New Year's Superstitions

[GalvestonDuck]

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/newyears/newyears.asp

I suppose for me it's more about tradition than superstition, but I have corned beef, cabbage, and black eyed peas for my New Year's Day meal. It's the way my family always did it. Then again, isn't it almost the same meal for St. Patrick's Day also? I'm Irish, and yet, we always had Irish stew not cabbage or corned beef.

Down here, people say, "Corned beef? What's that?" I joked with a co-worker and told her that it came from a cow that was raised on corn instead of hay.

[Skywatch_NC]

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/newyears/newyears.asp

I suppose for me it's more about tradition than superstition, but I have corned beef, cabbage, and black eyed peas for my New Year's Day meal. It's the way my family always did it. Then again, isn't it almost the same meal for St. Patrick's Day also? I'm Irish, and yet, we always had Irish stew not cabbage or corned beef.

Down here, people say, "Corned beef? What's that?" I joked with a co-worker and told her that it came from a cow that was raised on corn instead of hay.

Eric

[Miss Mary]

Well, here's an odd tradition but one we follow in my husband's family - we put pennies outside near every door of our house on the 31st. Then you bring them in on the 1st. He has Irish ancestory on his side so perhaps it comes from this influence. All I know is it's been going on in his family, for decades.

And the phone calls usually start today too - remember, put your pennies out!! Some years we miss one or two and then I'll be planting flowers in May. I'll come across one penny in the dirt!

Has it ever worked - I don't know. But the theory is it's supposed to give you a prosperous coming year.

Mary

[JenBayles]

Down here, people say, "Corned beef? What's that?" I joked with a co-worker and told her that it came from a cow that was raised on corn instead of hay.

Love it! We do the ham and black eyed pea thing. I'm thinking I'll need take a deep breath and put mine in a blender this year. I need all the good luck I can get, but - EEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!

[Dee Bee]

Both my family (Eastern European ancestry) and my husband's (Scandanavian-German) do the pickled herring thing on New Year's Day. Over the years, my lucky wish has been just to keep the stuff down...!

Miss Mary, your custom of pennies sounds fun! [When my daughter was little, we started a custom of leaving pennies out for the leprechauns (sp?) on March 16, even though there's no Irish in us.] Here in SoFla some of my students have written about a Latino New Year's good luck custom of eating one grape from a bunch for each stroke of the clock at midnight. [I've never tried it, but my guess is that you'd have to chew fairly fast!]

[DoctorHurricane2003]

Ha, my mom does the blackeyed pea and cabbage thing.

For those of you who don't particularly like blackeyed peas, I suggest a few things:

1. Buy Camilla's (I think that's the brand name...something similar to that) Blackeyed Peas.

2. Add a LOT of tabasco sauce.

3. Add bacon. (optional)

I usually do the tabasco sauce, but no bacon. It's pretty good.

[Cookiely]

Don't forget to throw a bucket of water out the door. Beats me but my granny used to make us do it. I have no idea why. Your right about the grapes. You end up with a mouth full of grapes by midnight. No way to chew each one before swallowing. I love the black eye peas and will even eat the greens but there is no way I am eating the jowls. When my granny turned her back we put the bite in the garbage.

[JenBayles]

Ha, my mom does the blackeyed pea and cabbage thing.

For those of you who don't particularly like blackeyed peas, I suggest a few things:

1. Buy Camilla's (I think that's the brand name...something similar to that) Blackeyed Peas.

2. Add a LOT of tabasco sauce.

3. Add bacon. (optional)

I usually do the tabasco sauce, but no bacon. It's pretty good.

I thought tabasco and bacon went with everything. You mean people actually eat blackeyed peas PLAIN?!

[Skywatch_NC]

Ha, my mom does the blackeyed pea and cabbage thing.

For those of you who don't particularly like blackeyed peas, I suggest a few things:

1. Buy Camilla's (I think that's the brand name...something similar to that) Blackeyed Peas.

2. Add a LOT of tabasco sauce.

3. Add bacon. (optional)

I usually do the tabasco sauce, but no bacon. It's pretty good.

I thought tabasco and bacon went with everything. You mean people actually eat blackeyed peas PLAIN?!

I eat 'em plain...my folks like 'em with stewed tomatoes!

[streetsoldier]

I believe I mentioned this before, but...the custom in the South of eating black-eyed peas came from the War for Southern Independence.

That "damn Yankee incendiary" Sherman and his troops burned off everything edible, except for some hams that were being smoked (and unfound) and crops of black-eyed peas, as the Yankees didn't recognize the plant as being a food staple.

Thus, the southerners had something to eat, after all...and the tradition is still honored, whether some are "Yankee" or "Rebel" (or, in my case, both) descendants to this day.

[coriolis]

Intresting.

We do pork and saurkraut. Same idea - good luck.