11 party recipes to impress your guests on new year's eve.

Looking for New Year's Eve party food inspiration? Take a look through these mouthwatering recipes to impress those guests. From cocktails to canapés, discover something to suit all your party guests tastes. Or if you're seeing in 2016 with a quiet night in, what better excuse to make yourself up a feast to enjoy with a cold glass of fizz? Cheers!

smoked salmon and cucumber canapés.

Hope you're all enjoying the festive season and had a wonderful Christmas! With 2015 coming to an end and 2016 just around the corner, I've put together a super simple canapé recipe to impress your guests! This smoked salmon and cucumber canapé with lemon and dill crème fraîche takes just minutes to put together and seconds to devour. Perfect for nibbles at New Year's Eve parties, just get that fizz chilling and pop on your favourite party dress! 

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas from Recipes and Reviews! May your Christmas dinner be delicious and your wine be topped up dutifully! After your Brussels sprout and pigs in blankets hangover, come back and see what I have in store for New Year and 2016. Including a little birthday just around the corner... 

Have a lovely day! (I'll look out for your shiny new kitchen gadgets over on Instagram!)

Emily xx

foodie christmas traditions.

Just like any season, with Christmas comes with annual traditions with family and friends. From gingerbread houses and festive bakes to special breakfasts and fusion feasts from around the world, I've put together a few little anecdotes from my fellow food bloggers on how they spend their Christmas break. For the last few December 25th mornings, I've put together a breakfast of lazy eggs for all the family. So simple but perfect to keep that hunger at bay whilst the house filled up with mouthwatering scents of Christmas dinner.

#fdbloggers secret santa.

Christmas has to be one of the favourites seasons of a food blogger. Food everywhere, cheese boards a plenty and edible gifts for all! Over with the fellow #fdbloggers on Twitter, we've been doing our own secret Santa gift swap. Exchanging gifts with foodies from all around the UK and Ireland, you can head over to the hashtag #fdbloggerssanta to see an array of super thoughtful foodie packed parcels from a mystery Santa. Here what I got from Sal... I mean, Santa...

no bake christmas crispies.

A fun, festive Christmas recipe - with no baking required! Simply melt together your ingredients and scatter with festive cheer for this Christmas twist on your favourite rice crispie bars. These would be perfect to make with kids, newbie bakers and for any last minute office bakes too! Here's how I made them...

jim's smokehouse, nottingham.

In Nottingham's creative quarter of Hockley, you'll find Jim's Smokehouse. It's a cool and quirky establishment, serving up low and slow cooked meats alongside a US style menu. From larger than life burgers to stomach-busting platters, here you'll find all the American classics and more. With a Man vs. Food attitude, you'd struggle to leave hungry. 

christmas pudding macarons.

Ho ho ho - Merry Christmas! Although it wouldn't be December without having a go at some festive macarons would it? This month I've got in the holiday spirit with a Christmas pudding macaron recipe! Since I'm not a fan of fruit cake myself, these little treats have been made with a cocoa based meringue and filled with Nutella chocolate spread, topped with icing sugar and marzipan holly. 

muga ramen dining & bar, london.

MUGA is a stylish, contemporary ramen bar found just a short walk from Piccadilly Circus. This modern London establishment serves up authentic ramen, your way, with a minimalist menu and interiors to match. Whether you're mad about miso or have a yearning for yasai, you simply pick your noodles and add on any extras depending how hungry/greedy you're feeling that day. 

pumpkin, cheddar and sage soup with parmesan crisps.

A creamy and delicious seasonal soup made from sweet pumpkin, indulgent cheddar and a hint of fragrant sage. Make ahead and serve with nutty pumpkin seeds and a parmesan crisp for the perfect Autumn Winter starter. After Halloween and Thanksgiving, why should the pumpkin recipes stop there? This is one to enjoy all season!

what to buy a foodie for christmas...

What to buy a food blogger for Christmas... when they already own 50, 000 aprons, a cupboard full of baking beans and a stack of tea towels to the ceiling. Don't get me wrong - I love all the foodie gifts I get each birthday and Christmas, this year receiving a rather wonderful selection of teaspoons, a teapot, macaron print scales, a chocolate cookery book, a knife sharpener and even some Bakewell tart green tea. All very well thought out gifts which I was overwhelmed and super grateful for. However, if you're struggling to think outside the box and you're about to click "add to bag" on that spice rack - here are a few foodie gift ideas to tickle your tastebuds.

thornton hall hotel and spa, the wirral.

Thornton Hall Hotel and Spa is a luxury hotel retreat found in The Wirral. Despite the impressive 62 bedrooms, a grand entrance hall, restaurant and bar, plus two spas, the hotel itself maintains an intimate, boutique feel. I travelled North West for a weekend away, where I enjoyed their A Little Luxury stay and spa package and dined in The Lawns restaurant.

christmas vegetarian bake with a brie mash topping.

