New Year's Day traditions

When I cook on New Year's, I try for traditional good luck foods, like lentils, other legumes, and greens. This year I want to make the greens w pickled pork from the Family Traditions 2 contest, although I don't have the pickled pork3-

Cotechino and lenticchie, the evening of the 31st, because lentils bring money!

Cotechino and lenticchie, the evening of the 31st, because lentils bring money!

This has been so fun to read. Thanks for a great question boulangere. We don't have a NYD tradition, but I always find myself craving Asian flavors after all the holiday feasting so this year it's pierino's kalbi flank steak. All the best for 2012 to everyone..

Definitely on the menu, a sweet traditional south Indian dessert known as shakkarai Pongal (made with rice, toasted mumng & Jaggery, ) or a Payasam/kheer (Made with milk& sugar, with either rice, ground up almonds or toasted vermicelli)

sleep in, then brunch of chemical free smoked bacon with poached eggs on toast. Also, share a half bottle of champagne and have a nap.

sleep in, then brunch of chemical free smoked bacon with poached eggs on toast. Also, share a half bottle of champagne and have a nap.

I think after my NYE menu of Bone marrow, crab or lobster, clarified butter; and for breakfast Eggs Benedict--then ham, collards with salt pork, black-eyed pea with yet more salt pork..my tradition will be to check my dosage on the Lipitor.

I hear you. We'd better be practicing our Heimlich maneuvers if we're going to be cooking or baking with foreign objects. I knew of the baby Jesus baked into the King's Cake, but the not the dime in the black-eyed peas. Thanks as always, and Happy New Year to you.

Collards, Ham, and Black Eyed peas. For new years day.

One tradition in the Southern USA which most people don't use now..is putting a dime in the black-eyed peas.
the person that gets the dime is supposed to have wealth and luck that year...or a visit from paramedics.

I think that dates back to Twelfth night traditions where a raw bean was baked in a cake..and in New Orleans tradition as a "king cake" with the plastic baby trinket baked inside.

A few years ago I started a New Year's Day crêpe party tradition, which my sister has also since adopted. I make many, many quarts of batter and all kinds of fillings: dulce de leche, lemon curd, ricotta, ratatouille, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and bacon to name a few. And there's peanut butter, honey, Nutella, powdered sugar, jam, and pretty much anything else I can pull out of the cupboard. It's fun to watch people feeling compelled to make THE BEST combination of fillings they can come up with and then encourage everyone else to try it (one of the most memorable was dulce de leche and bacon).

I also make buttermilk cinnamon rolls and, instead of Hoppin' John, a room temperature salad of black-eyed peas, kale, veggies, and vinaigrette. There's a pot of cider on the stove, makings for Bloody Marys, a couple of other baked goods (scones, muffins), and a take-home treat like granola or tea blends.

We always have a big extended family party on NYE. The first thing eaten on New Year's day is always Japanese ozoni soup, a clear dashi broth with carrots, daikon, mizuna, a piece of mochi (glutinous rice cake) and my family includes clams. It is believed that one's good luck for the year hinges on a bowl of this auspicious soup so I always gulp down the clams, even though I don't care for them. It doubles as a pretty good hangover cure!

I grew up in PA, with a strong influence of the PA Dutch lifestyle. Every New Years in was tradition to have roast pork and sauerkraut. Family stories explained that this meal meant good luck for the coming year. Each family had their different ways to prepare the sauerkraut, but commonly sliced apples. diced onion or apple sauce was added with brown sugar to sweet the sauerkraut as it roasted with the pork in the oven. The smell filled our home as it was served with large steaming bowls of creamy mashed potatoes. Good memories.

New Year's Eve fireworks go off from the top of the Space Needle. If the weather is clear (as in no fog) we go out on a friend's boat and watch them and have wonderful appetizers. New Year's Day is time for a long walk and a wonderful slow cooked something - to be decided.

