Happy New Year, dear readers. I hope your holidays were festive and fun. I attended a dinner party on NYE. Normally my BFF and her partner do all the cooking themselves, but this year was not a good one for health, and thus they turned to a professional for a little assistance. Enter Kerel Fryar, head chef and owner of Soulful Infusion (soulfulinfusion.com), a private chef service. Fryar whipped up a delicious feast for 20 people--probably on little notice, knowing my BFF. Appetizers of asparagus and beef and bacon-wrapped shrimp kept the guests happy until we were invited to dig in to the poached-pear and honey-drizzled salad, plump wild rice and skewers of peppers, chicken, tomatoes and Italian sausage. The crowd was impressed, full and happy. We drank to our health with pomegranate martinis and, of course, Champagne. Cheers.