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New Year's Celebrations - Plan B

      Although nothing went the way we had planned, we had very good New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations. We had planned to go to Tony’s Mining Company with Barbara’s sister, Cathy, and her husband, Tom, for our Eve celebration, but the weather forecast called for a winter mix of rain and snow, so we decided to call it off.
      Fortunately we had a plan B: a few weeks ago we decided to get the free tickets to the celebration at the Muhlenberg in the event we couldn’t go to Tony’s. We had a good time with friends there.
      If the New Year would have rung in at 11:00 pm, we could have had the toasts, hugs and all that stuff; as it was, by midnight we probably snored through it.
      We had also planned to go to Cathy and Tom’s house for the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch New Year good luck meal of Pork and Sauerkraut. About 10:00 am Tom called and told us Cathy had got sick with flu, bad food, whatever, and we would have to call that off too. Our plan B this time consisted of going to the fridge and getting out the Cornish Game Hen. Actually we formulated plan B after Tom called.
      Shortly afterwards we got another call offering to prepare a care package of P & S, Mashed Potatoes, etc., and bring it to us. Of course we protested, sort of.
      Sometime later Tom and their son, Kyle, showed up with the above plus Rolls and Pecan Pie. Needless to say, we enjoyed it very much.
      I got to thinking afterwards how lucky I am to have married into such a thoughtful family. Only the best would think of preparing a carryout dinner, and driving five miles to deliver it.
      As I mentioned, P & S is the traditional New Year’s dish in this area, but other sections of the country have their own traditions. I have heard of good luck meals of Black-eyed Peas and Corn Bread, Sow-belly and Collard Greens, and I am sure there are others.
      Looking back at the state of the world during 2009, we can all use all the luck we can get. Hopefully all these lucky meals work. Wait a minute, we ate these same meals last year, and look how that turned out!

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