Regarding resolutions, I have a group of friends and we have been meeting for dinner every Thursday night for over 10 years at our respective homes. We call ourselves The Partnership Group, and there are 16 of us. Of course traveling and other things happen so not everyone is always in attendance, and the dinners go on. The first Sunday after the New Year we get together and generate our resolutions for the upcoming year. It is so wonderfully supportive to share plans and intentions with a group!

We always have black-eyed peas, collard greens and pork of some variety, while our Polish neighbors always have kielbasa and sauerkraut. And, I always resolve to drink more water! - http://romeocucina.blogspot.com/2010/12/contemplating-resolutions-1-drink-more.html.

Always make Hoppin' John, collard greens and cornbread for New Years Day. Other menus may vary, but this one is written in stone... Got a couple of great big meaty ham shanks ready to go.

We typically do the First Run in Portland. It's a 5k that starts at the stroke of midnight and is held along the Willamette River in downtown Portland. It's a fun way to be a part of the festivities, and attempt to start the year off on the right foot!

At boulangere's request; http://www.food52.com/recipes/2401_lenticche_con_cotechino_forza_gualdo_tadino
You may have to substitute another sausage because the cotechino demand curve in major cities with Italian delis and "pork stores" skyrockets at New Year.

I'd love to be alongside your fire pit!

Most years we go to our good friends' local Italian restaurant, and enjoy lobster ravioli. This year, we will be in the desert with close friends, probably toasting in the new year over a fire pit and some great champagne.

We started a NEW tradition a few years ago - we used to do the usual drink too much and start the new year feeling like crap, but now we make a great dinner, drink a great bottle of wine, watch midnight on TV somewhere east of us, and go to bed by 10 or so. New years DAY we do a long walk, this year we are doing a 12K in honor of 2012. Then we have black-eyed peas and whatever else is on the menu, and lounge about. Preferably in some pajama-like garments :-)

Go-to hangover food all year round = ramen from the local sushi joint! Food resolution = eat more greens. New Year's tradition: I'm starting a new one this year: a bagel with the works. I never eat bagels, but this is NYC! Why miss out??

Corned Beef and Cabbage! For good luck all year long!

The only football I remember was hoping the Texas A&M vs Texas game would be televised on Thanksgiving Day. Fast forward to San Francisco to where we moved in Joe Montana's rookie year. I've been a serious addict ever since. Count grazing as another addiction. Thanks, Barbara.

We (actually I, to be a bit more precise) have but one New Years tradition: a root beer float on New Years Eve, going back to when I was a kid. A real treat that was, and is, still. (I love root beer floats, but only have one a year.) New Years Day is always a holiday -- as in, no clients need my help, ever, that day -- so I usually take advantage of it to work at a comfortable pace in the kitchen throughout the day, listening to football games on the radio. Our meal is typically something that simmers for a good long while. And there's a high probability that I'll bake a loaf of bread to go with it. ;o)

When I was growing up, New Year's Day was always football-watching day in our house. Mostly now we just hang out and graze.

Cotechino con lentiche. Lentils are traditional at New Year because they symbolize coins. The cotechino is a big fat sausage which has its origin Emilia. Sliced up it also looks like coins. I do have a recipe posted here.

Why not, indeed! What do you fill them with? What a lovely image you've posted.

As a kid growing up, it was always buckets of KFC chicken and football games....no w no real tradition, but I am thinking of making Merrill's Slow Roasted Duck with maybe an orange glaze. That could certainly turn into a tradition!

Dumplings!!! That's what happens every time a bunch of Chinese parents get together for any occasion at all, anyway :D You need a lot of hands, and they are delicious. Why not?

I always make a baked ham on New Years day. For the food52 potluck I made Tastefoods smoked ham with pomegranate molasses, black pepper and dijon mustard glaze i will make this on New Years Day. I also always make egg nog on New Years Eve. Its a tradition from my childhood that i do every year without fail.

Black eyed peas....but with a Texas twist. I make corn and black eyed pea salsa, so much better than black eyed peas with ham hock.