9 Lucky New Year's Traditions-- Part 2: Grapes, Lentils, Herring, Pork & Sauerkraut and Pretzels

Go to the site for more information.

5.  TWELVE LUCKY GRAPES

A Spanish tradition.  Eat a grape right at the stroke of midnight, one for each stroke of the clock.

6.  LENTILS

Italian.

7.  PICKLED HERRING

Scandinavian, German and Polish.   This is without a doubt my favorite thing to do around this time of the year.  I stock up.  Love that herring!!!!!

8.  PORK AND SAUERKRAUT

Pennsylvania and Ohio.

9.  NEW YEAR'S PRETZEL

Germany.

Pass the Herrings.  Eating My Way to Luck.  --Cooter

9 Lucky New Year's Food Traditions-- Part 1: Hoppin' John, King Cake, Tamales & Soba Noodles

History December 29, 2021.

Wanna get lucky in the new year.  Here's some stuff you can eat in between all the weight loss and tax commercials.

1.  HOPPIN' JOHN

A Southern thing.    Mix of black-eyed peas,  rice and pork.  All I remember growing up in North Carolina was eating lots and lots of black-eyed peas.

2.  KING CAKE

And, I thought it only had to do with Mardi Gras.  But, be careful eating this because there probably is a plastic baby Jesus in there somewhere.

3.  TAMALES

A Mexican thing, but sooooooo gooooood.

4.  SOBA NOODLES

A Japanese thing.

--CootPeas

Happy New Year and 2875th Post: Man Does Time Go Fast These Days

Preparing for what should be another "fast" year. Man, time sure flies as you get older. I remember back in elementary school when the academic year went forever, but at least the summer went nearly as long...or so it seemed.

This is my 2875th post to Cooter's History Thing, a blog that started at the end of 2007 when I decided I was writing too much history in my Down Da Road I Go blog. This was my third blog (of seven).

I called it Cooter's History Thing as no one can take a person named Cooter too seriously. My two Civil War blogs and WWII one grew out of this one. The blog is about any history I find interesting other than the Civil War, War of 1812 and World War II, although there is music history in the Down Da Road I Go and lots of history in my RoadDog's RoadLog Blog (-Og, -Og, -Og) which was my very first blog.

Eight Years of "Wasting" My Time. --Cooter

Top Ten New Year's Traditions and Superstitions-- Part 2

5. FIRST FOOTER-- referring to the first person to set foot in your house New Year's Day. (We won't have anybody coming into this house today, other than when I went out to get the newspaper earlier today. We are going over to a friend's house to watch some Bowl games later. I think some others will beat us over there so we'll be second or third footers.)

4. NOTHING SHOULD LEAVE THE HOUSE-- (We're leaving it later.)

3. LAY LOW AND DO NOTHING-- For some, that is a necessity after the night before. But as Liz and I get older, that isn't such a problem. The big problem is staying up until midnight New Year's Eve.)

2. EAT, EAT1-- Food that is supposed to have good things if you eat it today:

GRAPES-- eat one for each month
PORK-- pigs root forward, a good omen
BLACK-EYED PEAS-- you'll get a buck for each one
LENTILS-- resemble coins
GREENS-- resemble money

(We'll be eating the Black-eyed peas and summer sausage.)

1. WHAT YOU DO NEW YEAR'S DAY, YOU WILL DO ALL YEAR-- (We'll be drinkin', eatin' and enjoying friends. I can live with that."

So, Now You Know. --DaCoot

Top Ten New Year's Traditions and Superstitions-- Part 1

Thanks Uncle Bo. From TopTenz.net.

For more information and pictures, go to the site.

10. FIREWORKS-- also cheering, singing and noisemakers to scare away evil spirits. (We sure had lots and lots of fireworks around here this morning, plus there was a great display over Chicago's Lake Michigan.)

9. MAKING RESOLUTIONS-- The biggies: paying off debt, losing weight, exercising more and stopping smoking. (I resolve not to spend as much time on these dumb blogs.) (Tight!)

8. PAYING OFF DEBT-- Actually should be done before today so you can start off the year out of debt.

7. KISSING AT MIDNIGHT-- Definitely a rough time to be single. It's a symbol of love which will last all year.

6. SINGING "AULD LAND SYNE"-- A Scottish poem from the 1700s, literally translated "old long since."

Five More to Come. --Cooter