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

Mt. Olive Pickles and Me

I have a bit of a history with the Mt. Olive Pickle Company.  My father was born in Mt. Olive, North Carolina and growing up I spent a lot of time with his parents who still lived there.  You might say I am a Mt. Olive fan.  And, the pickle company is really big in that town.

One time, my dad and my cousin Graham,who at the time lived in Warsaw, N.C., in the same county as Cates Pickle Co.got into an argument over whether Cates (made in Faison) or Mt. Olive had the better pickles.  They did a bling Pickle taste test and Mt. Olive won.

Mom bought Mt. Olive Pickle stock and now that she has passed on, my brother, sister and I have inherited that stock, so I am a part owner of the company.

Every New Years Eve, Mt. Olive Pickle Co. and the town put on a Pickle Drop (but earlier than midnight).

Several years back I was really surprised to start seeing Mt. Olive Pickles being sold here in the MidWest (and it still is).  Before that it was just a regional company.  Great to see Mt. olive pickles being sold in our local Jewel grocery stores.

And, I Really Like Their Pickles.  --Cooter

Here Comes a New Blog

Starting tomorrow, all World War II entries will be on the new blog at http://tattooedonyoursoul--aworldwariiblog.blogspot.com.

This one will not have as many entries and will cover all things to do with history other than World War II and the Civil War (two blogs).

I have actually learned a lot about how to set up my blogs this last week.

Like those folks at the bar in the picture, we will be joining friends at Donovan's Reef later tonight to toast in the New Year, listen to some music, and play some NTN.

A Happy New Years to You!! --DaCoot

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

What's Dropping in Your Area?

I see that the famed mirror light ball in Times Square has been replaced with one that is touted to be twice as bright.

It would seem that more and more towns are having something drop to celebrate the New Year.

I read recently that Key West has a huge conch shell descend to the roof of Sloppy Joe's. New Orleans has a pot of gumbo come down on the Jax Brewery.

My dad's hometown of Mt. Olive, NC, has a pickle drop in honor of Mt. Olive Pickle Co. After all, it bills itself as the Pickle Capital of the US. Raleigh, NC, drops a giant acorn.

Bangor, Me, and Ocean City, MD, have a giant beach ball. Prairie du Chien, Wi, salutes with a carp and Port Clinton, Ohio has a walleye.

Pennsylvania leads the nation with 30 communities dropping stuff.

You can go to wikipedia and look under list of objects dropped on New Year's.

The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling. --Old Coot