Cool Meal Ideas for Your New Year's Celebrations

There have been numerous celebrations during the holiday season in addition to the rush of shopping, wrapping, and decorating.

New Year’s is the perfect time to make things simple. You’re already going to be staying up late on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2020, so why not make the party easy by not overcomplicating your meal planning. One trick is to consider the different traditions when you get started planning.

For example, it’s a southern tradition to offer black-eyed peas, collards, and cornbread or hoecakes on New Year’s Day to bring in the New Year and expand luck. Knowing about this tradition can inform your meal planning. Other locations have their traditions too. Let’s look at some, because you may get ideas from them.

Soba: Japan

In Japan, it’s a tradition to enjoy this noodle dish on New Year’s Eve to bring in the New Year. The noodles, made from buckwheat, symbolize longevity.

Try this recipe: http://www.whats4eats.com/pastas/toshikoshi-soba-new-year-noodles-recipe

Sauerkraut: Germany

In Germany, it’s common practice to eat sauerkraut to bring in the New Year on New Year’s Eve. They believe it brings in wealth and improves good fortune for the New Year. You can find a lot of sauerkraut recipes online, but this one is special with the addition of pork for New Year’s: https://www.goodfoodstories.com/good-luck-pork-and-sauerkraut/

If you don’t eat pork, you can also try this one:

http://www.quick-German-recipes.com/sauerkraut-salad.html

Grapes: Spain

In Spain, people will eat 12 grapes (one for each stroke of midnight) to prevent starting out the New Year wrong. It’s called the 12 grapes of luck. A great way to incorporate this tradition is to put 12 grapes in everyone’s toasting champagne or ensure that you have enough grapes on your buffet table to go around.

Cotechino con Lenticchie: Italy

This is an Italian practice to eat gold lentils with pork to bring prosperity and luck for the New Year. In addition, they usually eat a huge seafood dinner. You can learn more about this and get more ideas here:

http://memoriediangelina.com/2010/01/01/cotechino-con-lenticchie/#.WXOnYYjytPY

Vasilopita: Greece

A cake with a coin inside is served at midnight in this Greek New Year’s tradition. Whoever gets the coin is said to have extra luck during the New Year. You can learn more about this tradition at Epicurious.com:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vasilopita-361412

Regardless of your heritage or culture, there are numerous New Year’s practices that you may not even know about.

To add variety, you can incorporate more than one of these ideas into your New Year’s menu to create added meaning to the night, particularly if you explain the cultural significance to your guests. What is your family’s New Year’s Tradition?

Regardless of how we eat during the holidays, almost everyone sets New Year’s eating resolutions, even if they don’t say them out loud. The New Year is the opportunity to set some goals and make plans to reach them.