Here we are again, a new year is upon us. I am not one for resolutions but if you are, now would be the time. What else is it time for? That depends are where you are. Some of the things I do to get ready to face a new year? For me it is about starting the year out with a clean house and the right foods.
While looking at items for this blog I found some GREAT ideas!
- Clean out the pantry and cabinets. Dust them and make sure there is food in it at this time to guard against food insecurity for the coming year. If any occupied spider webs are found while cleaning the kitchen or cabinets, they are not to be disturbed as this foretells that the household will not starve.
- Air all the blankets and quilts outside and beat them with a stick to ensure comfortability in the New Year and to also air out the sicknesses of the last (as the ill are always bundled up, especially the fevered).
- For good health in children the next year, measure them from their nose to their knee with a string of ribbon. Tie the ribbon up some place it won’t be disturbed.
- Recite Psalms 23 while sweeping and mopping the house, always from back to front and down the drive.
- Lay out cut onions to soak up any remaining ill or bad fortune so you don’t take it with you into the new year.
- To help the furniture beds last another year of use, rub the wood down with a mixture of oil, lard, and whiskey. Don’t wipe any drips off until Jan 2nd.
- Oil door hinges, wheels, etc. on New Year’s Eve, and always push open or turn the wheel the correct way. (Oil the door hinges from behind the door and only open once).
Those seemed to be pretty specific, but a handy list to me LOL! Most just seem to come from common sense, it is the time to get things done.
As for cooking, I truly am a southern girl and New Years day is ALWAYS Greens, blackeyed peas and cornbread. Each has a significance of its own. Pork is considered a sign of prosperity in some cultures because pigs root forward. This is probably the reason many Southern New Year’s Day dishes contain pork or ham.
Ham Hocks for progress! Pigs root around with their snouts moving in a forward motion, which is why many cultures around the world eat pork on New Year’s Day to symbolize progress for the coming year. I have ham hocks in my Peas.
Cornbread is baked and eaten to ensure honest, steady work and a flow of money. Want to get rich? In the south, collard greens and cornbread eaten on New Year’s Day ensure that money will be in your future. For cornbread, I use Jiffy. Just a good quick and easy recipe. Below are a couple of the recipes I use, I hope you enjoy them as much as my family does.
Southern Black Eyed Peas Recipe
Southern-Style Collard Greens Recipe
With everything that is done to ring in the New Year, the most important to us, is that you know we enjoy being a part of your community. Our little mountain world grows some every year and we welcome our new neighbors in Appalachian style, by sharing our traditions.
As always we thank you for spending a little time with us today and again
WELCOME TO THE MOUNTAINS