New Year: how did you celebrate? What are the traditions in your country?

[Quincy]

Hello everyone,

I hope you've all had a great New Year's Eve! 

Every country celebrates NYE differently and in the Netherlands, we have a tradition where you eat an Oliebol (a doughnut like pastry with or without raisins). Usually, all neighbours would come out of their houses and wish each other a happy New Year whilst drinking champagne and perhaps lighting some ornamental fireworks. The real hardliners participate in doing a New Year's Day dive (I already feel ice-cold just thinking about it). 

Of course, we would also make our New Year’s resolutions! 

This year, as things were a little different, my girlfriend and I spent the evening at home while observing the fireworks and a show with drones that we could see in the distance! 

Do you have any New Year’s traditions specific to your country or town? What were your New Year’s resolutions? 🙂

Looking forward to reading your comments!

Quincy

[Helen427]

What a great way to bring in the New Year you had @Quincy 

Is there any chance of changing the photo to show that of people in the Netherlands/ Holland with some local treats for those who may like to see what they look like??

And a recipe or three??

We've got our eyes on some more Dutch Treats including Stoolen at our local store 🙂

Wholesalers not open for another week or so.

Meanwhile I've introduced some friends, and others to Dutch Liquorice, including 'Chalk' (children love it) and Venco Kleurendrop (assorted colours of coating and flavours) so our suppliers run out of stock faster!!

"Bringing cultures across the world together through the love and enjoyment of food"

[Quincy]

Hi @Helen427! Here's a photo of the Olliebollen 😃

I found another Dutch treat in a store here which we call 'Speculaas' 😊. I'm not sure if you've heard of it? 

Unfortunately, one of my favourite Dutch stores (HEMA) is closed due to the lockdown. I usually get my liquorice from them. I need some new liquorice supplies 😆  

I'm surprised that the kids love it!

[Helen427]

Oh @Quincy We kids always loved those St Nicholas Day parcels sent from Europe as children.

Nothing beats encouraging other people and their children, including adult children to try treats from another culture and country to share the love and traditions..

We have a high proportion of Europeans in Remuera and a good cross section of others.

It helps when Zara is in tow and children stop and pat her we share those stories:)

We are totally over the trade disruptions with freight hold ups and think it's a terrible tragedy the impacts of a small cluster of decision makers have done to all people and their basic rights.

Currently there's also a lack of Vanilla Beans which has serious adverse affects on food production, ice-cream, coffee, biscuits etc and those who grow and work in Vanilla Bean plantations in rural regions afar in another land who rely on income to feed themselves.

Mad Scientists who don't think logically how their behaviours impact on our long standing harmonious Circular economy & basic essentials in the world, SIGH!!!

[Nutth0]

Hi @Quincy and happy new year to you. December, is a peak season in Chiang Mai and we have a local guest stay with us. So we eat hotpot at home 🙂 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Nutth0 

Photo was taken 31-Dec-2016, 11:40pm while we were waiting for the New Year countdown to 2017 😁

 

[Quincy]

Happy New Year to you as well @Nutth0! I love eating hotpot 😃  (especially the spicy version) 

[Ann72]

@Quincy  There must be Champagne!  Otherwise nothing specific, and I've spent New Year's Eve on a dark country road and a restaurant just off Times Square, at a race in Central Park and the apartment where Roy Scheider lived in "All That Jazz," at a friend's Italian restaurant in Brooklyn (I somehow left my shoes there and walked home in stocking feet and a fur coat - don't ask), with sleepy children on a rooftop watching fireworks in Prospect Park and wandering across Paris with friends after the Metro had shut down.  My mother always gave a New Year's Day party and served herring in cream sauce, which she said was because our Dutch ancestors ate it, but sadly I haven't carried on the tradition (sorry, not sorry lol).  New Year's Eve should be celebrated even if, as I seem to have done more often lately, you fall asleep before the ball descends...

[Emilia42]

@Ann72 I haven't made it to the stroke of midnight in years! I still enjoy the champagne, oysters, and sushi but at like 6 pm. 😀

[Ann72]

That's as it should be, @Emilia42!

[Quincy]

Oh no, did you at least get the shoes back?? 😂

I think I've had that version of herring before! In the past, I used to go to the market every Saturday to buy Dutch herring with onions and pickles @Ann72! 

[Ann72]

@Quincy  That looks rather - festive!  😂

I did get them back.  Now I'm wondering, though, if I really walked home?  Perhaps someone gave me a ride.  One of the musicians, I believe.  It was a ridiculously fun night.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Quincy @Ann72 @Emilia42 @Nutth0 @Helen427 

In Korea, families gather to watch the Bosingak annual bell ringing ceremony, and there are fireworks or events (like K-pop concerts) held at various locations. We usually stay home, jump from channel to channel to watch all the different televised versions instead of going out in the cold. 😁 This year everything was cancelled due to Covid  😭 and it was arranged so that people could watch the bell ringing and other events thru real-time streaming.

https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=158574 

http://tbs.seoul.kr/eFm/newsView.do?typ_800=O&idx_800=3417219&seq_800=

Getting ready to say goodbye to 20201st beer of 2021 - Happy New Year

This is from 2018, what it would have been like without covid 😢  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RebCG8ckT7k

@Helen427  Henry's sister sent us Stollen for Christmas~~ we loved it!!!!! 

Stollen from Henry's sisterPerfect dessert~

[Quincy]

This year's celebration has been different 😢.  We would normally invite friends over, but this was of course not possible. 

This is how they did it this year in London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpJIg_3DnLk. I was lucky enough to see some of it from at home as it was quite foggy. 

I really love Stollen 😍  The supermarket where I bought the Dutch treats from also sold them around Christmas! 

[Angela1056]

Hi @Quincy , what a surprise you like Stollen and Spekulatius! These are two typical  German Christmas sweets. I am German but I have lived in Italy for over 50 years now with my husband Vittorio. We raised our 4 children and now have 8 grandchildren. We are always so happy when my sisters from Germany send us these sweets for Christmas. Stollen has a very old tradition and was created by a bakery in Dresden but today it is well known also in many other countries. Sometimes it comes also with a marzipan interior, but the original one did not.

Spekulatius (from specula: mirror) biscuits get their name from the way they were originally baked: the dough is spread on wooden tiles with a relief design (like angels, sheeps, Santa Claus, mangers etc.) and when the biscuits are removed from the tiles the design on the biscuits is mirrored. Children love it. 

I hope you like my little contribution to this thread and I wish a Happy New Year to you and all the Comunity!

Angela