HAPPY NEW YEAR – what we eat for good luck!

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New Year’s Day is the first blank page of a 365 day cookbook. Write a good one. Bernadette

Hi there,

There are many foods eaten on New Year’s Day that represent good luck to those who eat them. In certain parts of the country, Black Eyed Peas, Greens, and Cornbread: Pennies, Dollars, and Gold, grace many tables.  Others eat Fish for Abudance, Noodles for Longevity or Rice for Fertility and Wealth.

  • In our home we eat pork with sauerkraut, for progress forward in the new year and we eat 12 grapes for good luck every month of the new year.
  • Many years ago, our friend, Doug, was having financial difficulties. That year we delivered our New Year’s dinner to him and his family. His luck turned in a significant way. He became such a believer that when we were in a heartbreaking situtation, he delivered the same dinner to us.
  • I can’t guarantee that eating my pork and sauerkraut will give you good luck in 2022, but I can guarantee that you will enjoy your New Year’s Day dinner. 

Bone Pork Loin Roast – 4 to 6 lbs.

Ingredients:

  • olive oil
  • garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • panko
  • rough ground dijon mustard
  • fig jam
  • Let the pork roast come to room temperature. Cover the roast with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
  • In a bowl make a moist combination of panko, olive oil, mustard and fig jam. Cover the top of the roast with the panko crust.
  • ROASTING –
  •  Let the roast come to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
  • Roast at high temp 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes (30 minutes for roasts larger than 10 pounds)
  • Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and cook approximately 15 minutes per pound till the desired doneness.
  • Cook meat uncovered in your roasting pan
  • Always roast fat side up
  • Use a meat thermometer to make sure the roast is at the temperature you desire. Remember your roast will increase in temperature approximately 10 degrees after removing from oven.
  • Medium Rare 145 degrees F; Well Done 160 degrees F.

Sauerkraut

Ingredients:

  • 1 32 ounce bag of Kissling’s sauerkraut
  • 1 apple
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1/3 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/2 bottle dry white wine
  • 1/2 stick of butter

Preparation:

  • Drain and rine the sauerkraut
  • Chop the onion and apple
  • Melt the butter in a large oven proof pan
  • Saute the onion and apple in the butter for a few minutes
  • Add the sauerkaraut to the pan and saute for a few minutes
  • Add the brown sugar and the wine
  • Bake at 350 until the wine has evaporated and sauerkraut is brown on top

Wishing for you all a new year filled with many opportunites to share delicious food with your friends and family.

29 responses to “HAPPY NEW YEAR – what we eat for good luck!”

  1. Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen – I'm a writer, cook, gardener, photographer, poet, quilter, and accomplished daydreamer. I'm also a wife, mother, grandmother, sister. cousin, aunt, and friend, no particular order on any given day. I've been a writer all my life, newspaper reporter and columnist, radio news writer, and magazine contributor, and poet and short-story writer as the spirit moves. Now, I turn my attention to my cookbook, the blog, and a cooking column "Memorable Meals," which runs in our county newspaper. Besides my family, I love dogs, cats, good coffee, and my never-dwindling pile of books I intend to read. Our family ran a small Vermont Inn for 18 years, with our focus on local, organic ingredients. After many years of daily serving up of our local delicacies, cooking classes, and catering, we are now only open for special events, and the odd cooking class as the spirit moves me. We also host musicians and artists, having helped produce a musical festival and other musical events for nearly 20 years. Many incredible artists have found a place at our table. Wonderful experiences, we will treasure always. My family and friends are my practice subjects. With a family that includes nut, peanut, tree fruit, and vegetable allergies, gluten intolerance, dairy intolerance, vegetarians, vegans, heart conscious, and a couple of picky eaters, there has to be a few quick tricks in the book to keep everyone fed and happy! Personally, I do not eat red meat or most dairy (usually) for health reasons, making the occasional exception at Thanksgiving and Christmas or our anniversary if the duck is locally raised. I do eat fish and seafood, so I try to come up with alternatives and substitutions when available. I serve local organic eggs and cheeses to my family who can tolerate dairy (My husband recently had a heart attack, and I need to watch my own cholesterol so I am careful, but have been known to let a little piece of really good cheese accidentally fall on my plate!). I believe strongly that eating in a way that is good for our planet is also good for our bodies! I cook by the seasons and draw on inspiration from the strong and talented women in my family who came before me, as well as the youth in the family who look at the world with fresh eyes. Food links us all, whether sharing a meal, cooking it together, or writing about it for others to enjoy. I love taking an old recipe and giving it a modern spin, especially if I can make it a littler healthier and use foods that are kinder to the Earth and to our bodies. I believe strongly in sustainable, delicious eating of whole foods, and the wonderful flavors we have at our fingertips! And finally, I love conversing with all the talented cooks and chefs out there who dot the globe! It's a wonderful, world full of culinary pen pals, and I cherish them all! XXXOOO Dorothy
    Dorothy’s New Vintage Kitchen says:

    12 grapes! I love it. I’m tempted to make up my own good luck tradition – let’s see, to ensure good luck every week of the year, one should eat 52 …

  2. Darlene – British Columbia, Canada – Writer of children's stories, short stories and travel articles. https://twitter.com/#!/supermegawoman http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=201634059868404&id=631897250&ref=notif&notif_t=like#!/pages/Darlene-Foster-Writer/362236842733
    Darlene says:

    You can never go wrong with sauerkraut! Now that we live in Spain we eat 12 grapes at midnight on the 31st as is the custom here. May 2022 be kind to you and your family!

