beachbum1A
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NEW YEARS CUSTOMS
Did anyone get to try any of this grape eating custom out last night?
A custom in a number of countries and one of my favorites is the eating of a grape at the sound of each chime as the New Year is rung in. Some say a
wish should accompany each grape as it is popped in the mouth. There are others who maintain that this feat should be accomplished while standing on
your left foot while holding a glass of bubbly in your right hand, which you drink from once all the grapes are eaten and you set your right foot
down, beginning the year so to speak, on the right foot.
This all requires a great deal more coordination than I am capable of, with of without bubbly. I'm more inclined to create rather a spectacle with a
mouth full of grapes, trying to cram the required twelve in without convulsing in laughter and thereby spewing out partially chewed grapes on one and
all.
It helps if you opt for seedless varieties.
The grape eating is often followed by the guests at a party joining hands and making a circle where each person in turn shares his or her wish for the
next year or makes an announcement or recounts something he or she is particularly grateful for. These pronouncements can run the gamut from the
profound to the profane.
Just do it!
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bajajudy
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I think that you are supposed to wear red underwear here in Mexico.
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fdt
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I heard it was no underware
A well informed Baja California traveler is a smart Baja California traveler!
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bajabound2005
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black eyes peas in the South (of the US)
Chinese Food in Boston
That grape eating custom is actually a Mexican custom!
Friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel.
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bajadock
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Is that a zinfandel grape?
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bajajudy
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Ferna
You peeked.
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Oso
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It's Mexican and Cuban, possibly some other Latin countries as well. BTW, they have to be green grapes, not red.
We did that, but for food went back to my roots. Cooked up a big pot of black-eyed peas. Also collard greens with ham hocks and cornbread.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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bajajudy
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Oso
I would kill for some collard greens...you are breaking my heart.
We have become so Mexcianized that we had black eyed pea salsa with pomegranate seeds...it was delicious but ham hocks would have been better
This year we are doing the Mexican tradition of Pozole. Yummy.
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bajaguy
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I ate all of my grapes....they were Cabernet's, the liquid variety in a glass.
Watched the ball fall in New York, and was in bed by 10PM
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beachbum1A
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Oso
We did that, but for food went back to my roots. Cooked up a big pot of black-eyed peas. Also collard greens with ham hocks and cornbread.
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Now that sure beats the heck out of GRAPES! Except maybe substitute mustard greens for the collards.
Just do it!
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Oso
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajajudy
Oso
I would kill for some collard greens...you are breaking my heart.
We have become so Mexcianized that we had black eyed pea salsa with pomegranate seeds...it was delicious but ham hocks would have been better
This year we are doing the Mexican tradition of Pozole. Yummy. |
I was somewhat surprised to find them available, fresh not frozen. at Albertson's in Yuma. I don't know where they were grown. Back in NC, we never
picked them until after the first frost. It seemed to make a difference in the texture when cooked. I've never tried mustard greens, probably a
local variation, but I believe the point of the custom is something green and leafy. Spinach might also work, or if nothing else, in Mexico;
verdolagas, quelites, huanzontles.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Ken Cooke
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Here in Northern Colombia, on every street was a stuffed effigy of a person symbolizing the past year. This life-sized doll was burned as a way of
letting go of the past. Neighbors walked the streets, hugging each of their neighbors, wishing them a happy New Years, and everyone salsa danced on
their front terraces above the streets outside of their homes. I took tons of photos and lots of video.
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tunaeater
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We ate the grapes, opened the door (to let out bad spirits) and took the suitcases in and out the front door(for many travels).
Didn't have the red undies for love. Someone also mentioned to burn a yellow candle(not sure why).
It was mariscos for dinner.
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shari
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I think next year we will adopt the effagy burning...I have a couple I need to rid myself of....here too, red underwear, the grapes, open door and
then they run around the house 12 times too..whew.
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Oso
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Hmmmm, 383 days to go. It will be a couple weeks after next New Years but I can think of a very specific effigy to burn...
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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