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Happy New Year

It's New Year's eve, that night of nights when we eat something that will bring prosperity for the year to come.

In the south, they will likely be having "hopping john," blackeyed peas and rice with bacon or ham, as their lucky dish.

In many parts of the world, carp will be eaten. I'm not holding forth on the culinary miracle that is carp, it's really all about the fact that they have really big scales that resemble coins, and eating carp for New Years and keeping a couple of the scales in your wallet is supposed to bring you wealth.

My spouse is Polish, and I am of German descent. For us, essentials for the season are pork and cabbage. Many Polish folks will be eating kielbasa z Kapusta (sausage and sauerkraut) tonight. But we will be having kapusta z kluski, cabbage and noodles.

Pork with cabbage is almost mandatory, at least on New Years Eve, Kapusta (which means both fresh cabbage and sauerkraut) and kluski (egg noodles) are eaten year around. Kapusta z kluski is one of those wonderful peasant dishes found in every culture that turns very cheap ingredients into something wonderful.

So, how do you make it? The only absolutely mandatory ingredients are cabbage and noodles, but there are other things like bacon and dill that make it yummy, add 'em if you've got 'em, don't sweat it if you don't.

Begin by chopping up 12 ounces of bacon if you have it, or a similar quantity of ham. The idea with the bacon is that you throw it in a large pot and let it fry and render the fat, which will then be used to saute other ingredients. So if you are using ham instead, or are doing it meatless, throw in at least three tablespoons of butter to replace the bacon fat.

When the bacon is rendered (or the butter is sizzling) add a thinly sliced onion and saute for a minute or so. Then add a thinly sliced head of green cabbage, toss it around and reduce the heat to low. Add a bunch of chopped fresh dill (if you have it) or a couple of tablespoons dried dill and cover.

While that is cooking, put a 12 ounce package of egg noodles on to boil in salted water. When they are done, drain them and stir them into the cabbage mixture. Add a splash of vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

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