A festive, vegetarian alternative to Christmas dinner. This veggie bake is made up of a Brussels sprout, quinoa and chestnut mix, topped with creamy Brie mash and jewelled with dried cranberries. Forget nut roast, this Christmas veggie recipe (which is also gluten free) has a rich vegetable and grain base with an indulgent topping. If anything, you must try this cheesy Brie mash recipe as a festive side dish!

I've put together this recipe as part of Central England Co-operative’s Christmas campaign - find more recipes from fellow food bloggers on the hashtag #cooptreats!

festive afternoon tea for 2015 at the hyatt regency, birmingham.

One of my favourite things about Christmas has to be the launch of all the festive afternoon tea menus. Of course I never get round to trying them all (in my dreams) but it's so interesting to see what Christmas twist they'll put on the classic. Last year you might remember my review of the Hyatt Regency afternoon tea in Birmingham, where they served up spiced apple and calvados profiteroles, chocolate gingerbread and chestnut and orange slices alongside the usual suspects. This year I've been invited along again for a sneak peek at their Christmas afternoon tea for 2015...

bistrot pierre in derby gets a revamp.

Bistrot Pierre in Derby serves up seasonal French cuisine from a variety of regions with fresh ideas and regular chef specials. Having recently had a refurb, I went along to see the new changes and updated menu. Of course like my last review of Bistrot Pierre, I took my granny along, since she's my French food expert. 

honey & amaretto eggnog.

An indulgent twist on the classic egg nog recipe featuring one of my favourite spirits, warming honey and crunchy amaretto biscuits. When Waitrose Cellar challenged me to create my own take on eggnog using their Christmas drinks guide,  I knew that I was going to switch out the rum for my beloved amaretto.

This rich Christmas drink is whipped with egg yolk, white and whole milk, before being topped with thick cream, biscuit scatterings, ground nutmeg, flaked almonds and a drizzle of honey for good measure. What's not to love? 

the lawns, thornton hall, the wirral.

Awarded 3 AA Rosettes for fine dining, The Lawns restaurant can be found in the heart of the Wirral countryside, within Thornton Hall hotel and spa. The restaurant is headed up by new executive chef Matthew Worswick, who represented the North West in this year's Great British Menu. With menus for lunch, dinner, afternoon tea and even a special taster of the Great British Menu dishes, I went along as part of my stay at Thornton Hall to experience their evening offerings. 

mini chocolate pecan pies.

A bitesize treat for the Thanksgiving season - teeny, tiny chocolate pecan pies. These mini morsels are made up of dark chocolate pastry, a sweet sticky filling, whipped cream and topped with a caramelised pecan and dark chocolate shavings.

With match.com hosting their Short & Sweet Thanksgiving Speed Dating Event this Thursday 26th, I was tasked with creating a tiny dessert for their American themed menu. Budding love birds will be able to enjoy speed dating over dessert with the likes of New York Cheesecake, Pumpkin Pie along with my sweet recipe too! If you aren't heading the even but fancy a try anyway, here's the pecan pie recipe for you to feast your eyes on...

monkfish and king prawn thermidor with barber's 1883 vintage reserve.

As a huge seafood lover, for me there's nothing better than an indulgent fish dish. Certainly seafood can be healthy, but if I see a luxuriously creamy thermidor on the menu then I'll bound to choose it. Tasked to create a recipe featuring Barber's 1883 Vintage Reserve Cheddar as the star, I immediately thought of an oozing, cheesy thermidor with a hint of parsley and kick of mustard. In this case, I've mixed it up and created a more accessible king prawn and monkfish thermidor recipe which is served with hand cut chips and roasted tomatoes. See, you'll even be getting your five a day...

host for hope at the woodspeen cookery school.

This November, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, Pancreatic Cancer UK are encouraging supporters to put on their aprons and take part in Host for Hope. The campaign focuses around putting on a foodie fundraising event in aid of the charity to support those affected by pancreatic cancer and raise awareness of the devastating disease. 

To help us on our way to dinner party success, Michelin star chef John Campbell of The Woodspeen offered us a place at his cookery school for the Chef in the Cupboard course. As a supporter of the charity himself, this was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness (and hopefully donations too) for a great cause. 

spiced cherry mulled wine.

The Christmas adverts are on the TV, the novelty jumpers are in the shops and most importantly the festive menus are in the restaurants. Now that my birthday is over and done with, I'm alright with embracing the Christmas spirit with open arms. With the theme of all things merry and bright, I've put together this cherry mulled wine recipe with my lovely new festive glasses from Next. With the temperature dropping by the day, I can't wait to make another batch to enjoy around the Christmas tree whilst I'm waiting for Santa. 

norse, harrogate.

For inspiring cuisine, beautifully thoughtful food and something a little different, Scandinavian restaurant Norse is a must visit. Tasked with taking a food blogger out for a birthday meal, my better half wanted to find somewhere a little unusual that neither of us had tried before. As we were in the lovely Yorkshire town of Harrogate for the weekend, Norse, based in Baltzersen’s cafe on Oxford Street was the one to challenge our tastebuds for the evening.