New Year's Day

The first day of the New Year, a clear calendar ahead to fill in any way you wish.  This day can be full of hope for the future and full of gratitude for the opportunity to start fresh and try again. Life isn't about regrets or failures.  It's about how many times you learn from the past, resolve to do better in the future, and start again with a hopeful heart.  Live this new year with Generosity and Joy!

We are not big New Year's Eve celebrators in our family, though we have tried on occasion.  With our daily work schedules, midnight is just way too late to be awake!  So, pick a time zone, and celebrate when it's convenient for you.  The New Year is dawning somewhere in the world for a full 24 hours!

A great way to ring in the New Year is to share a special meal on New Year's Day with family and friends.  Here's a menu you can make at home adapted from a local upscale restaurant's New Year's Eve Special.

Since Pork Roast is on the menu,
this card looked appropriate

Chopped Salad:  lettuce, blue cheese, tomato, cucumber, chopped hard-boiled eggs, bacon, dressing of choice.
Minnesota Wild Rice Soup: recipe follows.
Pork Roast: pork roast, 1 cup cranberry juice, 1 can whole cranberries. Bake in slow cooker 4-8 hours - time depends on size of roast, if it's frozen or thawed, and whether you use low or high setting.
Mashed Potatoes:  Add a little milk and sour cream or cream cheese while mashing your boiled potatoes.
Asparagus:  Snap off the stem ends. Lay spears in frying pan with 1 inch of boiling water and cook/steam for about 5 minutes.
Apple Spice Cake or Dark Chocolate Cake:  Make it simple and buy a cake mix.  Bake according to package directions. 


Minnesota Wild Rice Soup:
2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup white cooking wine (optional)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup diced COOKED chicken or turkey
1/2 cup diced COOKED ham or 1/4 cup diced cooked bacon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped peeled carrots
1 (4 oz) can mushroom pieces, drained
1/4 cup raw white rice
1/8 cup raw wild rice, rinsed
1 cup milk
1 or 2 Tablespoons corn starch
salt & pepper
1/4 cup chopped or sliced almonds

Saute' onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms in butter until tender crisp.  Set aside.  Bring stock & wine to a boil.  Add bouillon cube, bay leaf, meats, rices and saute'd vegetables.  Simmer covered for 1 1/4 hours.  Mix corn starch and milk.  Add to soup and stir until thickened, but do not bring to a hard boil.  Add almonds.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Remove bay leaf before serving.