Diet Desires Newsletter
New Year 2021

Dr Hanna Frederick, Chief Desirist, drhanna@dietdesires.com | Subscribe | Diet Desires

Happy New Year and Boldog Új Évet kívánok to You and Your Family!

Being Grateful Where You Are During Lockdown

Greetings from New Hampshire postcard

Dear {{ subscriber.first_name }}: Hopefully the lockdown won't be too much longer!!! To regain a bit of sanity and balance I find it useful to think everyday of something to be grateful for.

Poet Robert Frost in Winter

I never thought in my life I would reside during the Great Pandemic of 2020 in New Hampshire, of all places. Here are 48 reasons for me to be grateful for my 'pleasant prison' New Hampshire. I bet some of you did not know -- NH invented Velcro, McDonald's, Segways, Alarm Clocks, Aerosmith. And my favorite, American Poet Laureate Robert Frost, whose statue we walk by almost everyday on my husband's campus of Plymouth State University. What do all of those things have in common? Simple. Glorious things exist because of New Hampshire. A big thank you to the Granite State.

Suggestions of What to Watch

What to Watch over New Year's

• Being grateful reminds of a great film on Netflix “Silver Linings Playbook” where Pat (Bradley Cooper) Solitano despite his bipolar disorder always sees the good, or silver linings, in all that he experiences.  Especially the good in Jennifer Lawrence’s character, for which she won the Academy Award. 
• Are you into exercise? For me, nevermore shall gyms ever replace online aerobics! Glamour has a great list or YouTube workouts.. I especially like the Bollywood Dance Workout. But my favorite (from my ten years in New Zealand is Les Mills On Demand.
• Watch and Stream the 2021 New Year's Eve Times Square Ball Drop
• New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve with Renée Fleming and don't forget Vienna New Year’s Day Concert

New Year’s Celebration 2020: Fusing Food Customs

Hungarian Happy New Year!

My mother Klara "Liti"

From my mother, I learned how most Hungarian New Year’s traditions are related to food. On New Year's Eve, you should eat fish, rabbits, deer, or poultry. Why? Because all your troubles will fly, run, or swim away. Eating lentil or bean dishes on New Year's Day makes you wealthy. Pigs root out your fortune, while poultry scrapes it away. Eat roast pork on New Year's Day and you'll be lucky throughout the year.

According to my mother, New Year's good wishes are of great importance, they affect work, health and harvest, and they have an impact on the whole year. According to Hungarian New Year's superstition, what you do on January 1st you will do all year. I used to go out to buy a magazine as a youngster. Now I use Amazon online or donate to a Food Bank. New Year’s eve (Szilveszter) is the party of the year. Spice it up the evening, even if the number of plates are way under 10. Let's send up 2020 in flames: drink Krampampuli, a flamed mulled wine -see recipe below.

Here are my recommendations for New Year's

Stuffed Swiss Chard Leaves (Toltike) These stuffed rolls are one of the easy pork recipes of Transylvanian-Hungarian cuisine. Drawing upon my mother’s knowledge, I have changed slightly her recipe by using the delicate Swiss chard leaves, which are easy to find. Use authentic summer savory herb to make it Transylvanian.				Carrot Hummus Appetizer Carrot Hummus Appetizer is vivid and lightly sweet with added pumpkin. Crowd-pleasing appetizer with carrot slices as an edible spoon.
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are the most iconic umami dish in Hungary. Summer savory, dill with smoked bacon topped with sour cream lifts this dish to a new dimension. Cabbage rolls are magical: healthy, flavorful with umami. We Transylvanians use summer savory and dill herbs. But adding smoked uncured pork or bacon just lifts this dish to a new dimension. Did I mention sour cream? - The dish is gentle on your stomach, and disappears from my guests’ plate silently…Seconds are frequent request.				Krampampuli Flaming Punch Krampampuli Flaming Punch is a low-alcohol mulled wine lit with flame causing caramel dropping into wine, tea and fruits, boiling in a glass. Krampampuli – the “drink of the devil’s” is a rather innocent, low-alcohol mulled wine. It is favored to celebrate winter solstice with it. I use it for New Year’s Eve – creates magical atmosphere. Alcohol soaked sugar cubes are lit, causing caramel dropping into wine, tea and fruits, boiling in a glass.
				Sexy Szilveszter Hungarian Style! Hope you will try some of the menu. If so, please please send comments and questions through the recipe comments! It helps Google recognizing my work… I reply to everyone. If you like the blog, pass it on to anyone – they can subscribe. Wish you Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year. Hanna Frederick © 2020 Diet Desires Dr Hanna Frederick Email: drhanna@dietdesires.com Website: www.dietdesires.com Subscribe To unsubscribe, see below.