Hello again and welcome to 2024! Happy New Year! 🙂

What your New Year’s Day traditions are at your house? We are having a quiet day at home. One thing we usually do is eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day. It’s been a tradition in my family for as long as I remember. As a kid, I wasn’t all that impressed. 😉 I remember my mom adding some kind of dumplings on top of the sauerkraut. That was the only part I wanted to eat. But now I enjoy sauerkraut although I like mashed potatoes with my sauerkraut. There is a little bulk food store close to us that sells some yummy sausage so I put some of those in my crockpot with sauerkraut and let it cook on low most of the day. And then we need mashed potatoes, of course…and my sauerkraut goes on top of my mashed potatoes.

Did you ever wonder why people eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day? I looked it up so in case you are curious too, here’s why: It seems Germans have been eating sauerkraut and pork on New Year’s Day for many generations and its because they believed it would bring them good luck. The legend says that they ate pork because pigs look forward when they root for their food while chickens and turkeys scratch around backwards. In a similar way, the Germans were looking forward to the new year. They also wished each other as many riches as there are shreds of cabbage in sauerkraut. So when some Germans immigrated to Ohio and Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries, they brought their traditions with them. Some of my ancestors were German and we live in Ohio so I guess that’s why we enjoy pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day.

So whatever your traditions are at your house, I’m wishing you the very best as we begin 2024. Thanks for spending time with us in 2023 and I hope you’ll stay tuned for more fun ahead!

Love and hugs to you all! :)