# New years day food.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 1, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893 "2016-01-01T12:41:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/1 "2016-01-01T12:41:46Z")

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Anyone eating black eyed peas and ham today? Cornbread?

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**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/2 "2016-01-01T12:59:59Z")

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I never associated a particular food with new years day - not something in my family’s traditions. But I was thinking of pulling a ham steak out of the freezer, and I have some cabbage to go with it. Or maybe I’ll make shrimp. Or order a pizza. Too early to decide what to have for supper.

😃

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**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/3 "2016-01-01T13:08:19Z")

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The only food I even loosely associate with New Year’s is turkey soup. And that’s just because it’s around the time to use up the Christmas dinner leftovers.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/4 "2016-01-01T13:36:37Z")

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Family here made up of Yankees and Southerners. We have pork roast, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes for the Yanks, and add collards, black eyed peas and stewed tomatoes for the Rebs.

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**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/5 "2016-01-01T13:55:04Z")

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Black eyed peas are simmering right now and for about another hour; dried beans take a while to cook. I like canned black eyed peas but for New Year’s I go the traditional route. I grew up in the “black eyed peas on New Year’s Day” tradition, but in my family it didn’t necessarily include ham (and never collard greens, which I’ve actually never eaten); I usually have bacon with them, and that’s the plan this year.

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**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/6 "2016-01-01T14:51:29Z")

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We have a New Year’s _Eve_ meal tradition. We go to a local wholesale seafood company and buy a couple of live Maine lobsters.

Last night’s dinner was a couple of boiled lobsters with melted butter, homemade coleslaw, and grilled Italian bread.

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**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/7 "2016-01-01T15:04:25Z")

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My stepmother did black-eyed-peas on NYD, but as a transplant she never added the necessary salt pork to make them taste good. Bleh. I am not a fan of collards (or any other greens), with or without hot sauce/vinegar/whatever.

However, I love cornbread, and now I might need to make some!

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**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/8 "2016-01-01T15:11:37Z")

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Isn’t it supposed to be hog jowl? Plain ole ham might not work.

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**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/9 "2016-01-01T19:08:29Z")

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Hog jowl is pretty country and I don’t think you can buy hog jowl at most supermarkets.

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**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/10 "2016-01-02T03:00:38Z")

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Since today is a [beach day](https://www.dropbox.com/home/Other%20Videos?preview=2016+ACPBC+Polar+Bear+Plunge.mp4), we get salt water taffy.

(& if we go to the diner for lunch {as opposed to getting pizza} a nice cuppa hot soup is always good!)

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**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/11 "2016-01-02T07:21:04Z")

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My friend made me a black eyed peas dip. No pork though, she’s a vegan.

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**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/12 "2016-01-03T15:47:00Z")

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We were planning to… We had the black-eyed please and back cooking, when our neighbor knocked on the door with a big pot of pozole (she made “way too much”, apparently). So we had that on the 1st, and saved our original dinner for last night.

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**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/13 "2016-01-03T22:46:43Z")

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> [@ryobserver](#):
>
> Black eyed peas are simmering right now and for about another hour; dried beans take a while to cook. I like canned black eyed peas but for New Year’s I go the traditional route. I grew up in the “black eyed peas on New Year’s Day” tradition, but in my family it didn’t necessarily include ham (and never collard greens, which I’ve actually never eaten); I usually have bacon with them, and that’s the plan this year.

As I’ve been taught the tradition, by my Ohioan mother, any pork product will do. So bacon counts.

She grew up with pork roast and cabbage, or sauerkraut (which is supposed to represent money coming you the new year), but after thirty-odd years in the South, she’s learned the importance of collard greens and black-eyed peas. I didn’t manage to get either on January 1, but I _did_ eat a piece of ham, as a ritual nod to the lares and penates.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/14 "2016-01-03T23:18:09Z")

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We always have Chinese food, left over from New Year’s Eve.

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**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/15 "2016-01-03T23:26:53Z")

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Lots of people in Scotland have steak pie on New Years Day

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**Author:** ![Richey84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Richey84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richey84)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/16 "2016-01-04T19:31:09Z")

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My parents make pork and sauerkraut. Awful stuff. I’ll take my chances without your good luck food.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/17 "2016-01-04T19:40:48Z")

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I couldn’t [help it.](http://whatscookingamerica.net/LobsterTailPoached.htm)

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**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/18 "2016-01-04T19:53:16Z")

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Southern tradition is:

Collard Greens = Money  
Black Eyed Peas = Good health  
Pork (fatback, jowls, ham, something) = General good luck  
Yeah, I had a few friends over and we did that. Then one of the friends was helping me clean up and, before I could stop her, had dumped about 1/2 a pot of collard green leftovers down the disposal.

Yeah, that did not work. $420 for the plumber to unstop the main sewer line.

So, I’m swearing off the New Years dinner tradition. Chinese for me next year!! 🙂

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/19 "2016-01-04T20:09:07Z")

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I cooked a porkloin in a Dutch oven, but with a tomatoe based Italian sauce instead of traditional sauerkraut. Toward the end I added kale, picked from the garden (final harvest of the year).

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**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-years-day-food/741893/20 "2016-01-04T20:13:07Z")

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For a couple years we did a boneless leg of lamb the day after Christmas. Didn’t have a chance this year, so it got pushed back to New Years Day.

I always use the leftovers for lamb curry the following evening.

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