It would seem that the New Year holidays are over, the last bowl of Olivier has been eaten, all the gifts have been given, everyday work has begun... But it was not so!

For those who did not have time to enjoy all the delights of the holiday, there is another chance to plunge into the magical fairy tale of New Year's Eve.

Indeed, on the night of January 13th to 14th, our entire country, together with many other Orthodox countries, celebrates a completely unique day, a holiday, the name of which will easily confuse any foreigner, the Old New Year.

This day is no less significant for us than the traditional New Year holiday, therefore we need to prepare for it properly, observing

On this wonderful evening, all housewives, without exception, try to please their family and friends with the most delicious dishes, lovingly prepared for the festive table. Let's try today to find out and remember what to cook for the Old New Year.

So, what should the menu be for the Old New Year? Of course, one of the central dishes on the festive table on the eve of the Old New Year is kutya (kutya), which is prepared differently in different regions of Russia: from rice or garnished wheat.

Ingredients:

rice - 2 cups
water - 4 glasses
honey - 0.5 cups (to taste)
raisins - 0.5 cups (to taste)
walnut - 0.5 cups (to taste)
poppy seed – 50 g,
cinnamon - on the tip of a knife (to taste)

How to cook rice kutia:

Rinse the rice well, place in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil.

Boil the rice over low heat, covered, until cooked (about 20 minutes), cool.

Boil the kettle. Rinse the raisins and pour boiling water over them for 5 minutes. Drain the water.

Rinse the poppy seed. Crush the nuts with a rolling pin.

Place the rice in the bowl in which you will serve the kutya and sprinkle with honey to taste.

Mix everything, sprinkle with cinnamon (a little), put raisins (swollen) and walnuts on top.

Rice kutia is ready.

A cult dish that is always prepared for the Old New Year is dumplings with predictions. Make dumplings with a variety of surprise fillings in advance, and boil them shortly before the meal. Makes for a hearty and fun dinner!

Just don’t forget to warn all participants in the feast about such unusual fillings. Based on the filling, they guess what awaits whom next year:

coin - material well-being,
bay leaf - promotion,
dried apricots - joy,
ring - wedding,
caramel - love,
cabbage - money
grain - wealth,
cherry - good luck.

Even more meanings for dumplings with a surprise

Each guest must help himself to dumplings from a common dish. Only under this condition does the meaning of fortune telling remain.

Recipe for dumplings for Old New Year

Ingredients:

flour - 600 g
milk - 250 g
eggs - 3 pcs.
sugar - 25 g
butter - 40 g
salt - 0.5 teaspoon (to taste)
filling - 400-500 g

How to cook dumplings for the Old New Year:

The filling for dumplings for the Old New Year can be anything: cottage cheese, stewed cabbage, minced meat, potatoes, mushrooms, any fruit.

To prepare the dumpling dough, melt the butter over low heat.

Sift the flour. Add milk to the sifted flour, then add eggs, salt, sugar, melted butter.

Knead the dough for dumplings first with a spoon, and then knead with your hands until medium thick, since thick dough is difficult to roll out and also difficult to make dumplings from it.

Divide the dough for dumplings into 3 parts. Then roll out a piece of dough, adding flour, into a layer 1–1.5 mm thick and cut out identical circles with a glass or mold.

Place the filling and a surprise for fortune telling in the middle of each circle. Make dumplings and cook in salted water before serving.

Since the Nativity Fast has already ended, you can prepare a meat dish for the Old New Year, for example, chicken baked in the oven.

Ingredients:

chicken - 1 pc.
salt (to taste) 1-1.5 teaspoons
mayonnaise or sour cream - 3 tbsp. spoons
garlic 3 cloves
black pepper to taste

How to cook chicken baked in the oven:

Gut the chicken, remove the remaining feathers, trim off excess fat (optional), cut out the wen from the back, wash and dry.

Peel the garlic. Prepare mayonnaise (or sour cream) and spices.

Turn on the oven and set the temperature to 180 degrees.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper - outside and inside. Squeeze 1 clove of garlic. Rub the chicken with mayonnaise (2 tbsp) and crushed garlic. Place two whole cloves of garlic inside the chicken.

