Seasonal Sundays (Week 53) Happy Lucky New Year

As we count down the last days of 2022, how about setting up the new year for good luck and good fortune with traditional greens and other foods from the American South? No jinxes here, I promise!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

So heaven knows, we could've used a little luck this week.

Somebody here got a toothache, just four days before Christmas. We had several Christmas events planned, all but one were cancelled and even the Solstice Dinner dropped from a convivial eight to a friendly six because of you-know-the-culprits.

But maybe we did have some good luck after all???

We got my husband into the dentist the very next morning. Amanda Coyle is the best dentist in all St. Louis!

The Solstice Dinner was so relaxed and lovely, perfect timing for a meal with friends, kinda like Friendsgiving except at Christmas. I served four slow, individual courses, nothing fancy, everything delicious. (Recipes to come!)

And then ...

ATT had a big internet outage that included our neighborhood. But you know what? It happened during the days right before Christmas: it wasn't calamitous, nothing HAD to be done.

And then ...

My car's check engine light came on when it was sunny but only 3 degrees. But I was only 2 miles from our mechanic and the station was open and most of all, the car's battery was so near-dead it would've stopped on me any minute. (Funny story. The car also needed an alternator, which was going to take a bit to get delivered so I accepted the station's offer of their loaner car. Somebody went to warm it up for me and it, too, had a dead battery!)

And then ...

After several days of just-above-zero temps, our street had a water main break which turned the entrance into a skating rink and everyone lost water. Except us! Which meant we could offer hot showers and more to our neighbors.

So maybe just thinking about all these New Year's foods that promise good fortune in the new year was already working? Who knows, maybe!

A FINNISH NEW YEAR's TRADITION One of the most magical nights of my entire life was the second New Year's Eve in Helsinki. Think walking through a forest with sparkles of snow sprinkling through the tree tops to reach a brightly lit home filled with friends already in full celebration mode. Think dropping molten metal into ice buckets, the odd shapes supposedly predict the new year. This year, my husband and I will continue one tradition, sausages and potato salad for New Year's Eve. It's far from the fussy appetizers of yore but homey to gather round and easy for the cook and and cleaner-upper. This year, I think we'll find some European-style sausages to sample ...

NEW YEAR'S WITH KIDS Set the clocks ahead by two or three or even four hours, then break out the bubbly and noisemakers just before what's really ten or nine or even eight o'clock. Then go to bed! PS It works! Best sleep ever ...

About the Photo By Popular Request, a Little Insight into the Top Image: Looking out onto December snow, a candle reflected in the window glass, enahanced by the Pilot filter from my much-loved Prisma app. Who can see the flags outstretched in that hard north wind?

Made Me Think ...

• Metropolitan Diary's Best of the Year (and hey! for anyone else who has trouble seeing this sweet little column every week, if you use an RSS reader, just search for Metropolitan Diary and you're in)

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SEASONAL INSPIRATION: Lucky Greens & Other Foods for Good Fortune in the New Year

• THE RECIPE Lucky Black-Eyed Pea Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer Black-Eyed Pea Salad

• THE RECIPE Braised Collard Greens Slow-cooked on the stove until almost buttery.
• ANOTHER TAKE Simple Swiss Chard How to sauté chard in a skillet, just three ingredients.

• THE RECIPE Slow-Cooked Greens & Smoked Turkey So good, you'll want to eat the pot.
• ANOTHER TAKE Red Beans & Rice Slow-cooked Creole comfort food.

• THE RECIPE Summer Black-Eyed Pea Salad
• ANOTHER TAKE Big Cajun Chopped Salad

• THE RECIPE Lucky Black-Eyed Pea Soup
• ANOTHER TAKE New Year's Soup with Black-eyed Peas & Collard Greens

• THE RECIPE New Year's Soup with Black-eyed Peas & Collard Greens Healthy & satisfying vegan soup after holiday indulgence.
• ANOTHER TAKE Hoppin' John Soup A double dose of good luck for the New Year. Use up leftover ham!

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE RECIPE Holiday Fruit & Yogurt Parfait with Cranberries, Applesauce, Pineapple & Kiwi A showstopper for holiday brunches and parties.

Compliments!

Dang spammers. I've had to turn comments off again, thanks to spambots leaving hundreds of spam comments a day, what a scourge.

But I miss hearing from y'all!

So if you've made a recipe from Kitchen Parade or A Veggie Venture, feel free to drop a quick email, my current address is in the FAQs. I especially love to hear about your adaptations.

• MADE ME SMILE "I found your delicious recipes for roasted green beans with walnuts and rosemary. I made it last night and it was flavorful and so easy. Now a personal favorite." ~ Christy B.
• THE RECIPE Roasted Green Beans with Rosemary & Walnuts Quickly roasted at high heat.

• OVERHEARD "These are to DIE for." ~Mark
• THE RECIPE Creamy Brussels Sprouts Gratin An appetizer with toothpicks? A forgiving side dish? Yes and yes.

• MAKES ME BLUSH "What is IN this dressing???" ~ Jan
• THE RECIPE My Everyday Creamy Herb Salad Dressing Never the same twice, Jan loved a version with lots of fresh dill.

Just Updated!

• THE COLLECTION Best Recipes of 2003 from Kitchen Parade, just one recipe for every month.
• THE BEST OF THE BEST Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes 2002 – Present

• THE RECIPE Cranberry Macadamia-Butter Cookies Sweet and chewy, an annual obsession.
• ANOTHER TAKE Fresh Cranberry Drop Cookies Cookie bites bright with fresh cranberry, sweet orange and toasty pecans.

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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