I have 2 days to have my resolutions done. So, of course, I’m procrastinating – It’s my thing.

 
One of my resolutions is to start writing again. So here I am, trying to combine the 3: resolutions, procrastinating and writing.

 
Celebrating the New Year is one of my favorite traditions. I love the idea of starting fresh and new – getting a mulligan if you will. It is a breath of fresh air, one I certainly need and enjoy.

 
I’ll go ahead and be honest here, I never make it to midnight. Well, I’m sure its midnight somewhere, but never here.

 
I also enjoy all the traditions around food that go along with the New Year. Every culture seems to have a different tradition or two, all of them equally beautiful. This year, I am going to try to incorporate as many as I can into our New Year festivities. Reason being 3 fold…One, I love teaching the kiddos about different cultures. Two, food (obvi). And three, I’m not gonna lie… I’ll take all the luck I can get going into a new year.

 
I’ve ordered a Greek New Year bread. Some call it a bread, some call it a cake. It has a coin hidden inside and whoever gets the coin in their slice has to make dinner the rest of the year. Ok, fine…they get good luck (I tried).

 
Every year we do our 12 grapes like they do in Spain. It is said that each grape represents a month of the year. If any of the grapes are sour, that will be a ‘sour’ month for you. But, it doesn’t stop there. You have to eat all 12 within 12 seconds to make sure your New Year ‘wish’ will come true and your year will be a prosperous one. It is a lot tougher than it sounds, hilarious to watch, but tough to do.

 
In many Asian countries, long noodles are customary on New Year’s Day. They are said to ensure a long healthy life. I ordered the longest noodles I could find and we will be slurping the day away!

 
I was happy to find cornbread on the list of foods I HAVE TO eat on New Years. It is said to bring good luck because of its resemblance to gold. Man, I love the internet, if I search long enough, I can find almost anything to collaborate my latest and greatest….sorry waistline, I have to eat cornbread all day – the internet said so.

 
Ok, so at this point, I am embarrassed to say I have 7 more foods on my list. There is a Chinese New Year cake and a Scottish New Year cake that both look amazing. As we all know, my baking skills are mediocre. Maybe that should be one of my resolutions, to REALLY learn how to bake. My 11-year-old, Emily can bake. She is a flippin’ fantastic baker, I don’t know how she does it. Must have something to do with her being all smart and science-y. That’s it, I’ll have Emily teach me how to bake. Oooh, wait….maybe Emily can make me a Chinese New Year cake and a Scottish New Year cake?

 
pfft….I’m disappointed I didn’t think of that sooner.

 
The Greek also have a custom around pomegranates, and I do love pomegranates. But in doing a little more research, there is more smashing on the floor and less eating, so I’m going to go ahead and scratch that one for this year.

 
These next 4…Collard greens, black-eyed peas, pork, and tomatoes…Dude, there is symbolism coming out of my whozits here. Tomatoes symbolize health. Collard greens symbolize prosperity. Black eyes peas symbolize wellbeing and the pork symbolizes progress.

 
Boom.

 
I think I can make something with them all together, something to go with the cornbread? A soup sounds about right and downright delish.  Exactly what I need to welcome the new year.

 
Are you working on any resolutions for 2018? Any traditions you or your family have for the New Year? I’d love to hear about them.

I think 7 is enough