Place the chicken on a baking sheet, you can add a little water. (If desired, you can tie the chicken legs.)
Cover the top with foil. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.

After this, remove the foil, pour a little water into the pan, and coat the chicken with 1 tbsp. l. mayonnaise (or sour cream). Place back in the oven, uncovered. Bake until cooked through and golden brown, another 30-40 minutes.

The readiness of the chicken can be checked using a special thermometer for baking meat - you need to pierce the carcass in the breast area, if the temperature inside the meat reaches 85 degrees Celsius, the chicken is considered ready. You can also pierce the fleshiest part of the carcass with a fork or toothpick - if the juice does not flow out or light and clear juice flows out, then the chicken is ready.

Place the baked chicken on a plate and garnish with herbs.

As a snack dish for the Old New Year, you can prepare a liver cake that looks festive and beautiful and is very tasty.

Liver cake recipe

Ingredients:

liver - 0.5 kg,
onions - 2 pcs.,
flour - 2 tbsp. l.,
eggs - 2 pcs,
carrots - 2 pcs.
mayonnaise,
garlic.

How to make liver cake:

Prepare the pancake mixture: grind the liver and onion in a meat grinder, add eggs and flour, add salt and pepper.

Filling: mixture of carrots with mayonnaise and garlic. Grate the boiled carrots on the finest grater. We fry pancakes. Three four minutes - and the pancake needs to be turned over.

It is better to take two spatulas for this so that the cake does not break, because it is already soft and juicy. Decorate with finely chopped herbs and egg crumbs.

Of course, no table is complete without various sandwiches that you can prepare according to your own recipes. These can be sandwiches with caviar, red fish, sprats or cold cuts.

We told you only about a small part of the recipes that you can use when celebrating the Old New Year.

You can complement our holiday table menu with your culinary masterpieces.

Very soon the Old New Year will come, which many are looking forward to no less than the usual New Year's holiday, and that is why housewives are wondering how to choose recipes for simple and tasty dishes for the Old New Year 2018. In fact, the dishes for this celebration will be no different from those snacks that were used for the modern New Year.

As traditions say, it is on this holiday that as many meat dishes as possible should be present on the table, and since the Year of the Dog has come to us, meat dishes will definitely suit her taste. Below we will describe the most interesting, but at the same time easy to prepare, dishes for the festive table.

Ingredients:

pork heart - 520 grams;
chicken egg - 4 pieces;
hot garlic - 2 cloves;
vinegar 9% - 2 tablespoons;
onions - 1 piece;
canned peas - 1 can;
carrots - 1 piece;
vegetable oil - 1 spoon;
spices and salt - to taste;
fresh greens - 1 bunch;
mayonnaise - 150 grams.

Cooking process:

First you need to prepare the pork heart, rinse it with water and then dry it with a towel. Once this is done, it is necessary to remove excess vessels and veins. The prepared product is cut into small cubes and then boiled in lightly salted water.
While the heart is boiling, you should boil the chicken eggs. While cooking the heart, the water will need to be changed, as it will become very cloudy, the cooking process lasts another thirty minutes, after which the water is changed again, and the offal is cooked for about another hour. During this time, the meat will become soft, half an hour before the heart is ready, add a few peas of allspice and a couple of bay leaves to the water.
The onion is chopped into thin rings or half rings and then pickled in acetic acid. The carrots are peeled and chopped using a grater, after which they are fried in a hot frying pan.
The finished heart is removed from the broth and cooled, the boiled eggs are cut into cubes, fresh herbs should also be chopped and garlic chopped. Excess liquid is drained from the jar of peas, after which all the ingredients are transferred to a salad bowl. The appetizer is seasoned with mayonnaise and left for one hour in the refrigerator.

Spinach roll “Bright”

If the housewife is looking for delicious and simple recipes for dishes for the Old New Year 2018, then this appetizer is perfect for serving on the festive table. The finished roll looks very colorful and bright. This recipe will use red fish, which will add variety to the New Year's table.

