Happy New Year’s Eve! We hope that this last day of 2013 is a happy one filled with joyous memories! And I’d also like to reflect on one of my favorite food related traditions, the New Year’s meals of luck and fortune.

On New Year’s Day my family traditionally ate pork sausages with sauerkraut.  The pork represents progress because pigs push forward rooting themselves in the ground before moving. And I am not entirely certain if the sauerkraut held any deeper meaning than our love for its taste.

Another traditional New Year’s Day food are cakes and pastries especially round cakes.  The roundness signifies the old year coming to a close and the new one beginning with promises of a fresh start.

There are my two favorite foods for New Year’s Day.  And of course another very famous one hails from the south of the country, the menu of greens and black-eyed peas.  The greens represent dollar bills and the black-eyed peas coins.

Do you have a favorite food that you eat on the first of the New Year?

And may I also add a few of my favorite picks from Seven Hopes United that I think represent fortune and luck and which perhaps you’ll consider making a part of your New Year in 2014.

The Tagua Earrings in Soft Grey remind me of black-eyed peas and look like some of the old coins I’ve seen at museums!

Start the year of right with a healthy salad alone or shared with friends and family.  The beautiful Mango Wood Salad Bowl conjures the image of a less healthy (but still delicious) round pineapple upside down cake.

And finally, this festive green Knit Flower Headband summons images of the greenbacks of dollar bills!

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better person.” — Benjamin Franklin

Happy New Year’s Eve! Dawn