Do you have a traditional meal for good luck on New Years?

We usually have a honey or maple glazed ham. My husbandā€™s not normally a turkey lover so ham is his choice. Oddly enough since I started cooking the turkey upside down with the breasts at the bottom , he loves it. He said before turkey was too dry. This way itā€™s never dry.
 
We used to growing up in Scotland, it's of great importance there.. but not here in England.

Before midnight on hogmany (new years eve) and the tolling of the midnight bells in Scotland it's a tradition to eat ....

Black Bun..which is essentially a rich fruit cake but with added black pepper and encased in pastry.. 1577412551171.jpeg
Shortbread
..and a small glass of whisky..

In actual fact you can have any amount of traditionally Scottish food that you want , Haggis, Cock-a-leekie soup, rumbledethumps , clootie dumpling and much more , but for luck it's imperative to have some of the first 3 items even if you don't have anything else .. and also in Scotland we have what's called ''first footing''...


First-Footing is the visiting of friends and family immediately after midnight and sees all the males rushing from house to house to welcome in the New Year, but for good luck for the rest of the year the first person over the threshold should be a dark haired male definitely not a female .. who should be carrying symbolic items a silver coin, a small piece of coal, a piece of black bun ( or bread) a pinch of salt , and a wee dram of whisky., which represent financial prosperity, food, flavour, warmth, long-life, and good cheer

The visitor receives a small dram of whisky.. in return
 

Black eyed peas cooked with pork, turnip or collard greens, cornbread. Like @jujube said ...it's a Southern thang!

Wikipedia's overview (abbreviated):

In the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day is thought to bring prosperity in the new year. The peas are typically cooked with a pork product for flavoring (such as bacon, fatback, ham bones, or hog jowls).The traditional meal also includes collard, turnip or mustard greens. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion. Cornbread, which represents gold, also often accompanies this meal.​
 
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Duster said:
On New Year's Day, you have to eat hog jowl and black eyed peas for prosperity in the new year. Since hardly anyone likes black eyed peas, I suspect the only ones who prosper from this idea is the hog farmers and pea farmers.
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I like them! Either alongside coleslaw or topped with Mrs. Renfro's mild chow chow which is every bit as good as the home canned chow chow my aunt used to make. I prefer garden fresh purplehull peas, but black eyed peas are good too.
 
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Years ago it was a lazy breakfast/brunch with a little hair of the dog.

hairofthedog.jpeg


These days it's usually beans and any holiday leftovers that are hanging around.

This year it will be a small pot of butter beans simmered with ham, garlic, celery, onion, and carrot.
 
We always used to have either roast pork or turkey followed by a trifle and New Year's Eve here in the north west of England was similar to Holly's in that we also follow the tradition of first footing. This year I am going with youngest son and his family round to his friend's house and his father is also joining us. He's come down from the north of Scotland so I'm sure the first footing will continue along with a few drams of whisky... not by me though, I'm not a drinker.
 
We have to have black eyed peas cooked with ham. turnip greens also cooked with ham. Have to have cornbread and pickled beets. This year daughter wants cornbread dressing too so will not need any extra bread. It is a southern thang with the peas. Been having them for New Years Day for as long as I can remember!
 
terry123 said:
We have to have black eyed peas cooked with ham. turnip greens also cooked with ham. Have to have cornbread and pickled beets. This year daughter wants cornbread dressing too so will not need any extra bread. It is a southern thang with the peas. Been having them for New Years Day for as long as I can remember!
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Yup, blackeyed peas, cornbread and greens! I've never done the pickled beets on New Year's, though.
 
hollydolly said:
We used to growing up in Scotland, it's of great importance there.. but not here in England.

First-Footing is the visiting of friends and family immediately after midnight and sees all the males rushing from house to house to welcome in the New Year, but for good luck for the rest of the year the first person over the threshold should be a dark haired male definitely not a female .. who should be carrying symbolic items a silver coin, a small piece of coal, a piece of black bun ( or bread) a pinch of salt , and a wee dram of whisky., which represent financial prosperity, food, flavour, warmth, long-life, and good cheer

The visitor receives a small dram of whisky.. in return
Click to expand...
Pam said:
We always used to have either roast pork or turkey followed by a trifle and New Year's Eve here in the north west of England was similar to Holly's in that we also follow the tradition of first footing. This year I am going with youngest son and his family round to his friend's house and his father is also joining us. He's come down from the north of Scotland so I'm sure the first footing will continue along with a few drams of whisky... not by me though, I'm not a drinker.
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Off to read more about first-footing! Remember Diana Gabaldon incorporated the tradition in one of her Outlander books, and for some reason Jamie couldn't be the first male because of his red hair.
 
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hollydolly said:
We used to growing up in Scotland, it's of great importance there.. but not here in England.

Before midnight on hogmany (new years eve) and the tolling of the midnight bells in Scotland it's a tradition to eat ....

Black Bun..which is essentially a rich fruit cake but with added black pepper and encased in pastry.. View attachment 85888
Shortbread
..and a small glass of whisky..

In actual fact you can have any amount of traditionally Scottish food that you want , Haggis, Cock-a-leekie soup, rumbledethumps , clootie dumpling and much more , but for luck it's imperative to have some of the first 3 items even if you don't have anything else .. and also in Scotland we have what's called ''first footing''...


First-Footing is the visiting of friends and family immediately after midnight and sees all the males rushing from house to house to welcome in the New Year, but for good luck for the rest of the year the first person over the threshold should be a dark haired male definitely not a female .. who should be carrying symbolic items a silver coin, a small piece of coal, a piece of black bun ( or bread) a pinch of salt , and a wee dram of whisky., which represent financial prosperity, food, flavour, warmth, long-life, and good cheer

The visitor receives a small dram of whisky.. in return
Click to expand...
Fascinating!. Ooooh, I want some Black Bun and I love shortbread. Dark haired males are fine too! :)
 
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This Year will be the first time we won't be home....Son and Daughter in law are going on vacation, and We are going to our other home....
We have been together on New Year's Eve since they were married...They will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary on vacation...
And the kids are grown and do their thing....We were all together on Christmas Eve....
We have Lentelsā€¦..on New Year's Eve....Since I was a little girl when my parents had the tradition....My husband probably will ask the guy
in our block to bring in the New Year's...He is a Bachler ...
 
Hollydolly, my parents were great ones for 'first footing'. Mother also had the uncomfortable tradition of opening the back door to let the old year out, and the front door to let the new year in. It was usually freezing!

I was never given anything stronger than ginger wine, but we could still toast...
"Here's tae us; wha's like us? Damn few and they're aw deid."
 
I'll be cooking up a pot of black-eyed peas, onions and celery, with garlic and turmeric. Also, I'll bake some mini cornbread muffins.

This year, I discovered small Champagne bottles at a mega liquor store. Janet and I will sample the three, which will probably still get poured down the sink, mostly, because we're not really drinkers.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Hollydolly, my parents were great ones for 'first footing'. Mother also had the uncomfortable tradition of opening the back door to let the old year out, and the front door to let the new year in. It was usually freezing!

I was never given anything stronger than ginger wine, but we could still toast...
"Here's tae us; wha's like us? Damn few and they're aw deid."
Click to expand...
we got Ginger wine too.. lol:D
 
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