Happy New Year - 2012!

Here's wishing you and yours a Happy New!

May it be prosperous and healthy.

This morning we are having our traditional New Year's breakfast:

bagels and cream cheese with Mimosa's.

Mimosa-el-Texicanwife

1 part Brut champagne

1 part orange juice

1  splash Cholula hot sauce

So good!!!

We will be having our traditional New Year's dinner:

bratwurst [pork] with sauerkraut and potatoes

black-eye peas

and another homemade fruitcake for dessert

So, what is so traditional about this meal? Well, actually, the meal itself isn't traditional, even for my family, but the ingredients are.

My Grandpa Dreher was second generation German-American, and his family retained many of the old country's ways. One which was the traditional New Year's dinner.

It consisted of pork [any cut of pork was okay, but it had to be pork. Some countries observe with fish. The thought was that the food one ate on New Year's Day would lend it's characteristics to your coming year. A pig "roots forward" as a fish "swims forward". Deer, or beef, or poultry, all scratch backward to get to their food. Thus we want to be among the ones who move forward in the year, so we eat pork or fish!]

Cabbage was traditional in the meal. Cabbage represented money. First, it has a green color. Second, in the old days when cash was scarce, many paid with their produce for services rendered. Cabbage was a proficient crop in the Old World, and so the more cabbage you had, the more well off you were considered to be! Back in the old country, a gold coin was cooked in the cabbage, and the lucky recipient whose cabbage had a gold coin, was considered to be someone who would have prosperity in the new year. We use sauerkraut today, as it serves for the cabbage, and also something that is savory, as then you were to have a new year full of spice!

Black eye peas is another traditional part of the meal. The "eyes" were to give you clear vision for the new year, that you would face challenges with clear vision and thought. Of course, the potatoes provide the same thing, as they have "eyes" on them by this time of year. Since they are the root of the eyes they grow, they, too, provide vision for the New Year.

And one must have something "sweet". The fruitcake. Sweetness is to provide you with enough sweetness in your life that you will always remain, humble, loving and loyal.

So.... while my meal isn't quite what my German ancestors had on New Year, it still retains the essence of it. And still contains all fo the ingredients of the meal!

Do you have a tradition that you follow on New Year's Day?

Do you make resolutions for the New Year?

I usually don't. But this year I am making two resolutions.

The first is my resolve to lose weight. This past year has found me suffering from extreme pain, especially in my spine and hips. Weight loss can only help!

The second, is to budget my time wisely.

I resolve to allow myself three full days a week for genealogy. And three days for crafting. Getting online only for a quick check in the morning and another in the evening!

[You wouldn't believe how much time I lose at the computer!]

It promises to be a wonderful New Year in our home! And I hope for yours as well!

Happy New Year!

Texicanwife