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How do you bring in the New Year??
New Years Eve is a day of celebration, letting go of the past and looking forward to the future. Many people host huge parties with friends and family while others attend celebrations at local venues to ring in the new year!
For many years we have chosen to stay home and have a little fun of our own by participating in some of the age old traditions that are supposed to bring good luck and fortune to you in the new year! I have been asked by many people to write out all of the things that I do each year for fun and why! All of the children in my family know of these traditions because I do them pretty much every year. One year I didn’t and lets just say it wasn’t the “best year of my life” so I never skipped even one after that!! Some call them traditions, others call them superstitions, but whatever you call them, it can make your New Years Eve a ton of fun and fire you up for the new year!!
I don’t know where each of these traditions originated but here they are the reasons why I do them!
PREPPING FOR MIDNIGHT:
- Place SEVEN coins (heads up) in each window sill to guarantee that money will come into your home in the coming year.
- Fill one pot of water sometime during the day for each person in your household and have it ready for midnight with a big spoon (more on that later), the water should sit throughout the day. Some people believe that you should mop your floors and keep the dirty water for this same purpose.
- Gather TWELVE GRAPES for each person in the household (don’t eat them yet), each one will signify a full circle of good luck for each month in the year. If you hate grapes, you could do peas, I know that sounds gross but it is the price you pay for not eating grapes 😉
- For peace in the coming year wear WHITE on New Years Eve, for fortune and money make sure you wear YELLOW. You are supposed to wear RED underwear but I have no idea why but do it just in case I forgot something important 🙂
- Get your suitcase out and unzipped and leave by your front door (more on this later)!
- Have a broom sitting by your front door (more on this later too), just get it ready, yes really!
- Make SURE that you have some money in your wallet or purse, even if it is only a dollar, this is to make sure that money will flow throughout the year!
- While waiting for the new year to hit with your Dollar Store party hat on (this is a MUST), grab a note pad and tear off TWELVE pieces of paper. On each piece of paper write out anything negative that has been weighing on you the past year, one for each piece of paper. Keep it short and sweet.
- IMPORTANT: Don’t get all ninny-pooperish and start talking about everyone that annoyed you or it will ruin your good time, just write each thing down swiftly.
- Once you have written each down it is now time to BURN EACH ONE! I prefer to throw them in a bon fire, but a simple plate with a lighter will work too if you don’t have a bon fire. It is time to LET IT GO.. each and every one of them to start the new year with a fresh start. Say whatever it is you have to say to make yourself laugh while you burn each one. I personally like the phrase “GOOD RIDDENS YA DIRTY RASCAL” when letting go.
- This is really cleansing, you can thank me later 🙂
GET READY FOR
MIDNIGHT!
AT THE STRIKE OF MIDNIGHT THIS IS WHAT YOU DO IN THIS ORDER:
- Watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV
- Kiss the people you love that are close to you (make sure they are cool with that first)
- YELL HAPPY NEW YEAR!
- Grab your grapes, you must eat ALL TWELVE in the FIRST MINUTE of the new year! Note: Don’t try to shove them all in your mouth at one time, TRUST ME, it doesn’t end well, take your time, you have thirty seconds left, get on it!
- Run and grab your pot of water, THROW THE WATER out the front door and yell “OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW!” and beat on your pot with your big spoon while yelling HAPPY NEW YEAR loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear you!
- Go back inside and grab your suitcase, walk out the front door and back inside with your suitcase, this will bring you travel opportunities throughout the coming year. If you prefer to stay home all year skip this step 😉
- Next, take the broom and sweep out towards your front door, this is symbolic of sweeping out all of the negativity in the previous year. I say something like “OUTTA HERE NEGATIVITY!” while I’m sweeping. Make sure you pass the broom to anyone else in the house so they can do the same thing.
- Square dance and dosey-doe at the front door as you are going back in. JUST KIDDING on that one, I just thought it was a funny visual to add, haha
NEW YEARS DAY FOODS TO SEAL THE DEAL
First let me say that I am from the South. My mother was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana and I was raised on southern cooking. I am sure that there are other traditions in different parts of the country, but I have always been told that eating certain things on New Years Day is a MUST so I never ever skip out on these traditions:
Black-eyed peas and Corn Bread
This is a MUST, if you don’t do anything else, you MUST eat your black-eyed peas and cornbread. This is a well known tradition to attract good luck and financial good fortune. Beans symbolize money or coins. The Corn Bread resembles a block of gold, some people will add corn kernels to their corn bread which is symbolic of gold nuggets for extra fortune. We cook our leftover Christmas Ham or ham bone with our black eyed peas and we love sweet vadalia onions with ours as well.
Pork on New Years Day
We cook a pork roast on New Years Day but there are many ways to cook pork to your liking. It is said to eat pork on New Years Day but NEVER eat chicken or cow. The reasoning is that a chicken scratches backwards, a cow stands still but a pig roots forward. It is symbolic of moving forward in your life in the upcoming year!
Greens are a must for money!!
Turnip Greens, Collard Greens, Spinach, any green will do! Greens are symbolic for money, so if you want to have money in the new year make sure you eat your greens!! If you aren’t used to eating greens it is best to cook them WAY down. We like to put fresh turnip greens in a big pot and cover with water, we lightly fry up about a half of a package of bacon and throw it in the pot with the greens, add some salt and pepper and cook them way down for flavor. I personally like to put a little bit of tabasco sauce on mine but my husband loves them just the way they are. Eat all of the good luck foods together, it is a perfect combination for your taste buds!
Cabbage and Potatoes
We cook down a full head of cabbage. This is for good health in the new year. I didn’t do my cabbage last year and learned my lesson so I will be eating a big bowl this year, haha! We cook ours very simply. We quarter a head of cabbage and break it down in a large stock pot. I use two 32 oz cartons of chicken broth and add more water to cover the cabbage completely. We cut up a few potatoes (the rounder the better since it is symbolic of a full circle) and add those to the pot with some salt and pepper. We cook it WAY down until it is soft and has almost a soup consistency but the cabbage is still in decent size pieces.
Dessert: Ring shaped cake
We don’t personally bake our cake, we usually buy one from Publix. A ring shaped cake symbolizes that you have come full circle. I have heard of people baking trinkets into their cake but I have never done that myself. Not a bad idea, but you could end up with a tooth repair which wouldn’t be fun to start off the new year if ya know what I’m sayin’ 😉
So that’s it folks!! Simple and fun ways to celebrate the new year and maybe even get a little bit of good luck and money thrown your way at the same time!!
Do you have any new years traditions that you do every year? I would LOVE to hear about it!!
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