Jó reggelt!

Good morning!

I love family traditions. My mother, who is not especially superstitious but who has no problem passing along superstitious traditions, taught me that the way in which one ends an old year and rings in a new year will be way in which one will end the new year and ring in a newer year. Thus, one needs to be full at the beginning of the year so one will be full at the end of the year. One needs to have money in one's pocket at the beginning so one will have money... . And of course, one needs to be in the company of loved ones.

Loved ones is easy, undoubtedly because Mom's whole system works so well! The money thing is fun because it doesn't have to be a lot of money. I've used silver dollars, silver certificate dollars, and just plain old money. It doesn't take much time to scrounge up a little bit of money-- again, because the system works. Duh. Being full, though, takes some work. 

To ensure that we don't end 2012 hungry, we will be cooking all day today. 

 Mr. Big Food is already working on the blackeyes for blackeyed pea soufflé and blackeyed pea dip.

I will be making crepes stuffed with homegrown New Zealand and homemade sage sausage, and  covered with cheese sauce; pork chops with Depression gravy; boiled cabbage (green = money, don't you know?). Although it's not on the menu, I might fry up some potatoes, too. 

This is pretty much our traditional New Years Eve supper. We change some things up occasionally-- sauerkraut instead of cabbage, various blackeye dishes-- but the basics remain the same from year to year.  Pork. Cabbage. Crepes. REPEAT. 

There's nothing quite like leftover crepes for breakfast on January 1 (especially if there's leftover champagne). 

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"Jó reggelt!" is "Good Morning" in Hungarian. The Hungarians make crepe dishes that are so good it almost makes me want to go there again one last time. It is a real shame Hungary is in such dire straights.