All the serious, stressful part of the holidays is, hopefully, now behind us. Gifts have been stowed away or exchanged, wrapping paper and gift tags are once again stuffed in the back corner of a closet or the garage until next year and, if you’re lucky, the refrigerator is back to normal and the kitchen is finally tidy.

This can mean only one thing. IT’S PARTY TIME!

It’ll start tomorrow night, of course, with New Year’s Eve, probably the biggest party night of the year, followed by a succession of football bowl parties, if you’re a sports fan.

If you’re not a sports fan, you can still enjoy the parties as long as you know someone who will invite you even if you haven’t a clue who’s playing in what bowl. Of course, you’ll be forced to listen to all the sports blather while you graze on the good eats, but it’s a small price to pay. And by the way, can someone tell this non-sports fan how we ended up with what appears to be more bowl games than we have teams?

Personally, what I love most about this partying time of year is that most of the festivities will involve buffet style/appetizer food, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than a couple of hours of chat with friends interspersed with grazing at a table full of finger foods. I can select what I want to sample, try out creative new food preparations, and eat only a small amount of whatever I decide to nibble on. No leaving the table with that overstuffed feeling, which so often happens at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Tomorrow evening, we’ll be reflecting on the past year, even the whole past decade, and some of you will no doubt be making sincere resolutions for 2010.

Personally, I gave up on that particular activity several years ago. Oh, I do make resolutions, and even manage to carry out a few, but I don’t do it on New Year’s Eve, due to a long history of failure with those.

I’m looking forward to the beginning of this new year we’re about to welcome in, and sincerely hope that

2010 does, as many pundits are predicting, bring back better times. 2009 seemed fraught with doom, gloom and a lot of bad news, and

I believe we’re all hoping for a change for the better. Let the partying begin, and I wish all our readers a happier, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

RECIPES

So many appetizer recipes; so few parties. Let’s begin with something cheesy, preferably blue.

BLUE CHEESE LOGS

6 oz. blue cheese at room temp. (about 1½ cups)

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup sour cream

½ cup chopped toasted walnuts

½ cup ground toasted walnuts

Stir together the blue cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Cover and chill about an hour, or until easy to handle. Divide mixture in half and shape

each half into a log about

6 inches long and 1½ inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 4 hrs. or until firm.

Place ground walnuts on a sheet of waxed paper. Roll each log in the walnuts, pressing gently to be sure they stick. Wrap again in plastic and chill. You can do all this ahead and chill logs up to 24 hrs.

When it’s party time, you can slice the logs into small rounds (about ¼-inch thick) and serve with fruit slices (such as apple or pear) or with small round crackers or sliced baguette, or you can put the log on a plate with a small knife and allow guests to slice, but you’ll end up with a fast-disappearing cheese log. This should make about 20 blue cheese slices.

Another cheesy treat, this one featuring my most favorite cheese, gorgonzola.

NUTTY OYSTER BALLS

2 jars (10 oz.) oysters

¼ cup blanched almonds, toasted and chopped

3 cups soft bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1 T. finely chopped onion (or shallot)

1 T. chopped parsley

¼ t. salt

Pinch each of black pepper and nutmeg

½ cup dry bread crumbs (I like panko)

Vegetable oil, enough for deep frying the balls

Drain the oysters thoroughly and chop. (Save the liqueur to add to clam chowder, oyster stew or casserole, etc.) Combine the oysters with all remaining ingredients except the dry bread crumbs and oil, mixing thoroughly.

Drop oyster mixture by tablespoonfuls onto the dry bread crumbs, then roll into balls.

Use a deep fryer with vegetable oil. Or, if desired, put sufficient vegetable oil in a large skillet and heat to

350 degrees.

Deep fry oyster balls

2-3 min. or until golden brown.

Remove oyster balls from oil and drain on paper towels.

Serve warm, or at room temp., with cocktail sauce or tartar sauce. Makes about

3 dozen.

Margaret Walton can be reached at falwalcal@msn.com.