After Christmas, the New Year*** . . . *** with a note from Fritz
Don't forget your lentils.
The week after Christmas was one to enjoy when I was a kid. There was much to appreciate with the treasures that we received over the years . . . sleds, balls, boxing gloves, a basketball, a football, Monopoly, Parcheesi, toy cars and trucks, a bike (when would the snow melt?), ice skates (when will the Duck Pond freeze?) and roller skates (go away ice). I first thought of a new year on New Year’s Eve, when I tried to stay awake long enough to hear something, but never could.
I remember a few traditions, one of which was lentils. Lentils were not my favorite, so the meal on New Year’s Eve was not memorable, even though lentils are a good source of fiber, protein, minerals, and vitamins, are low in calories, and contain virtually no fat. Who knew at ten?
It wasn’t until later in life that I began to enjoy those dishes I had avoided in my youth—lentils, polenta, and undercooked eggs.
According to tradition, lentils are served on New Year’s Eve. With their coin-like shape, they represent luck and prosperity. Lentils are often served with cotechino, a spicy pork sausage that signified the fat or bounty of the land. For immigrants like our grandparents, America was now their land, one they appreciated, so I guess they continued this tradition in recognition that they were now living in good times and enjoying an abundance of things they never had. Maybe a bit of superstition crept in.
I understand that Italians ate pork to conjure the future because pigs root forward, whereas other animals, such as chickens or cows, move backward or stand still.
I remember the wonderful scene from the 1988 Italian film “Cinema Paradiso,” a film that summons my nostalgia and symbolizes how I came to treasure things I once took for granted. Toto awaits Elena while staring up at her window. At midnight, the revelers throw pots and pans out of windows. The act symbolizes casting away the old in favor of the new, letting go of past troubles for a more hopeful time.
Instead of a window toss, Grandma used a hammer to smash a plate covered with a mopine (dish towel). Now I understand why.
Today, I am having lentils. I am thinking of Grandma and Family and hoping for continued good fortune with confidence and peace.
As you move to a New Year, keep your eyes and hopes looking forward. Throw out the old and . . .
***from Fritz Vohr, author of Dr. Fritz Stories
. . . Pay attention. Be kind. Honor your family, have faith in humanity, help others and teach, Travel, and learn. If you err, get over it.
Don’t forget your lentils.
Happy 2026!
Happy New Year Ed. I so enjoy your stories throughout the year. I can relate to the lentils (although I have always loved them, with the addition of dried sausage) and, of course, the "mopine". My non-Italian husband has added this word to his vocabulary.
Nicely done. Food, like a song from our youth, transports us back to comfortable prior experiences. The power of an aroma, a riff of a guitar and the taste of mom's meatloaf!