New Year's Traditions: What Are Yours?

Happy New Year, everyone! (4.00 / 5)

And please, if you know a great maple-bourbon glaze, I'm still looking: all I remember is maple syrup (the real thing: medium amber, iirc), Jim Beam, and freshly grated nutmeg.  Not how much of anything -- I can wing it with the nutmeg, but not the other ingredients.

Now: what are your favorite New Year's traditions?

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 08:42:08 AM UTC

Don't know anything about... (4.00 / 3)

...maple bourbon glaze, sorry!

But I can answer your other question!

New Years' Eve between the ages of like 18 and 25 I used to try to head up to the city most years for "the ball", but then I stopped going once I regained some sort of sanity.

;-P

After that, hmmm...

Mostly used to just hang out with a girlfriend, and maybe 3 or 4 other people.  Small groups.  I'm not much for big gatherings, myself.  

And Bowl Games, always!  Just wish Rutgers make it to a friggin' January Bowl one of these decades.

My first New Years' here in Portland I was working.  Midnight shift security, loved it.  Hope I can find something like that again soon, would be perfect if I could get something at a factory or warehouse on Swan Island (inner North Portland) again, or maybe even a really cushy gig sitting at a desk overnight at an office building downtown.  Pay's shit, but it'd work perfect with going back to school again in a few months.

This New Years' Eve?  I'll wing it.  Play it by ear.  :)

The only definite for New Years' Day is... The Rose Bowl!  Go Ducks!!!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 14:02:24 PM UTC

Thanks, Jay (4.00 / 1)

I hope the Ducks win for you...I will probably be at work during the Rose Bowl.  Have a happy, whatever you decide to do!

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 06:06:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Eat & drink less. (4.00 / 3)

But not right now. Happy new year! And a prosperous one too!

Sic Transit Gloria Locavore!

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by: Asinus Asinum Fricat @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 15:31:52 PM UTC

Thanks for the good wishes, AAF (4.00 / 2)

and am sending them right back to you!

Here's to a better year -- and better decade to come -- than the one we just endured!

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 06:08:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

sauerkraut yes (4.00 / 3)

pork no

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 17:35:20 PM UTC

made really delicious rye bread (4.00 / 3)

with sauerkraut and its juices..

yummy..

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by: LeeN @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 18:08:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

heh...Jill, I hate sauerkraut (4.00 / 2)

It's only the slow-cooking with beer & the pork products that make it tasty, imo.  But I know you're a vegetarian.  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful New Year.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 06:17:14 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

We used to go to the local bar (4.00 / 3)

and a lot of us would go outside just before midnight and listen to the gunfire (it's a country thing, and I swear someone out here has a small canon or mortar that gets fired off at midnight). For about 5 minutes around here it sounds like everyone who has a fire arm shoots it off at least once starting right at midnight.

Now we don't go anywhere and usually don't stay up late enough to listen to the big bangs.

One year we went to the Moose Lodge in Molalla for new years eve. That was fun.

We've never had a meal tradition for new years.

My January tradition now is to get all the receipts out and start doing the final book keeping for the previous year in preparation for April 15th (OMG I owe HOW MUCH??!!!), and looking foreward to seed ordering, seed starting for things like pepper plants, late winter/early spring planting, etc.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 18:55:58 PM UTC

Joanne, Anne Ravers, the (4.00 / 1)

NYT garden columnist, has written (I think it was January) about the joys of reading seed catalogs in the dead of winter.  It is certainly more fun than looking at receipts & doing taxes!

Wishing you a wonderful New Year.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 06:10:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh I got my seed catalogs out! (4.00 / 2)

We've been getting catalogs for a couple months now and I was working on the order list yesterday morning. Even decided on a couple new experimental crops for next spring - sesame and tiger nuts. Both will probably be grown in containers.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 13:54:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And here's (4.00 / 2)

Whishing you a wonderful New Year too!

