Source: Rachel K.

Main > Food & Drinks > The Top 10 Good Luck Foods for the New Year!

  The Good Luck Foods of the New Year

Each time the New Year rolls around, cultures around the world celebrate with a traditional feast of foods thought to bring good luck and fortune in the New Year. Here are 10 foods that you should eat on the eve of the new year to ensure that 2014 is the best year yet!

Long Noodles In China and Japan as well as many other major Asian countries it is customary to eat long noodles on New Year's Day. They believe that the length of the noodle signifies longevity and full life in the year to come. Usually the noodles are prepared in a stir-fry or in soup and are devoured by children and adults alike.   Pork In countries like Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and Austria it is common to consume pork during the New Year because pigs symbolize progress and development. This is because these animals supposedly never move backward, or because in their feeding habits, pigs push their snouts forward along the ground looking for food. Round Fruit Eating round fruit is a common New Year's tradition for a number of cultures, but the number of pieces differs. For instance, in the Philippines, by custom usually 13 pieces are eaten because it is considered a lucky number. In Europe and the United States, usually 12 pieces are eaten which represents the number of months of the year. The only condition common to all round fruit eaten for the New Year is that it must be sweet! So stock up on those oranges and tangerines for good luck this year!   Whole Fish In Chinese, the word for 'fish' sounds similar to the word for 'abundance', making fish a good luck food for the new year in that culture. It is important, however that the head and tail be served intact to ensure a good new year from start to finish.   Pomegranates In Middle Eastern cultures, pomegranates signify prosperity and fertility, but also good luck and fortune. In Turkey, pomegranates are consumed on the New Year because they believe that the red represents the human heart, the medicinal properties of the fruit represent health, and their many round seeds represent prosperity. If these are things you wish for yourself or others in the New Year, pick up some delicious tart pomegranates.   Greens Start the New Year off on a healthy foot! In the American South and Europe people consume green leafy veggies like kale, collards and cabbage on New Year's Day. This is due to their color, which is the same as the dollar, and the belief is that the more you eat, the most prosperous and healthy you will be!   Lentils This popular New Year's treat in Italy is called Cotechino con Lenticchie, or green lentils with sausage. It is consumed for the New Year due to lentil's green color and coin-like appearance, similar to the reason people in the Americas eat greens. It is also believed that when the lentils are cooked and soaked in water they become plump, which means the individual will experience a growth in wealth.   Pickled Herring In Germany, Poland and Scandinavia it is believed that eating herring at the stroke of midnight is the key to a year of bounty. This is because herring are present in abundance throughout Western Europe and their silvery color is similar to the color of coins, a good omen for future fortune.   Black Eyed Peas In the southern United States, it is common to serve black eyed peas along with collard greens for the New Year. Black eyed peas are considered good luck because of their penny-like appearance and abundance. One of the more traditional dishes made with black eyed peas is called Hoppin' John, or a dish of peas and rice. The day after New Year's Day, the leftover Hoppin' John becomes Skippin' Jenny to demonstrate frugality and promote prosperity in the New Year.   Cornbread Another southern favorite, this sweet and delicious treat is eaten because its color resembles gold. For an extra lucky loaf of cornbread, some chefs add corn kernels to symbolize gold nuggets. Wishing you the best of luck and good eats in the New Year!

The Colorful Beauty of Japanese Trees!

The Colorful Beauty of Japanese Trees!

Japan is more than Japanese culture, it is also a land of unspeakable natural beauty. A big part of that fact is the marvelous and beautiful trees that grow in the land of the rising sun. Lets have a look and see some of the most gorgeous ones.

The Japenese Wisteria is a far cousin of the common garden peas. This remarkable tree, of the legumes family, is a climbing, vine-like plant that that has been grown for years in gardens around East Asia. It was imported to the new world in the beginning of the 19th century, where it took over large areas and was considered a natural pest, climbing on other trees and suffocating them.

The Chinese Fire Tree, despite its name, is also very common in Japan, and for most of the year, has green leaves. But during the fall its leaves change to strong colors of orange and red, which is how it got its name. During the 18th century missionaries sent samples of it to Russia, where it was scientificially categorizeed, and today is a component of many ornamental gardens.

