A Big New Year Night In

I think the point that I stopped wanting to go out on New Year’s Eve was the point that I realised I was old.

I ALWAYS used to go out on New Year’s Eve, wearing something glittery, buying over-priced drinks and stumbling home in the early hours shouting HAPPY NEW YEAR at strangers was just the way it was.

Then a few years ago we realised that the inflated £25 entry ticket for a club where we would have to queue at the bar for an hour every time we wanted a drink would buy us a whole bottle of fancy Champagne, not even supermarket own brand, to drink at home. We didn’t want to have to battle bar queues and walk home in the cold, we wanted to watch TV, and eat nommy food and drink Champagne in our pyjamas.

Thus New Year’s Eve became our Big Night In.

This year I have invested in a huge array of party food, a fancy schmancy bottle of Champagne that came IN A BOX (that’s how you know it’s fancy) and raided the New Years Eve shelf in Poundland for banners and sparkly things. Thankfully, just in time for our Big Night In, I’ve been sent a big box of Butterkist popcorn and some other things that will make our New Years Eve a little bit more special, including a Now TV pass to keep us entertained before the midnight fireworks!

The box also contained a deck of cards so that we can play something simple like snap, and then I can get really angry when I lose because I am a BAD LOSER folks. Really I am, it’s not something I’m proud of. We learned long ago not to play any kind of competitive game for “fun”.

This year, of course, we also have Peppa & Waldo, so seeing in 2018 with our adorable little hell beasts will be even more special, even if we will have to put up with their begging faces every time we eat a piece of popcorn.

Popcorn is a great snack for this time of year, it’s so much lighter after a week of stodge and is perfect for all those nights in January when we’ll have to stay home because I spent all our money on table glitter and New Years Eve banners.

Personally, I’ve always preferred salted popcorn, while Mr LLL has a massive sweet tooth and likes his popcorn sweet. I know women are stereotypically supposed to the ones with the sweet tooth, but that’s certainly not true in our house! I’m the whisky drinker who loves blue cheese and savoury things, while Mr LLL will eat penny chews and liquorice laces like they’re going out of fashion, and pretty much agrees with Buddy the Elf on the 4 main food groups (candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.)

Fortunately in the box was a big bag of Sweet & Salted popcorn mixed, so that’s perfect for sharing. There was also Toffee and Salted Caramel flavours which are super sweet, but so tasty!

How are you planning to spend New Year’s Eve? Do you have a Big Night Out or a Big Night In planned? Or do you plan to ignore it completely and be tucked up in bed before the fireworks start?

This post was produced in collaboration with Butterkist. All opinions and New Years Eve plans are my own!