Old years day - New Years Eve - Traditions

[Marcellarius]

Bet we all have different traditions for what you call 'New Years Eve'.
for starters: in Holland we call it 'Old years day / evening'

and we have all kind of special foods.
I'm making some of them right now.
their called 'Oliebol' in Dutch, so this would be oil-ball in English.
dough with raisins backed in sunflower oil.
later on I'm making the Dutch apple flap
slices of apple covered with dough backed in oil also. (looks a bit like a donut.)

for Old years day we also have 'knieperties' in English this would be pinches or so.
waffles backed in an oven, but in the old days they used a waffle iron that you had to squeeze /pinch to make it a flat waffle.
flat because the last year is gone and will have no surprises anymore.
for New years day they make rolled waffles and we fill them with sweet whipped cream.
this is because the new year is still "rolled up", you don't know what's coming, but we hope the year will be full with goodness!

what are the traditions in your part/country?

[Russ C]

Black-eye peas with ham hocks, collard greens and corn bread. Also take down the Christmas tree. Don't take something old into the New Year. 

[rob roy]

Hi Marcell. Here in Scotland at New Year we have a similar meal as Christmas but the turkey is replaced by Steak Pie and Ham. But we have other strange customs. On New Years Eve we visit Friends and neighbours immediately after midnight. This is called FIRST FOOTING. To ensure good luck for the house,the first foot should be male and dark haired( Believed to be a throwback to the VIKING days when blonde strangers arriving on your doorstep meant a whole heap of trouble !!!).He should also bring a symbolic piece of coal, shortbread,black bun and WHISKY. Black bun is a sort of very heavy fruit cake, and I mean HEAVY!!!.
The underlying belief is to  clear out the remains of the old year and welcome in a new young year on a happy note.
You may be interested to know that Christmas was Banned in Scotland for 400 years, from the 17th century to the 1950's as it was considered a PAGAN FEAST.
Other areas of Scotland have different ways of celebrating New Year, but that's how we do it here. New year here is called HOGMANAY.
So Marcell, may I at this point wish you and your family A GUID (good) NEW YEAR.
AW RA Best FAE Bonnie Scotland (all the best from Scotland).
Rob Roy.

[king310]

Cooked Corn Beef and cabbage. It is to bring good luck for the coming year.
The only thing is the fumes for the next few days

[dirtrider73068]

I forget the old year the bad it was and look forward to a better new year, plus stay at home away from the party to stay safe and alive.

[wombatie]

No traditions here and now.  When I was young and in England we always had a feast similar to the Christmas one on New Years Day.  Apart from my 3 month holiday I can't say this year was a very good one, so just want to say goodbye to it as quickly as possible.

Marg

[cdrover(Clyde)]

None of the usual festivities for me. 2012 was a terrible year for us and I want it gone. I hope and pray that 2013 will bring happiness and prosperity to all of you. Thanks for your support during the past few months, it was truly appreciated. Enjoy whatever you do today and tonight and remember be careful!!!

[MOONIE]

Pork and Sauerkraut.  A must on New Years Day.   It's supposed to bring good luck.   Thank you, German immigrants !

[troy_curtis]

For us the tradition passed down was always black eyed peas served with whatever dinner we have. Funny thing is only my mother in law and I practice this one. The rest of the family isn't much for tradition.

We also make New Years Day a movie day. A lot of us get movies for Christmas, so this is a good day to share some of the top picks.

[Marcellarius]

I forgot to mention FIREWORKS!!!!!

in the east of our country they shoot with carbide gas out of milk barrels.


some 'redneck' farmers blew out the windows of their farm last year....

and the real grazy ones make their own extreme ( i think 800 gallons) canon .......

[rob roy]

Hi Marcell, by the look of the pictures, you see out the old year with A BANG LOL.
Have a good one!!!!.
Rob Roy.