Today's Journal

Happy New Year!

As with most celebrations...special foods are a major component. To insure good luck and prosperity in the new year, pork and sauerkraut were always eaten on January 1 in my home.  This is common is many cultures, particularly Cuba, Spain, Hungary, Austria and  Germany.   The pig is considered a symbol of forward progress -it uses its snout to dig the ground in a forward motion.  Some cultures avoid fowl - chicken and turkey - because fowl scratch "backwards".  Cabbage is considered to bring prosperity because the leaves  represent paper currency. 

In Sweden, a seafood salad is included in the New Year's smorgasboard. The Danish eat boiled cod.  In Japan, shrimp is eaten for a long life. The Dutch eat donuts for prosperity and in Italy chiacchiere is made - honey drenched balls of pasta dough that is fried and dusted with powdered sugar.  

As the clock strikes in Spanish cultures, 12 grapes are eaten, one grape is eaten for each strike of the clock.  The goal is to swallow all 12 grapes by the last strike of the clock! 

In the United States, the Tournament of Roses Parade has been a tradition since 1890 when the members of Pasadena's Hunt Club decided to show the world the mild winter and blooming flowers in California. During its early years, the parade featured ostrich races, bronco busting and a race between an elephant and a camel -the elephant won!  The football game was added in 1902.

In the northwestern United States, salmon is the traditional New Year's Day food.  In much of the South, collard greens are eaten and black-eyed peas are eaten in a dish called Hoppin' John.  The traditional "Ball Drop" in New York City is watched throughout the country, often with Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.  And in Pittsburgh - as in many cities - we enjoy "First Night" - a family friendly celebration.    

And of course, in many English speaking countries, we all sing "Auld Lang Syne"...although many of us never knew what the words meant!  Auld Lang Syne was a poem written by Scottish poet, Robert Burns.  Auld Lang Syne can be loosely translated to mean "to the days gone by". It is a call to remember longstanding friendship and is often sung at funerals and graduations...as a farewell and goodbye.

However, you choose to celebrate the bringing in of the New Year, I wish you and your family a year filled with good health, good luck, prosperity and peace.  Happy New Year!