So how will YOU eat your good luck sauerkraut at the stroke of midnight?

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joeekaitis

joeekaitis

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According to my departed father of Lithuanian and Russian descent, the first thing in your mouth after the stroke of midnight and the sip of champagne ringing in the New Year must be sauerkraut for good luck, preferably from a roasting pan that the sauerkraut shared with a pork roast and a dozen or so Polska Kielbasa.

Since it's just Cathy and me this year, we're going to our favorite 24-hour diner where we'll each have a favorite appetizer leading up to midnight, then share a Reuben sandwich, taking that first bite as 2016 begins.

And you, world?

Oh, and if it's not sauerkraut, what's YOUR good-luck-in-the-New-Year food?
 
being of Russian descent, yeah we do the pork roast and sauerkraut as well, but not at midnight, its the New Year's day meal.....

we also celebrate Russian Christmas on the 7th....for some reason I think its the 6th....I'll have to check the calendar again...
 
Slavic here

All my maternal family said it was good luck to have herring on new year's eve. My late husband (also slavic) shared the same tradition.

It was also considered good fortune to have men in the house on new year's day. Mom's brothers used to visit homes in the 'hood (Wilkes-Barre, PA) and get coins at each stop.

Hell, I'm glad to have men in my house ANY day of the year!
 
This year the only traditional dish will be Hoppin' John (sp?).

If all goes according to plan, I'll be able to ring in 2017 with my grandmother's herring w/sour cream
Sauerkraut w/caraway seeds
home made horseradish - yes, I know it's traditionally for Easter.... but I'm a year-round guy for that sort of thing:-)

Jim
 
I guess every ethnic group has their own customs - and some are different even within groups. At our house (Italian) lentil soup at midnight (lentils resemble coins) made with carrots sliced as in coin size and either bacon (used as a base to saute the onions and celery) or sliced frankfurts (again, you guessed it- - to resemble coins)

On New Year's Day, broccoli rabe or some other sort of leafy green sauteed with garlic and oil served with sausages (need I repeat - sliced as in coin size). All these things were supposed to guarantee prosperity, but judging by some of the years we experienced, wasn't all that effective. My mother also used the reasoning- "just think how bad it would have been if we hadn't eaten those things", but not sure I ever really bought that.

Another non food custom was that your first visitor of the new year had to be a man - I don't think that was for prosperity, but more for general good luck - again this theory was disproved time and time again...

That said, I will eat lentil soup at midnight and have broccoli rabe and sausage on New Year's Day... unfortunately can't guarantee that my first visitor will be a man- that hasn't happened in years!!!
 
First footer: That's a Scottish and Northern England tradition for the first person to step over the threshold of your house after the stroke of midnight and bring you good luck (along with some booze to toast) . My uncle Norm would do this every New Years eve going from house to house on our street with his bottle of rum. 
 
Lentils !!!

I have done the Lentils for the past 30 years.

Really strange for me being of German/ Hungarian, never heard of the Pork and Kraut on New Year's Eve.

I'll have to make some tonight. Boy Oh Boy.. with the Lentils, I will have to make sure all open flames and pilot lights are extinguished, leave the windows open a bit, and bungee cord the sheets to the bed. LOL
 
With the discovery of the probiotics in sauerkraut, it is easy to see how it could have prevented illnesses and thus have come to be seen as a good luck food, especially before antibiotics, vaccinations and such.
 
I have the best bottle of cheap champagne for a toast at midnight.

New Years day.  My late MIL's  corn beef and cabbage, black eye peas, rice and sweet cornbread.
 
Here in PA Dutch country, it's pork & kraut.  This year, I have a smoked pork shoulder in the freezer that is currently defrosting and it'll go into the crock pot tomorrow morning with some kraut.
 
pork and sauerkraut !!!

My family always has roast pork and sauerkraut on New Years Day for dinner. My mom claims it is a German tradition to bring luck in the coming year. (She is half German/Austrian, half English.)

Where ever the tradition comes from, I love it! The sauerkraut gets nice and browned and savory roasting in the pan with the pork. I like the pork well done. Served with corn, applesauce and mashed potatoes with dark brown gravy. Yum!!!

The whole family gathers at Mom's for dinner, about 20 to 30 people. Nice way to close the holiday season.

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!
 
This is all making sense now...

For as long as I can remember my mom would make us sausage on New Year's Eve. I never asked her why...but after reading this, it makes sense. Must be the pork good luck haha. My dad was Italian and my mom a mix of German, Irish, and Slovak/Russian. We usually just had broiled sausage (my mom was an awful cook) but now as an adult I altered it to make it more exciting. I turned it into sausage with peppers and onions and put them on a sub roll. It's delicious! I always look forward to making it at New Year's Eve.

Happy New Year everyone!
 
Szekelygulyas.

 

A Hungarian Pork Goulash braised with Sauerkraut, Tomato, Caraway and Sour Cream at the end. 

 

Served with either Spaetzle or Bratkartoffel.

 

Had my Italian Version of "Lucky Prosperity Meal" for Lunch...Sausage Lentil Soup.

 

Happy and Healthy New Year to all.
 
We usually go out to a nice restaurant on NYE, but this year everyone opted to stay in for some reason, so I made a nice restaurant quality dinner for myself.  I made scallops with risotto and sautéed spinach and kale topped with browned butter.  Wasn't cheap but it was very good.  Got enough to make it again tomorrow or Sat.
 
HI All, I am of Danish descent and we eat sweet and sour red cabbage. I made it last night (tastes better the day after) and will eat it with a pork roast stuffed with dried cherry dressing.
 
IHeartMaytag:

Lol, I guess I was a little unclear. Sorry about that.

2016 is the year I plan to put the last of old ghosts to final rest and clean out the garbage they left. 2016 is also the year I plan to buy a unit in the building where I'm now renting.

My goal is to celebrate Christmas 2016 and New Year's 2017 in my own place that I own and to have the time and energy to do it right, cooking some of my grandmother's recipes.

Is that a bit less befuddling?

Jim
 
No special tradition. I honestly am not even sure that my family ever did much for New Year's. I have a vague memory of cheap champagne one year. But I can't honestly remember a special dinner. Although it's possible that nothing sticks to mind after 20-some years. Then, again, it's also very possible that by New Year's Eve, my mother had become budget conscious.

Someone else told me of an interesting tradition she has: steak and crab. What makes it interesting is that it goes back 40 years. She was shopping at a budget grocery store. So budget that they actually had the customers write the prices on the things they were buying! (My parents shopped at a store like that. This is, of course, before scanner systems were so common.) And she found $20 on her way out. No one claimed it, so she decided to treat herself to crab. And thus began a tradition.
 

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