As for New Years Eve, I like to put my energy into planning and preparing a really cool meal. I like to pull out a couple of special dinner treats that we dont normally experience during the year. Even if it is just the two of us it is a special evening.

Are we just too old to whoop it up, wear funny hats and blow those gad awful horns at midnight? You betcha! Actually nothing says Welcome-Bienvenido-Shalom to the New Year than a great meal and exceptional wine.

My favorite place to begin my shopping is the Saturday Market at Seaside. Seaside is the community just up the road from me that pioneered the trend towards nostalgia with front porches just like my grandmother had on Pine Street as well as sidewalks where you can greet your neighbors by name as they pass by.

It is so Norman Rockwell-Saturday Evening Post that I am always on the lookout for kids in knickers playing stickball in streets so narrow that one of those overwrought 18 wheelers masquerading as an SUV can barely pass by.

Nevertheless, there is this totally terrific Saturday Market in the town square that brings out gentleman farmers from north of us with heirloom this and that and fresh baked desserts and someone selling healthy Middle Eastern foods like hummus and tabouli.

In addition there are those permanent Silver Airstreamers that were on site long before those food trucks became so fashionable. Here at Seaside they sell everything from bbq to those astronomically priced shaved ice drinks that grandparents, who have just run out of ideas for the next treat, buy for their grandchildren.

Another reason I like the Saturday Market is the ability to bring along Madame, my little white Bichon. Its a chance for her to have a nervous breakdown whenever a larger dog makes romantic advances towards her. Shes just not that sort of woman.

Dogs aside I always find ingredients to kick start my epicurean brain. Recently I had a huge explosion in the gourmet section of my brain when I ran across several exciting new breed of veggies I had not seen in all my shopping days at the one-on-every-corner Publix we have here on the Emerald Coast. Even the one and only Fresh Market that is tucked away many miles from our home has never had the variety of mini veggies I found on this particular shopping day.

When I first saw these little mini white turnips I mistook them for white radishes. How was I to know being so far from a civilized Whole Foods or Trader Joes? Once introduced by the grower at a price I found nowhere near the cost of a shaved icy, I bought a bunch.

Next I found these little purple lobs that turned out to be eggplants. They are called Fairy Tale Eggplants. No, really thats the name courtesy of my New York sister-in-law who knows her veggies.

Frankly I expect them to turn up in the Sunday Style Section of the New York Times as earbobs possibly at Easter. Something like Edible Jewelry which makes perfectly good sense to those New Yorkers who know life extends no further than the East River.

Of course I bought a dozen, how can you resist these little purple jewels? I then picked up some of the sweetest sugar snaps I can ever remember eating and they more than lived up to their moniker.

Was this going to be an all veggie New Years Dinner? Was I succumbing to my inner Vegan?

Black-eyed peas aside, I would likely pull out a piece of our fabulous Gulf Coast Grouper which we flash freeze and save for those special occasions when I will actually forgo red wine and instead lift a glass of white wine, preferably a sparkling Perrier Jouet champagne, to toast the New Year.

Since my bride has a Gluten Intolerance we will finish the meal with something chocolate that comes from a local baker who specializes in flourless desserts. Also chocolate harmonizes nicely with champagne as does most things.

Besides being the drink of choice on New Years Eve we start the evening with a champagne Kir by adding a touch of raspberry liqueur, Framboise. If available a couple of those perfect Driscoll raspberries dropped in the glass would be perfect.

Apparently this particular night brings out the inner alcoholic in a number of people. However, this particular alcoholic never makes it to the midnight hour after perhaps the second glass which is more potent than Tylenol PM.

And the bottom line to that? Waking up early ready to face 2012 secure in the knowledge that John Kusack was way out of-line. (It was just a movie, right?)

MEDLEY OF ASSORTED VEGETABLES

Shopping List (serves 4 people)
pound Sugar Snaps
1 pound large asparagus
1 bunch Baby turnips with green tops
1 jar roasted red peppers
Black eyed peas canned (12 ounce) or dried- 8 ounces
10-12 Fairytale Eggplants or 6 small Japanese eggplants
12 cherry tomatoes
1 package assorted specialty mushrooms or portabellas
2 ounces toasted pine nuts

PREPERATION
There is some good news in preparing your veggies. First off not everything needs to be prepared. The sugar snaps just need to be stringed and washed. The cherry tomatoes need to be split. The mushrooms require wiping off with a damp cloth if using portabellas before slicing.
The package of specialty ones wont need anything other than placing on platter.

Remember when steaming the asparagus to not overcook and chill before serving. Which brings me to the turnips. They require your attention as do the black-eyed peas and eggplant.

Cut off the green stalks from the turnips. Rinse stalks as well as turnips. Pare away any blemishes on the turnips then place them on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in a bundle and place in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until a knife easily pierces them. Let them rest.

Meanwhile place green tops in a sauce pan and drizzle with olive oil.