A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to pair up with a friend whose style I admire immensely (Joanna Meyer of Baked by Joanna), and between the two of us we concocted this wildly colorful yet serene, jewel-toned end of the year celebration. We've been waiting patiently (or not-so-patiently, ha ha) to share this with all of you reading this here, AND with all the readers over at the lovely Smitten Magazine, who is doing us the honor of sharing our images and words today over at their always-inspiring site!

This party inspiration shoot is all about sharing a small, intimate New Year’s Eve. The holidays can be such a whirlwind of huge parties, we really loved the idea of a small gathering of a handful of your nearest and dearest instead of a big bash. This could easily be a romantic dinner, a reunion of best friends, or even a family get-together….anyone you want to start the new year with! We chose our dramatic, private desert setting because the vivid colors of the sky as the sun dips below the mountains provided the perfect backdrop for our lush, warm, jewel-toned gathering….and besides, can you imagine a more beautiful spot to watch the last sunset of the year from?

Glitter-bombed, oversized, shiny plastic parties are fun, but they're another conversation for another blog; our styling concept for this shoot was all about natural materials and ingredients. Everything from the florals to the hand-passed snacks and even the dishes they're served on was inspired by the warm, the tactile and the real. Warm wood and gold tones, ceramics and jewel-toned glass struck just the right notes for our desert rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne'. After the sun heads down for the last time in 2015, it's all about great conversation, raised glasses and some really stellar shared small plates for dinner.

This cranberry, rosemary and gin concoction tastes like a perfectly chilled Christmas tree, and was my holiday go-to cocktail pick all season long....get the recipe here, in my Thanksgiving post.

The full menu for our 'Jewels of the Desert New Year's Eve' follows (seen here on hand-calligraphied, individual menus, dip-dyed in a saffron hue for an extra pop of color at each place setting)...

Pre-Dinner:

Cranberry + Rosemary Gin Cocktail

Crostini:

Blood Orange + Beet Relish

Beet Hummus

Kale Pesto

Warm Feta with Honey + Dates

Endive Cups with

Persian Jeweled Rice

Dessert:

Wine Poached Pears with Sweet Mascarpone

Midnight Toast:

Champagne + Saffron Sparkler

Elegant, shareable dishes like our long crostini board with kale pesto, blood orange & beet relish, and goat cheese with dates and honey make up not only the main course of the meal, but the centerpiece of the table as well. Ours is loosely inspired by the lush, table-dominating creations of Heirloom L.A., a favorite of Joanna's and mine, whose signature crostini spreads have inspired endless hours of inspired brainstorming between the two of us. Saffron-hued rice studded with ‘jewels’ of pomegranate seeds and pistachios (looking for the recipe? Find my take on Saffron Jeweled Rice here in this recent post) echo the vivid color scheme, and the deeply red wine-poached pears we served up as dessert complete the meal perfectly. Finally, how do you re-invent the champagne toast without venturing into already very well-traveled territory? My answer was simple: CANDY. A sparkling wine cocktail made vibrant with saffron rock candy and pomegranate seed garnish is the perfect toast to a colorful 2016!

Hearty Kale Pesto (see the recipe here) and Saffron Jeweled Rice in pretty little endive cups (find the recipe here) are some of my new favorite party treats, pretty much ever.

Joanna's amazing Beet Hummus is rich, earthy and wonderful....and it's live on her blog today! Get the recipe here.

Warm Feta with Honey and Dates hits all of my pleasure points at once: Salty, YES. Sweet, YES. Cheese, YESSSSS. This elegant little dish couldn't be easier to put together....and it's another one of Joanna's lovely inventions! Get the recipe here at her blog, Baked by Joanna.

Lastly, we really couldn’t have pulled off this shoot without the contributions from our amazing vendors! The long, rustic farm-style table from Tremaine Ranch helped to literally set the stage for our dinner, while brass flatware from Fancy Lou echoed our rich warm tones with just a hint of sparkle. Lush, asymmetrical florals by Hoot & Holler added a touch of drama to the table, while classic wine goblets and champagne flutes in an unusual black finish, sourced from our favorite shop FOUND by domestic bliss , brought elegance and mystique to the scene.

