2019! A Brand-New Year

The new year begins soon, and it got me thinking about traditions. From the earliest I can remember, my mom always put a loaf of bread and some money on our table. The bread promised we'd have plenty of food, and the money insured having enough of it to live on for the coming year. At midnight, we'd eat some pickled herring because it was a lucky food, and later on, my husband and I added drinking some bubbly with it.

People all over the world eat foods they believe will bring good fortune when the new year arrives. The tradition has been going on for a long, long time.

I thought it'd be fun to take a look at a few victuals people down, and some of the reasons why they're considered lucky. So, here we go.

Fish: Abundance and coins. There's lots of fish in the seas, and their shiny scales represent coinage.

Noodles: Long life. It's even better if they're long noodles. Be sure you slurp them up without breaking them.

Rice: Good for fertility and wealth.

Lentils: Coins.

Black-eyed peas: Prosperity. My father-in-law never missed cooking up a flavorful concoction featuring black-eyed peas on New Years Day.

Greens: Luck and money. Now's the time to dig into those leafy green vegies.

Cornbread: Gold.

Cake: Luck. Cakes and cakey things in a ring. It's a whole round of luck. Break out those Bundt pans if you're a baker.

Pomegranate: Abundance, fertility, and good luck.

That's just a sampling of things to munch on to start 2019 off on the right foot. There's so much more.

These sites helped me with my list. You can find some yummy recipes on them involving those special foods too.