Hy-Vee Recipes and Ideas

A staple on New Year's day, especially in the South. These beans are thought to represent coins symbolizing wealth and abundance in the New Year.

Ever heard money referred to as "the green"? Many cultures take this literally and believe that eating leafy greens will help bring money and luck in the New Year.

Corn bread also symbolizes wealth in the New Year because slices of cornbread look like gold bars. Or in our recipe's case, golden caramelized onion rings.

Some consider it the luckiest of all foods, and it has everything to do with the pig. Rich in fat and flavor, fatty pieces of pork are thought to bring happiness in the New Year. Did you know pigs also "root forward" with their noses which symbolizes progress and moving forward. 

In Mexico and Spain, eating 12 grapes just as the clock strikes for each hour is thought to bring you luck in the 12 months to come. Not to mention the sweetness of each grape represents how many "sweet" or "good" months the upcoming year will have.

Whole baked fish are a staple New Year's food world wide. They symbolize abundance (think of all those fish in the sea) and their silvery scales look like coins, which also symbolizes wealth.

Extra-long noodles are extra-lucky on New Year's day. If you can eat them without breaking them in the middle, it is thought to bring you a long and prosperous life.

Lentils are coin-shaped legumes that were even said to be eaten for luck since Roman times due to their shape. Grains are also known for their representation of wealth but also their fertility, due to their abundance and ability to feed both animals and humans.

Donuts, cakes, cupcakes, you name it: all are lucky on New Year's Day. Circular foods represent "coming full circle." Some cultures even bake a large coin-like object into one of the desserts, the person who finds it is thought to have an extra-lucky year.