Japenese Plum Blossom

The Kobushi Magnolia Tree blooms during the early summer and has white flowers with just the tiniest pink hue to them, which have a nice, gentle scent. The meaning of the work Kobushi in Japanese is 'fist', a name that apparently comes from the fruit of the tree, which grow in dense clusters. Along with lilies, the Magnolia family of trees is considered the oldest plants that had flowers, or at least the earliest ones we could find fossils for, up to 58 million years ago.

The Japanese Beech is one of the most common trees found in the Japanese forests. The tree grows up to 24 meters high and has very dense foliage, but come fall its leaves fall off and it remains naked. Like other trees of the Beech family, this tree grows both male and female flowers at the same time.

The Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree is perhaps the tree most identified with Japanese culture. The Japanese celebrate the blooming of the cherry blossom tree every April, along with the start of the school year. Many families gather under these trees and have festive picnics under them. This tradition is very old, and has been going since the 8th century.

The cherry is the national tree of Japan. In 1912, the mayor of Tokyo gave Washington D.C a special gift of 3,000 Japanese Cherry Blossom Trees, and ever since then, the blossoming of these trees has been annually celebrated there, as well.

The Red Sakura Tree is one of the most beautiful sub-species of the Cherry Blossom Tree.

The Japanese Maple Tree is one of the most popular trees found in Japanese ornamental gardens, and in the rest of the world as well. This special tree, which has many sub-species that stay red all year, has been depicted many times in Japanese art, especially in paintings and poetry.

The many branches and different colored leaves of the tree are a symbol of the beauty of nature, of calm and peace, and that is the significance it has in traditional Japanese songs and stories.

One of the nicknames of the tree in Japanese culture is 'kito', which means 'calm'.

The Maple is also a symbol of autumn in Japanese culture, a time when many Japanese go 'maple hunting', in which they go to the hills with the sole purpose of watching these gorgeous trees.

The Beautiful Puzzlewoods!

The Beautiful Puzzlewoods!

Almost all writers have some sort of muse. To some it is a special person in their lives, to others an experience they've gone through. To J.R.R Tolkien and countless others - it is a certain place, and that place, in this case, is the beautiful Puzzlewood forest.

J.R.R Tolkien looked at these woods and saw much more than just trees and earth. In his mind, he saw fanstical shapes and great stories of adventure.

Puzzlewood is an ancient forest in the woods of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. Sometime in the early 19th century, a local and crafy landowner laid down over a mile of twisting pathways through the ancient tress, around moss covered rock formations and passing by secret caves. 100 years later the forest was opened to the public, who enjoy the visit.

Tolkien made many visits to puzzlewood, taking inspiring walks through the woods. We can only imagine what tales he spun as he walked among the ancient trees.

“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can! J.R.R Tolkien

“The Hobbits are just rustic English people, made small in size because it reflects the generally small reach of their imagination,” J.R.R. Tolkien

“Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

“A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Little by little, one travels far” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

Open-air caves at Puzzlewood forest.

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater,” J.R.R. Tolkien

Puzzlewood has also been the enchanted forest backdrop for filming the fantasy adventures in Merlin and Dr. Who TV series.

“Courage is found in unlikely places.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

Part of the special path at Puzzlewood forest.

A tranquil scene.

This sign marks the entrance to the forest. It used to be a pre-Roman, ancient iron mine, but treasures found indicate the Romans did indeed occupy this area.

In 1848, visitors moved a block of stone in the woods, and uncovered small hidden cavity in which there were three earth-ware jars containing over 3,000 3rd century coins, probably someone's savings or treasure.

Many suggest that puzzlewood was the inspiration for the Shire, the place Tolkien invented as a home for the hobbits. “The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out,” - J.R.R. Tolkien

A hobbit's home in the shire.

A scene as if taken straight out of a fantasy land.

J.R.R Tolkien, born in 1892 and died at 81 in 1973. Photo on the left shows him in 1911 (at 19), in the army uniform in 1916 (24) and as a baby in 1892, with his family.

The Super Interesting Facts of the Week!

Astonishing Facts We Just Learned About

"Live like you may die tomorrow,  learn like you will live forever." Mahatma Gandhi Every day is an opportunity to learn something new, to grow in our understanding of the world and the creatures that live on it. Here are some of the most fascinating facts we heard this week:

Did you ever relalize how huge Africa is?