"Out with the old and in with the new" applies to changes made as a new year begins, but when it comes to food on New Year's Day, they continue without change, year after year, decade after decade.
Most food selections are based on what good luck or good fortune they will bring someone as the new year unfolds.
Locally, most people begin their new year with a meal including some form of pork, usually coupled with sauerkraut, a tradition from the Pennsylvania German culture. Since it pushes forward when it's ready to move, the pig symbolizes moving forward into the future. Its large size also signifies prosperity and wealth.
Traditional New Year's Day foods also have many variations according to cultures and ethnic groups, including fish, grapes, cooked greens such as cabbage, collards, kale and chard, legumes, fish and others.
A native of El Salvador, Delmy McGauley, Shenandoah, remembers her mother preparing food for the holiday when she was growing up.
"My mother used to makes tamales," McGauley said. "It's made out of dough. She would make a special sauce that was really, really good. She would make either chicken or pork, hard-boiled eggs in two pieces, olives, potatoes, salt and sweet, putting sugar into the dough. She would add prunes. Then you would put everything into a pot, covering it with banana leaves and cook it. It was very special because she made it with her own hands."
McGauley said the dinner could be served with wine, but her mother served a special drink called "chicha."
"My mom used to make chicha, which took a long time to make because it was fermented under the ground in a clay pot," she explained. "You use pineapple peel, orange peel and brown sugar. Being that we were little and she was making it for us, she didn't put in liquor, but you can if you want to. It is really, really, really delicious. You had to prepare it one or two months before so you can drink it on New Year's Day."
A native Korean, Theresa Mitchell, owner of Lee's Oriental Gourmet Food, Shenandoah, said a good luck food for the new year is soup made with dumplings.
"Dumpling soup is a good fortune food," Mitchell said. "It wishes good health to the person. The reason may be that we're in winter and the soup provides good nutrition with vegetables, meat, everything combined that's good food in a warm soup."
Mitchell added that the dumpling soup is frequently served with a rice cake.
"This is a tradition with the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese for the new year," Mitchell said.
The traditional foods for New Year's Day in Egypt have their own uniqueness, according to Nabil Youssef, a native of Egypt who has lived in the United States for 39 years, five of those in Shenandoah.
"For breakfast, the tradition food is falafel, which is fried vegetarian burger," Youssef said. "There are also fava beans, which are similar to lima beans, but we cook them with olive oil and some tahini."
There are other foods as well, including shish kabob made with barbecue beef or chicken.
"The traditional bread is similar to the whole wheat bread, but it is like pita bread," Youssef said.
Bill Beltz, manager of The Restaurant at The Station in Tamaqua, and son of owners Bill and Sheri Beltz, said there are changes to the menu for New Year's Eve.
"For New Year's, we didn't put anything really traditional, but we changed up our menu a little bit," Beltz said. "We'll have the jagerschnitzel, which is like the old wienerschnitzel but with mushroom cream sauce. We're also doing surf 'n turf, prime rib, crab cakes and the stuffed tilapia."
Diners today at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store by the Schuylkill Mall will get a taste of a New Year's Day lucky food from the south.
"Just in keeping with tradition, we'll offer a complementary dish of black-eyed peas, a symbol of good fortune to guests on New Year's Day while supplies last," said restaurant manager Rebecca Mellen. "We'll start serving the black-eyed peas at 11 a.m. They symbolize prosperity."
Mellen, who has been with the company for 13 years and as manager for seven years, added, "If you combine black-eyed peas with turnip greens, the peas represent coins and the turnip greens are like paper dollars. If you add cornbread to it, the cornbread represents gold."
The legend that made black-eyed peas lucky goes back to the Civil War when the residents of Vicksburg, Miss., ran out of food during an attack and had the good fortune to have found some during the turmoil.
Mellen said the company has been serving the black-eyed peas since its founding in 1969. The peas are served with a meal without prior notice, so questions are asked by diners.
"The reaction is 'What is that?' and 'I didn't order that,' especially up here in the north," Mellen said. "We just let them know it's for good luck. It's a southern tradition, kind of like we have pork and sauerkraut."