New Year's Celebration at Our House

We usually don't really do much for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day around here. We like it low-key and quite. We have been to a few parties in the past, but just don't want to be out driving with all the drunks on the road so we usually are home by 9:00 if we do venture out. This year we had planned on going out to dinner, but my Mister wasn't feeling well so we just stayed in. As a matter of fact we both were sleeping to the TV when we woke up about 11:00 pm. Just in time to celebrate the New Year. But let me back up to earlier in the day. I had promised Azari*h and Tzippor*h that could have a sleep over during the Christmas break. They always beg to have a sleep over. So Thursday evening was the only evening left that we could have them over. We picked them up about 4:30 and then rushed out to the movies to see Gulliver's Travels. It was okay, but the kids loved it. Then we went to eat Cecie's Pizza and went to the mall to buy a new Wii game Z** has been dying to play. We got Tzipi a new web kins to play but I didn't read the fine print and you already had to have an account, which she does, but on their home computer and I didn't know the password. She still had fun anyway. She is always happy to play with Hans and the toys. So it worked out. They stayed over until about noon on New Year's Eve and then I took them home. We all had a great time with them and enjoyed our time together.


Here's Z** doing what he loves best. The new Wii game was Epic Mickey. He was so cute, he kept saying, "I've been dreaming of this moment!" Oh to have that child-like innocence again.

 Here's Miss Priss playing with some of the magnets I kept from my school stuff.

Like I said earlier, we just ended up staying in for New Year's Eve and that was fine with me as we have been going and blowing for a couple of weeks now and I was exhausted. When it came time for the New Year's toast I went into the kitchen to get our glasses ready. We had bought this bottle of champagne the day before, so it was chilled and ready to toast.

 Before you get too excited, I thought I'd give a reference to see what size the bottle really was. Here is one of my most favorite bottles of Dr. Pepper that is an 8 oz. bottle. Just enough for two glasses. I know we are such heavy drinkers. . .

But then we don't even fill the glasses with the champagne, only half and then fill it the rest of the way with Sparkling Apple Juice.

Sparkling juice comes in red or white. We like them both.

 See looks so pretty and tastes good too. Although we decided we like the sparkling juice better than the champagne. Next year we will save our money and just buy the juice.

 Time for a New Year's toast. Happy New Year Honey. Looking forward to another year together.

 We decided to go to bed soon after midnight and were determined to sleep in and NOT have an agenda for New Year's Day. I think the dogs woke me up about 9:00 am but I didn't get up, just laid in bed watching TV and started making some phone calls to family members to wish them a Happy New Years. I actually got up about 11:00 and started cooking our New Year's Lunch.


Of course we had to have our "good luck" black-eyed peas. According to Wikipedia the tradition dates back to the Civil War. "If you are planning to celebrate the New Year in the Southeast, it is most likely that you will be offered black-eyed peas in some form, either just after midnight or on New Year's Day. From grand gala gourmet dinners to small casual gatherings with friends and family, these flavorful legumes are traditionally, according to Southern folklore, the first food to be eaten on New Year's Day for luck and prosperity throughout the year ahead.
The practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is generally believed to date back to the Civil War. At first planted as food for livestock, and later a food staple for slaves in the South, the fields of black-eyed peas were ignored as Sherman's troops destroyed or stole other crops, thereby giving the humble, but nourishing, black-eyed pea an important role as a major food source for surviving Confederates.
Today, the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for the New Year has evolved into a number of variations and embellishments of the luck and prosperity theme including:

• Served with greens (collards, mustard or turnip greens, which varies regionally), the peas represent coins and the greens represent paper money. In some areas cabbage is used in place of the greens.
• Cornbread, often served with black-eyed peas and greens, represents gold."

 According to Mister, no meal is complete without mashed potatoes. He always wants gravy, but these were white cheese mashed potatoes, so no gravy needed. Sorry honey.

Of course you have to have ham. We normally only have a ham steak but decided on a small ham so we could have sandwiches later. Turns out to be a good decision, when we called Kevin's dad to wish him a Happy New Year's he said he was home alone as his wife and step-daughter and granddaughter were all in Dallas shopping. I asked him if he would like us to bring him a plate of food when we got out later in the day.

No meal is complete for me without a fresh dinner salad.

 I was even industrious and made fresh cornbread muffins. I'm glad to know they represent gold. We should have a whole pot full if that holds true!

We decided to fore go the champagne and just have sparkling juice for brunch. Looks like champagne and even bubbles like champagne,but tastes much better.

Some fresh green onions to compliment the black-eyed peas.

 And for dessert, cinnamon spice cake with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

Our complete New Year's Day meal. It was delicious.

After lunch we decided to go to the movies to see True Grit. I was a little hesitant as it seemed a little sacrilegious to remake a John Wayne movie, but KD and I both loved it and would recommend seeing it. I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Day with your loved ones.