Befuddled, Just to be safe, I was going to do black beans and black eyed peas -- seperate pots perhaps.

DiMarie, I had friend of Polish descent who used to cook something with sauerkraut each Jan 1. Maybe it was pork. I forgot about making noise at midnight. The neighborhood kids usually take care of that for us with the fireworks.

Bear, Thanks for the links. I wonder if I should place a piece of cabbage in my wallet to ensure that the wallet is full all year?!

Nuttybuddy, You win with the massage idea. Chinese sounds good. Noodles symbolize long life. I'm not making that up -- I read it somewhere -- just not lately.

Waves, Thanks for the purple lentils. Since round things and sliced sausage are supposed to remind us of the circle of life as well as stand in for coins, maybe I'll just add coins to something without having to cook the sausage lentil dish.

Ok, I've got lots to work with. I'm bringing something sweet to the little party my friend is giving because I want the new year to be a sweet one.

Can you tell I have time on my hands??

Mari