Lucky foods for the new year

Just a quick note about the Simply in Season recipe of the week, Easy Homemade Sauerkraut. It was selected to coincide with the traditional New Years meal of pork and sauerkraut.

Growing up in Oregon, I had never heard of such a thing, but in my years in Indiana and Pennsylvania, I always enjoyed the pork or sausage with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes served at community suppers.

It’s fun to read about the folklore behind such traditions. Eating pork is considered lucky because pigs burrow forward into the ground, digging up treasures with its snout. Cabbage is said to be associated with good luck because it is green, like folding cash.

What’s more: “Cabbage, even sauerkraut, is supposed to help cure `the morning after the night before' making it an ancient remedy for another famous New Year's Day tradition - hangovers.''

I can’t vouch for that one, but certainly sauerkraut, that traditional winter staple, is known for its health benefits, even, it's said, by fighting cancer and avian flu.

Here’s an article about other traditional foods served at New Years around the world:
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/aicr_newyearfood.html

Or listen to yesterday’s “Marketplace” story about the growing population of wild pigs in the U.S. and the renewed interest in hunting these animals.

Best wishes to all in 2006! Happy new year!