Today, I made lentil soup and served it with some crusty garlic bread. Lentil soup on New Year’s Day is a tradition in our family. My grandmother and great grandmother brought the tradion over from Germany–it was believed that lentils on New Years Day would bring abundance and health in the year to come.

Loretta’s tradition is the observe January 1 with a Peace Prayer. This can take a variety of forms and focuses on the world and others outside our own community.

So today, we combined the traditions and had others over for a peace prayer and lentil soup as a celebration of the day.