Well, not so much for all of the new year, just those few critical days where everything is about to change into something new and different. Almost invariably into something that is very similar or even the same altogether. One thing is a constant during these days. Much of the world is spending those days with eating and drinking and making good resolutions for the coming year.
So I thought I’d take a look at our eating and drinking habits of the last few years.
My cat was a lover of seafood. Shrimp in particular, so she gets the lead picture this time. The picture was taken in Ukraine some 16 years ago. The claws were real, she had only one thing in mind and that was to get and eat that shrimp. Come to think of it, for the duration of her 17 year life, I hardly ever got the chance to eat MY shrimp on any table. She got the bulk if not all of them 
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The “Chinese” in Holland
What we did get to eat was all the rest. Above, a “Chinese” restaurant in Holland, which is usually more of an Indonesian restaurant, not pure Chinese. A very nice evening with friends and a table full of food. Some restaurants have a habit of serving portions that leave you hungry after paying the bill, others, like this one, just overdo it in plates and dishes all over the table.
Home made cream puffs
Other years were marked with homemade dishes to be shared with friends, either in their home or in ours, I don’t remember. These little cream puffs were filled with a Grand Marnier cream and disappeared within a few minutes. Everyone wanted more of them .
New Year’s morning in Ukraine 2007
The years in Ukraine were always marked with plenty of food on the tables around Christmas/New Year/Christmas. This was just a breakfast table, recognisable by the absence of vodka. Festivities in Ukraine are always, invariably, accompanied by food, lots of food.
Food at home
So when the year-end festivities come to our house, the same principle goes 
. The dishes may vary with the available ingredients, but never will the table be empty. For us or for any visitor that may knock on the door. When there is this much, there is enough for a few visitors as well.
Food from friends
Often enough, friends also stop by with their own food, prepared lovingly in their own kitchens. That’s where the evening starts to become interesting. Sometimes, those dishes are completely unknown to us and can be surprisingly good.
Not hungry on Jan 1st 2018
The breakfast tables after those evenings are often just as nice, albeit a little less laden with food. New Year always comes with caviar of some kind, usually the red type as the black Russian caviar has a few drawbacks. One of them being the price. Let’s not talk about the rest 
.
Breakfast on New Year 2019
Food on the table for the Year end and the Year start. That is what it’s all about. Preferably with friends, family and other visitors. Yet after the few days of “extra” foods, the time comes to say goodbye to this type of life and go back to a healthier lifestyle.
All the good intentions and resolutions for the New Year are nice, but most don’t survive the first two weeks of the year.
Mine are simple. Remove all sugars and carbs from my diet, replace them with more sustained energy like healthy fats, eat less and lose the extra pounds of the season. It has worked for me over the past few years and it seems that it’s healthier too.
I guess I can survive another year-end like this
Until next time…