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 13:56:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Discharging firearms (4.00 / 2)

is not just a rural thing. I live in Bakersfield Ca (population 330,000) and every new year it sounds like downtown fallujah here. All different types of firearms being blasted in the air not to mention all the fireworks and homemade explosive devices. People even make bombs out of acetylene, filling up a trash bag with it, tying it off and attaching a five foot cannon fuse to it. They light it and let it float in the air, when it explodes it sounds like an artillery shell has gone off. We also go outside to listen to it, but we stay underneath the patio just in case a stray bullet comes our way. It can be pretty scary and I'm not sure if there is anything the police can do about it. Just the sheer number of people doing it prevents any effective policing. The police are usually busy dealing with all the drunken shenagins on that night anyway.

"To be honest with you, if someone says they're being honest with you, you should probably be skeptical" My Dad

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by: acsmith66 @ Tue Dec 29, 2009 at 22:30:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

LOL (4.00 / 2)

I wonder if the acetelene balloon thing is what's actually going on here.

I hear ya on the stray bullet issue. What goes up must come down eventually. A slug falling from high up can hurt a person too.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 12:31:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

We have an open house on New Year's Eve (4.00 / 3)

for our kids (now young adults), their friends, and some of the neighbors. I cook  something wonderful like Belgian Beef Stew put out loaves of warm homemade bread and a variety of cheeses and olives to nibble on first. My sons are both musicians as are many of their friends so there is usually lots of music including lovely inebriated singing with acoustic accompaniment. We have candles burning everywhere and use every piece of beautiful pottery, silver and china we have along with nice linens (I inherited a lot of things from my grandmothers and am an inveterate flea market shopper in my travels). I like to drink prosecco that night and usually serve something with lentils in it.

We spend New Year's Day hiking with extended family followed by a meal at my SIL's place on a small beautiful pond. We ice skate, weather permitting. It is in the 60's here today, strange after the snowstorm last week, so there will not be skating this year. Tis a pity because I love skating and my kids are a blast to skate with and to watch.

The lentil dish this year will be a ginger and cumin flavored soup made with the dark green lentils that don't get mushy.

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by: madaprn @ Sun Dec 27, 2009 at 19:34:14 PM UTC

That sounds like a wonderful way (4.00 / 1)

to spend New Year's Eve and Day.  It's too bad about the ice skating, but the hike will be fun.

I'm curious about the lentils, though: I've never heard of them as a New Year's food tradition.  Is there an ethnic basis for it, or does your family just really like lentils?

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 06:15:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Italian thing (4.00 / 2)

Lentils are round like coins so eating them on New Year's is a wish for prosperity in the coming year.  

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by: madaprn @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 13:24:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ah! (4.00 / 1)

Didn't know that: thanks!

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 18:49:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Enjoy the New year (4.00 / 1)

Hi wishes to everyone. All of you planning to enjoy the New year celebration. Have a good and prosperous NEW year 2010.

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by: acaibb @ Tue Dec 29, 2009 at 01:04:27 AM UTC

My New Years tradition is the same every year. (4.00 / 2)

At ninish or somewhere around ten I grab a crescent wrench and go on the stage at Avery Fisher Hall to take apart "Live From Lincoln Center." A little rip and tear as the year ends.

At Midnight the producer comes out on the stage with a bottle of bubbley and we all take a 15 minute break for well wishing and hand shaking. No kissing. Then it's back to work until around 1:30 and Home Sweet Home to break some resolutions.

It's an old tradition and I enjoy it. It goes back so far that I remember coming home when the roads were really dangerous because the police turned a blind eye to DWI.  

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by: Eddie C @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 03:59:44 AM UTC

Hi, Eddie! (4.00 / 2)

I think I really like your tradition: some bubbly, some paying employment, and lots more fun than mine is likely to be!

FWIW, I decided to go the pork & sauerkraut route: it's in the oven now.  Already made & ate some of the mashed potatoes.  For the first time ever, I am using hot Italian sausage (well, that's what they call it, anyway: couldn't get to Philly or NYC for the real thing) as one of the pork products.  I think it'll turn out okay; I also put kielbasa & a ham steak in.  Plus lager & some homemade chicken broth.

So I should have a nice meal to nuke at work and stink up the joint heh.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 08:12:27 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Happy New Years! (4.00 / 2)

From Times Square.

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by: Eddie C @ Wed Dec 30, 2009 at 09:15:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]