Ringing in the New Year

[Debbwl]

In Mexico City, a large street festival is arranged on the New Year eve while in other parts of the country, small bonfires, food, and dancing festivals take place. Fireworks and bells are the companions of New Year morning.

Many families chose to ring in the New Year with a dinner party that includes both family and friends. If planning a Mexican New Year’s party you may want to brighten your home with the fallowing traditional color; red New Year decoration signifies courage, love, and a better lifestyle, yellow signifies enjoyment and blessings, green refers to financial up lift and white portrays good health.

A center piece said to bring luck is a rimmed tray with a candle at the center, and you ask family and friends to deposit coins in the tray, afterwards filling it with water for good luck. Or for a prosperous center piece take a few candles on a white plate surrounded by lentils, beans, rice, corn, flour and a cinnamon stick to spice things up. Allow candles to burn all night until melted; then peel the waxy food mixture off of the plate and bury it for abundance and for food to be on your table always.

Apart from lots of colors and center pieces, Mexican pan dulce is a crucial part of the party decoration. Mexican pan dulce is served at the midnight, just at the juncture of the New Year. The baker puts a lucky coin or pendant on the sweet beard or Mexican pan dulce. The person, who gets the lucky pendent or coin during the Mexican pan dulce cutting ceremony, is considered the luckiest person in the new year.

Dinner is usually a real feast with people eating various traditional foods such as tamales, turkey mole and ham. Another New Year's staple is dried and salted codfish called Bacalao. Toasts are prepared with sparkling cider and ponche which is a hot fruit punch is also prepared.

Eating a tablespoon of cooked lentils, or give a handful of raw lentils to family and friends is said to bring good fortune.

But probably the more widely known and much more fun tradition is to have to have someone keep an eye on the clock, and lead the countdown chorus to midnight — "Diez! Nueve! Ocho! Siete! Seis! Cinco! Cuatro! Tres! Dos… Feliz año nuevoooo! At the stroke of midnight, everyone drinks a champagne toast to the New Year. Then they gobble down the 12 grapes in a single minute, one at a time with each of the twelve chimes of the clock, to assure good luck in the 12 upcoming months that they represent. You may want to choose small seedless grapes as they're easier to chew and swallow.

So please tell us how you will be ring in the New Year?

What traditions if any will you be fallowing or are you maybe staring a new tradition?

And as aways if you have photos please share

[Mama's Kitchen (Hope)]

Awesome thread!


We always try to keep it simple- tamales, black eyed pea salsa- hey we are Texan! - and a shot of some Tequila Reposado at midnight!

[Debbwl]

Thanks Mama!

Have seen folks have a ton of fun keeping it simple and you can never go wrong with tamales and tequila.

[PaulaG]

Hello everyone. Having lived in the great southwest for many years we love the tamales, posole enchiladas and such. On Christmas eve I made posole with queso and chips for dinner. New Years day we stick pretty much to our southern roots with black eyed peas, ham and such.

The 12 grapes, Las doce uvas de la suerte, was a tradition that was very popular in El Paso and surrounding areas.

Our New Years Eve plans are quite simple this year. Probably a movie and early dinner.

[Debbwl]

A quiet and simple New Year is what we have planned as well.

Planning on tamales, some black eyed peas and greens along with some T.V. Will be nice to be with DH this year as the last 5 years he has had to work on New Year’s Eve.

[Debbwl]

Good morning and Happy New Year!

Just dropped by to share a photo of last nights dinner of pork Tamales (we can get good ones in local stores and restaurant (between Christmas and New Year the rest of the year not so much ), Black-Eyed Pea Salsa (Cowboy Caviar) and Tasty Frozen Collard Greens and the very yummy breakfast Tamale Hash which is made using the leftovers.

[PaulaG]

All of it looks wonderful. The only way I'm going to get good tamales around here is to make them. Sounds like a project for the New Year.