Here’s the recipe.

Punch
10 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 small can frozen orange juice (thawed)
1 small can frozen lemonade (thawed)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 liter bottle of Sprite

Add the sugar to the water and stir till sugar is dissolved.  And remaining ingredients.  (You might want to use ice cubes as part of the water so that the punch will be cold.)

Enjoy!

Are you having a party with your family on New Year’s Eve? Need more sugar in your diet a quick ‘n easy treat? (I know I should be promoting healthy foods, but it’s the holidays!) I recently came across this recipe that I think sounds absolutely divine — chocolate, caramels, and pecans — like turtle candy.  It’s called Rolo Candy Treats.   Sure to be a crowd pleaser.  Here’s the recipe.

Rolo Candy Treats
50 small pretzel twists
50 pieces Rollo candy
50 pieces whole pecans

Place pretzel pieces on a baking sheet.  Place one Rollo candy on each pretzel.  Place pan in a warm oven (250 degrees) to let the candy barely melt on top of the pretzel.  Remove pan from oven and press a pecan on top.  Let cool and harden.  Yum!

I’m sure your grandchildren’s parents (aka your children) won’t mind if you serve your grandchildren such sugar-laden treats. After all, isn’t that what grandmothering is all about?

My family wishes you a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

(For this Christmas carol, we used our very expensive and highly tuned musical instruments on which we have practiced, and practiced, and practiced.)