HERE'S TO A VIBRANT 2016!!

This sandwich is so much more than a sandwich, you guys. Garlic chicken pitas with carrot salad and edamame hummus (say yes to green hummus!) are most likely magical. Some dishes require a kind of synergy of ingredients to be truly complete, know what I mean? That unearthly shimmer that seems to pass over a dish like the successful casting of a good witch's spell in a fairy tale, the flavors of each ordinary, individual part melding perfectly once they're all together. Pull those ingredients apart, however, and each are........somehow lacking. Refusing to shine. Much less than the sum of its parts. Like a lackluster solo career that never should have been (if there were a sandwich equivalent of Scott Weiland), it's simply more evidence that some partnerships are just not meant to be split up, ever.

This dish, though, guys? Definitely NOT one of those situations. Fantastic together, fantastic apart, whatever the situation calls for....each of the elements of this sandwich is your new mealtime best friend. Allow me to introduce you.

This colorful flatbread sandwich, including tender, citrus-glazed garlic chicken with carrot & feta salad and a generous schmear of edamame hummus is something more like a dream team, composed of only star players. Simple flavors--olive oil, garlic, lemon--repeat again and again like plucked notes against a strain of music, creating a kind of resonant harmony when the layers of this sandwich comes together. Yes, it's that good. But split it apart into three new recipes for your mealtime arsenal, and......it's still that good. These garlic-infused chicken breast slices, for example, could also moonlight as toppings for a hearty kale salad or sit atop a tangle of whole wheat pasta dressed lightly with olive oil and tomatoes. Sweet and earthy carrots play brilliantly off the tart brightness of fresh lemon juice and the salty tang of crumbled feta in a simply assembled carrot salad, one of my favorite side dishes ever. Try this alongside grilled lamb, layered in almost any sandwich, or tossed with leafy greens as a main-event salad. Carrot salad is a perennial hit in my household and formed the original inspiration for this layered pita sandwich, but I have to admit, it was nearly overtaken by a new favorite I discovered while developing this recipe: edamame hummus. Hummus. Made with edamame, you guys.This simple twist on classic hummus is lighter and fresher than the original, and takes on the kind of pretty, delicate green hue that always inspires wonder and hunger in me simultaneously. Edamame hummus is the kind of easygoing side dish that will happily play with flatbread, crisp raw vegetables, fancy crackers, and just about anything else you'd care to pair it with. All things being equal, I'd recommend a spoon. :)

Garlic Chicken Pitas with Edamame Hummus, and Carrot Feta Salad

Makes 4 servings

For marinated chicken:

1 lb. boneless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 garlic clove, smashed and minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¾ teaspoon salt, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

For carrot feta salad:

3 large carrots, peeled and grated

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey

3 teaspoons flat leaf parsley, chopped (divided)

1 tablespoon feta, crumbled

For edamame hummus:

8 oz. shelled edamame (frozen)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 garlic clove, smashed and minced

¼ cup water

¼ cup tahini

4 pitas, or other flatbread of choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, arrange chicken breasts in roasting pan. In a small bowl, whisk together one tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon lemon juice, one garlic clove the dried oregano, then drizzle this dressing over chicken and finish with a sprinkle of salt. Bake for 20 minutes, or until chicken breasts are done. Remove, season lightly with pepper to taste, then set aside to cool. Once chicken has cooled for about ten minutes, cut into ½” slices for serving.

Place grated carrots in a bowl, pour 1 tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon lemon juice and one teaspoon honey over them, toss well with a fork. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon parsley and all of the crumbled feta over carrots, toss once more with a fork.

Heat a good amount of salted water to boiling in a medium saucepan, add edamame and boil for 5 minutes, then strain and place in bowl, set aside to let cool. Once cool, place edamame in a food processor with minced garlic clove, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons parsley, ¼ cup water and tahini. Puree until a smooth paste begins to form, then drizzle in the remaining three tablespoons of olive oil and continue to blend until the oil is absorbed.

To assemble sandwiches, spread a heaping tablespoon of edamame hummus on each pita (or inside, if using pitas pocket-style), top with slices of chicken and another heaping tablespoon of carrot feta salad. Fold, eat, and enjoy!

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