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Thursday, January 01, 2004
| It's kind of funny that Zam and I alway joke about how we share a brain. All along, I had intended today to make my New Year's Day blog post about our strange, yet enduring PA Dutch New Year's traditions. Prior to writing this post, I stopped in at Zam's Blog, only to find that she has posted a wonderful little tidbit about her Cuban heritage and her family's New Year's traditions. (It's really a beautiful little entry--you should go read it.) Now, of course, I seem as if I am a copy-cat. However, I shall continue on with my original plan. So, here's the skinny on how we Dutchies in Pennsylvania celebrate the first day of our new year.
For those who may not know, the term Pennsylvania Dutch actually has nothing to do with Holland or the actual Dutch at all. The first settlers from Germany who came to PA back in the time of William Penn and the colonials were actually misunderstood because of their German accents, and when asked their original nationality, their reply of "Deutsch" (the German word for "German") became "Dutch." Hence, the whole PA Dutch--also called, more correctly, Pennsylvania German--culture, which is really German-based. (My town is famous for its annual Pennsylvania German Festival every year.) That being said, on to the explanation. *whew* Any self-respecting Dutchman would rather be caught dead than not having eaten his pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. For as long as I can remember, my mother has made the traditional pork and sauerkraut for the New Year's Day dinner. Growing up, all my friends' moms made it, too. That's how you can tell which families are true PA Dutch. It's just the way it is. It's supposed to bring good luck for the upcoming year. It's crazy here. Talk to anyone on New Year's Day, and one of the first questions they ask is, "Did you have your pork and kraut?" The folklore goes that the pork, rather than chicken or turkey, is good luck for the new year because a pig will thrust its nose forward in the dirt when it is looking for food, while a chicken or turkey will scratch backward. This idea, that if you eat chicken on New Year's Day, you'll be scratching for food all year long, originated with the first German settlers to come to Pennsylvania. Usually, heaps of mashed potatoes accompany the pork and kraut, but in our family, the one other deelish tradition we PA Dutch have is that of the lettuce and bacon dressing. Oh my goodness. That is one thing that I love. So simple, but yet, soooooo good. Honestly, the name says it all. It's lettuce with a few hard boiled eggs sliced up on top, and then warm bacon dressing sprinkled over top of the lettuce. Yumm. I'm sure it clogs your arteries in less than 5 seconds, but heck, I only eat it once a year, so it's ok. Anyway, that's how we do things here in Dutch country. I hope that everyone who reads this has a wonderfully happy, healthy, and prosperous 2004, and that only good things await you and yours in the year to come. Peace out. ¶ Ξ PDawg Composed at 5:47:00 PM |
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