  3. Jacqui Murray – Laguna Hills, CA. – Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land.
    Jacqui Murray says:

    Happiest of new years! I’ll see you in a few days (well, next week!).

  4. Hello and best wishes to you too! In Italy we eat lentils, as we believe it will bring money (due to the lentils looking like coins). 🙂

  5. sammee44 – Victoria, BC – I am a West Coast Reader and Writer who enjoys the big and little things in Life. My philosophy is–if you don't enjoy those precious moments and savour the joy, then how can you appreciate the little things that crosses your daily path?
    sammee44 says:

    A very Happy 2022 to you and your family, Bernadette. Here’s to a Healthier, Covid-free year filled with good food, family and friends!

  6. Time Traveler of Life – Where my Motor Home is! – Biography Creating worlds, characters, and wielding power like a madwoman, making my characters happy, sad, angry, and some of them with no redeeming qualities. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I sometimes laugh out loud when I am writing a scene, and I have been known to cry when one of my favorites has to die. I am a left-handed Gemini, what do you expect? Reading bedtime stories to my two children until they fell asleep or until they just told me to go away, was fun. Making up wild stories for my grandchild, and creating Halloween costumes from Cowboys to a Dragon, was another favorite thing to do. I missed that so much when they were grown, that I started writing. My yearly newsletters frequently were drafted third-person by my Love Birds, Miranda our motorhome, and by Sir Fit the White Knight, our faithful Honda. Throughout the years, some of my creative talents centered around writing letters of complaint expressing my displeasure with services or products. One crucial, at least to my Son, was a note to our local school bus driver petitioning her to allow him back on the bus. He was kicked off for making an obscene gesture at his buddy. I reminded her that it was not directed at her, and that “obscenity can be in the eye of the beholder,” kids use that gesture as a greeting. He rode the bus until he graduated. I loved driving my English teacher crazy. Leaving a “continued next week” at the end of my five handwritten pages required each week. He was one of many people that suggested I “do something about my writing.” I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks at the top of my class. After 30 years, in the trenches as a Real Estate Professional, I have found that truth is stranger than fiction. My books are filled with characters I met in that profession. Their names were changed to protect the guilty. Others were from people we met traveling around the country in Miranda, our Motorhome. I am married nearly 60 years to the love of my life, Shirl, and partner-produced two exceptionally talented children, and one grandchild who is our pride and joy.
    Time Traveler of Life says:

    I don’t think we ever had a tradition in our house growing up, and my Husband and I did not either. The one thing we insisted on was sitting down to dinner together every Sunday evening, and sometime more often if we could arrange it between work and activities of our children and ourselves. One of our favorites was a New England Boiled Dinner. Will have to post it for you. It is very simple faire, but a favorite. Happy New Year and hope it is healthy and prosperous for your family.

  7. I have never heard of that combination for New Year’s. We have no tradition growing up, but I do remember waiting tables in college on New Year’s Eve, and just before midnight, I had to take every table a bowl of black eyed peas for good luck. We almost ran out!

  8. Happy New Year greetings, from the land of black eyed peas, greens and cornbread! That is the standard here in NC, but wow…this pork roast sounds soooo good! And the way you jazzed up the sauerkraut, I think even Les would go for it!

    I hope you are having the most wonderful time!! 🤗

  9. Angela – New England-born, Pennsylvania raised, and 100% Italian-American, I've been writing since Sister Mary Dolores taught me how. My husband's a concrete sequential Leo and I’m a daydreaming Pisces, which makes life just a bit more interesting, as do our kids, grands, and the inimitable Miss Puppy Clouseau.
    Angela says:

    Well, we always had pork when I was growing up, with apples in some form (sauce or sliced and baked), mashed potatoes, gravy, and something green. My mother didn’t like sauerkraut, so I never ate it till I was a fully formed adult. But I do like it, and adding that bit of sweetness to it is a great idea. It’s just the two of us today, so it’s chops instead of roast, but we’ll be sure to eat those 12 grapes!

  10. rachelward11 – I’m a mother, wife, and children’s book author. I enjoy relaxing at the beach, watching football with my husband and playing with my kids. I’m a proud autism parent.
    Rachel says:

    I’ve never attempted to cook a Bone Pork Loin Roast before, but after reading your post I think I’m going to try your recipe. It looks delicious!

  11. I bet this was wonderful with the fig jam! What a great idea.

  12. the Painted Apron – Life is all about creativity for me, as long as I'm creating something I am happy! I hope I will inspire your daily life and give you ideas for your own wonderful creations!
    the Painted Apron says:

    What a special and wonderful tradition! Happy New Year Bernadette!
    Jenna

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