Tradition #9 - New Year's

We are on our last few days of 2017 and on our last tradition. Today we are taking a look at New Year’s traditions from around the world. Some of them you’ll be familiar with and maybe even do, and some will be new to you and you might want to give them a try.

A popular tradition is watching the ball drop at Times Square at midnight. Whether you're there or just watching on TV, it’s something that you always associate with New Year’s Eve.

Originating in Scotland, Auld Lang Syne is usually heard or sung as the old year goes out and the New Year comes in.

Kissing at midnight is another fun tradition which started in Europe to “ensure” that you won’t spend the year ahead lonely.

In Mexico and Brazil, it is said that colourful underwear will help you have the type of year you want. For example yellow means prosperity and success and red means lots of love ahead for you.

Many Spanish speaking countries will eat 12 grapes at midnight so that they have 12 months of good luck.

Circles in the Philippines mean good luck so you will see many people from the Philippines wearing something polka dotted on New Year’s.  

In Denmark, people save unused dishes and throw them against doors of family and friends on New Year’s Eve. They also jump from chairs at midnight as a way to “jump” into the New Year.

Japanese Buddhists will ring bells 108 times at the temples for good luck and cleanliness in the New Year.

Swiss people will drop ice cream on their floors to celebrate the New Year. Ah! What a waste of ice cream.

In Romania, they toss coins into rivers to ensure that they have a happy New Year.

Belgium farmers take their livestock seriously, they wish all of the cows a Happy New Year when the clock strikes 12. In Romania, the farmers even talk to their cows for long periods of time as the New Year begins.

This one’s interesting; some people in Siberia will go into freezing cold lakes carrying tree trunks. Don’t know why exactly, but it’s like Polar Swims I guess but with tree trunks.

In France, the New Year is ushered in with a big stack of crepes.

 

Happy New Year!

Lapis Blue, Healthy Energy Balls

“Conveying even more energy is Lapis Blue. Strong and confident, this intense blue shade is imbued with an inner radiance.” – Pantone 19-4045

This is our last Spring Colour post and I’m kinda sad about that because I love when we find cool themes like this and get inspired by them.  The last colour in the Pantone Spring collection is called Lapis Blue. The description talked about energy, so we went with that and found some recipes for energy balls. We followed one recipe and made up one of our own, no nuts of course! There are so many protein bars out there with nuts so these recipes are a perfect bite size snack for those with allergies or without that will give you a bit of energy during the day or before or after a workout.

Cinnamon Caramel Apple Energy Balls

We found this recipe on TheMelroseFamily.com blog and we were able to find all of the ingredients nut free so we followed this recipe step by step.

You will need...

½ cup of pitted dates

1 cup of dried apples (the chewy ones)

½ cup of oats
2 tsp cinnamon

All you need to do is combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and process into a thick paste. Then once that is made, roll into balls. It’s best if you make bite sized energy balls but you can make smaller ones for kids or a little bit bigger ones if you want a bigger protein snack. We laid them out on a cookie sheet and chilled them for a bit, but you can eat them right away if you want to.

Nut Free Cranberry Bran Balls

Ok, so originally these balls were called Nut Free Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Balls but we couldn’t find safe nut free pumpkin seeds so we improvised a bit.

You will need...

½ cup bran flakes

½ cup oats

1 cup of pitted dates

¼-1/3 cup of dried cranberries

Pulse the bran and oats together until they are broken down just a bit. Then add the dried fruit and process into a gooey dough. Like the previous balls, roll the balls into bite sized treats and place on a cookie sheet and chill.

The verdict on energy balls...the Cranberry Bran balls were kinda dry and the texture was not my thing and Nicole didn’t care for them too much either. Maybe the pumpkin seeds might have been a better choice? The Apple Cinnamon balls were moister and the flavour was better, but again for me the texture wasn’t appealing and it was very chewy, but Nicole seemed to like these ones better.