5 Recipes for Your New Year's Party

Throwing a party on New Year's Eve or hosting a gathering on New Year's Day? Patch has the recipes you'll need to keep your guests happy.

Here are five easy recipes you can make for your New Year's Eve or New Year's Day gatherings. Ingredients: To start, brown the beef in a medium saute pan. Drain the fat. Add the onions and bell pepper, and cook until the onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). In a Crock Pot, combine the diced tomatoes, tomato juice, beans, pumpkin, chili powder, cumin, pumpkin pie spice, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Mix well. Next, add in the cooked beef and stir. Cook on low for six to eight hours, or on high for four hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese sprinkled on top and your favorite corn bread. Enjoy! Ingredients: To start, mix the cream cheese, dressing and beer in a large bowl until you reach your …

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Your Guide to New Year's Eve Events in Metro Detroit

Here are two dozen dinners, parties and other events happening on the last night of the year.

From dancing and dinners to champagne toasts and late-night coney bars, there's lots happening on the last night of 2012 in southeast Michigan. Here's a roundup of events; add yours to the comments section here. Northville Nite New Year's Eve from 4-7 p.m.; $2-$10. Travel “Through the Decades” this New Years Eve 2012; as you enter the gates you will travel back in time to the Roarin’ 20’s and travel through the decades all the way to the future. Activities include crafts, huge inflatable games, slot car racing, carnival games, entertainment and much more. Northville Rotary Club will be selling hot dogs, pizza, and beverages. New Year's countdown at 7 p.m. Call 248-349-0203. A bash with kids in mind at The Memory Room in Clinton Township …

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Tips to Prevent, Cure Hangovers

Sort through the myths and remedies for a night of partying.

Are you actually thinking ahead about how much you want to have fun tonight but don't want to get a hangover? Or maybe you partied a little too much last night and now you have a whopper of a hangover. What to do? Let's start with how to ward off a hangover in the first place. The best advice, of course, is don't drink any alcohol or stay out late. That's the first thing. But if you do intend to drink and ring in the New Year, Henry Ford also offers tips on preventing a hangover: Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital Emergency Center Dr. Edward Walton is a big fan of drinking a lot of water and eating hardy foods to keep a nasty hangover away. "You should make sure that you don’t drink on an empty stomach and if you are drinking, try to have a glass…

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Game Time Menu: Sliders, Meatballs, 'Guy Fondue'

Area chefs share their secrets for great bowl game snacks, from crowd-pleasing dips to a variety of flavored meatballs.

You’d expect that a professional chef would know how to throw a no-holds-barred, great party at home, right? That’s precisely why, with a variety of bowl games already sprinting full speed into our lives and more to come (MSU plays Jan. 2 and U-M plays Jan. 3; 35 bowl games total through Jan. 9, and don’t forget Feb. 4 is Super Bowl day), we checked in with our favorite “kitchen quarterbacks.” Cutting right to the party chase, here's the lowdown on everything from crowd-pleasing dips to big-guy sandwiches. “When I have parties at my home, I like to use big, round sourdough or Tuscan loaves, like 10 inches in diameter to make great sandwiches,” said Chef Pete Loren of Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace in Troy. “These are different; …

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12 Festive, Fun Drinks for the New Year

Area beverage experts stir up some festive drinks to cap your year or begin a new one.

  Want to make spirits bright this New Year’s Eve? Skip the usual chardonnay or basic martini, say area gourmands. Whether you’re looking to add a dash of holiday to your typical alcoholic offerings or seeking new ways to add oomph to hot drinks from cocoa to coffee, our savvy sippers provide the following inspirational recipes. Oh, and some are even healthy (now there’s a sure way to start your “be healthy” New Year’s resolution, before Jan. 1!) (From Chef Pete Loren, director of culinary development, Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace, Troy) “This is a great way to get rid of that leftover cranberry sauce, which replaces cranberry juice in this recipe and makes it very smooth,” said Loren. (From Morton’s The Steakhouse, Troy) Yield…

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Staying Home New Year's Eve? Pull Out a Game

There’s more to do than watch the ball drop in Times Square on television, blow party horns and spray silly string all over the house.

Here’s a roundup of favorite games, diversions, and more for friends and/or family who may be gathering at your home on Dec. 31. If you hurry, today's a great day for deals; you might be able to pick up your favorite board game on discount.   Start looking now for images of famous people (sports figures, government officials, singers, movie stars, etc.) in the newspaper, magazines or online. Look for those who’ve shown up in the news in the past year. Cut out their photos (20 total, headshot only) and tape to a piece of paper. If youngsters and teens are playing, be sure some of the images are obvious or try to find pictures of people you know some of the younger players will recognize. Also, throw in a challenging photo. Depending on who’…

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5 Things to do in Clawson

Here's a roundup of events this weekend and beyond.

The Christmas holiday came and went, and New Year's is just a few days away. Don't spend the last holiday week of 2010 at home. There is plenty to do in Clawson this weekend and beyond. Here are five events in Clawson for children, families and adults.