Yesterday, as is customary around Casa Myers, we had ham. My neighbor joined us for "dinner" but as he does not eat pork, well... he had a few helpings of veggies and potatoes ( yes I know potatoes are veggies but I made some green stuff and some potatoes.)
We started talking about WHY I serve ham. other than the obvious ( it's easy) I remarked that it is a German tradition to serve some kind of pork on New Year's Day, for luck. At least that's what my mom used to say. I wonder if it's true.
I COULD look it up, but it is six am and I am just trying to get my thoughts down this morning.
What OTHER foods are considered Lucky on New Year's Day? Black eyed peas is the only one come up in my mind.
ok I have to look Be Right back....
According to Allrecipies:
Grapes
Cornbread
Fish
noodles and fish
pomegranates
and some kind of almond cake which would NOT be lucky for me as it would result in a trip to Emergency.
I suppose each culture has it's way to welcome in the year and rituals meant to bring good fortune. Is it strange that MINE revolve around... FOOD?
Every year we went to an all-day New Year's Day open house at the home of my mother's best friend, Kathryn, and went up to watch the parade - it wasn't as big an event back ye olden tymes, and then spent the rest of the day eating and drinking, and the kids running around her yard. Her nephew always made up so pool of the bowl games, and the rules were so convoluted, no one could understand, and strange, but he always won!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the foods were pretty much the same - my mother baked a ham, there was a big pot of chile going, lots of bourbon hi-balls! AND, sort of a novelty back then, onion soup dip! (Gee, am I dating myself?) So on New Year's Day, even though my parade and party days are over, I do a ham, and a big crock pot of chile, and even make the onion soup dip with both Fritos and potato chips (my concession to modernity is the chips are now rippled!) AND, yes, I had a few bourbon hi-balls, and followed the Ducks in the Rose Bowl - and we won! GO DUCKS HOORAY! Hal's weird, and I suspect, rigged, pool is long gone, but many of the same traditions, most involving FOOD and dink, live on! Happy New Year to all. 2020 - let's hope it's a better year for all of us in so many ways!
Tom