We are finally in the home stretch for 2020!! I don't think I can remember a time when so many of us were glad to see one year end and a new one begin.
New Year's Eve is normally a holiday that symbolizes a rebirth or a clean slate to begin again and focus on creating a better life for ones self. While it celebrated world wide, various countries and cultures have different traditions to ring in the new year.
In Spain and several other Spanish speaking countries, people eat a dozen grapes symbolizing their hopes for the months ahead right before midnight.
Some traditional New Year's Eve dishes feature legumes, which are thought to resemble coins and bring future financial success. Some examples include lentils in Italy and black-eyed peas in the southern United States.
Pigs represent progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork appears on the New Year’s Eve table in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and other countries.
Ring-shaped cakes and pastries, a sign that the year has come full circle, round out the feast in countries like Netherlands, Mexico, Greece. In Sweden and Norway, rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is served and it is said that whoever finds the nut can expect 12 months of good fortune.
Here in the United States, the most iconic New Year’s tradition is the dropping of a giant ball in New York City at Times Square right at the stroke of midnight. Millions of people around the world watch the event, which has taken place almost every year since 1907. The ball itself has changed from a 700 pound iron and wood sphere to a brightly patterned sphere 12 feet in diameter and weighing in at nearly 12,000 pounds.
So no matter where you are from or what customs you celebrate, we at KARE would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy New Year!!
We'll see you again in 2021!!