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Liesel Schmidt

Great Foods for a Great New Year

T

he New Year…it’s a time 
of new beginnings, fresh 
starts and the perfect 
opportunity to hit the 

refresh button and shake off whatever 
went less than ideally in the year that’s 
just come to a close. January 1 is a day 
that, for many, seems rife with possibility 
for wonderful things to come, and so 
the day is one surrounded by traditions 
and superstitions held by people in 
every corner of the world. Yes, you know 
it’s good luck to raise a glass and kiss 
someone at the stroke of midnight, but 
did you know that there are certain foods 
believed to bring on the good luck? From 
prosperity to fertility, those bites you take 
on New Year’s can symbolize all sorts of 

great things and we’ve got a few foods 
you might want to work into your day.

Bring bunches of blessings into 

your New Year! In Spain and Portugal, 
eating twelve grapes as the clock strikes 
midnight is thought to bring good luck 
on each of the twelve months of the 
coming year.

Love a doughnut or a bagel? Pick one 

up for breakfast on New Year’s Day 
and bite with abandon, the ring shape 
is symbolic of the year having come 
full circle. 

Greeks don’t only smash plates for 

good luck—at the turning of the New 
Year, it’s considered symbolic of great 
prosperity and good fortune to break 
open a pomegranate on the floor right 

in front of the door. The more seeds you 
see, the more luck you’re sure to enjoy.

Bring on the bacon (or whatever pork 

product you love)! The generously round 
shape of well-fed pigs is commonly 

Dishing Up Luck: 

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12/20/16   8:57 AM