Base ingredients:

sour cream - 1 spoon;
salt - to taste;
1st grade flour - 155 grams;
chicken egg - 5 pieces;
baking powder - 5 grams;
fresh spinach - 410 grams.

Filling ingredients:

cream cheese - 420 grams;
lightly salted salmon - 260 grams;
fresh dill - 1 bunch;
garlic - 3 cloves;
salt - to taste;
ground pepper - to taste.

Preparation:

The spinach is washed in water and placed in boiling water; it only takes three minutes to cook the greens, after which the spinach is transferred to a colander and the water is allowed to drain. Excess moisture should be lightly squeezed out, and then grind the vegetable using a blender.
Only the yolks of chicken eggs are added to the spinach mass, sour cream, spices and salt are also added, and the mass is thoroughly mixed until a homogeneous consistency. Flour, which was previously mixed with baking powder, is gradually added to the finished mixture, and the dough is gradually kneaded. Whip the whites separately into a stable foam and carefully fold into the dough.
Transfer the spinach dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then level it out to form an even rectangle. The baking sheet is placed in the oven, which is heated to 180 degrees, the baking process lasts no more than ten minutes, otherwise the layer will become dry.
While the spinach base is baking, you should start preparing the filling. To do this, cream cheese is mixed with chopped garlic and dill. The finished layer is lubricated with cheese mass, and the thickness of the layer should be at least one centimeter.
Pieces of salmon are laid out on the cheese, and then everything is rolled up into a roll, and the appetizer is put into the refrigerator so that the roll is soaked. Before serving the appetizer, it should be cut into portions.

Red fish with garnish

In this recipe, you can use any type of red fish, but if you can’t buy red fish, you can use white fish. The dish will turn out tender and tasty, even for a novice housewife.

Ingredients:

fresh dill - 1 bunch;
salt and pepper - to taste;
medium-sized potatoes - 5 pieces;
heavy cream - 250 ml;
fish fillets or steaks - 1 kg.

Preparation:

Pieces of fish should be marinated in cream for at least forty minutes. In the meantime, you need to boil the potatoes, but the root vegetable should not be cooked until tender, but only for seven minutes.
The prepared fish is transferred to a baking sheet, then potatoes are laid out around it; if there is excess marinade, they must be removed. The cooking process lasts about 35 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees. The result is a tender and juicy dish.

Lavash rolls

Today there are a lot of recipes for simple and tasty dishes for the Old New Year 2018; such rolls can be stuffed with different fillings, but we will describe only one of the options.

Ingredients:

lightly salted chum salmon - 250 grams;
lavash sheets - 2-3 pieces;
chicken egg - 3 pieces;
boiled shrimp - 110 grams;
soft cream cheese - 100 grams;
hot garlic - 1 clove;
salt - to taste;
dill - 1 bunch.

Preparation:

First you need to cut the salted fish, boiled eggs into small pieces, you also need to chop the greens, boil and peel the shrimp.
All ingredients, except seafood, must be mixed in one bowl, and then add salt to taste.
Some of the filling is laid out on the pita bread, and shrimp are placed on top. After this, the layer is covered with another layer of pita bread, and the filling is added again. When the last layer is laid out, the roll is wrapped tightly and cut into portions. You can pre-cool the snack.

Zucchini "Boats"

Ingredients:

any minced meat - 420 grams;
small zucchini - 3 pieces;
fresh tomato - 1 piece;
mayonnaise - 110 grams;
hard cheese - 130 grams;
vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
onion - 1 piece;
ground pepper - to taste;
salt - to taste.

Preparation:

First, you should prepare the zucchini; if they are young, then simply wash them without removing the skin, but in the case when the vegetables are already mature, it will be necessary to remove the skin. Each zucchini is cut into two equal parts lengthwise to create “boats”, and then the pulp is removed from the middle of the vegetable using a spoon. It is enough to leave just one centimeter of pulp, no more.
Meanwhile, the white onion is finely chopped and then lightly fried in a frying pan, after which minced meat is added to the vegetable and cooking of the filling continues for ten minutes. When the minced meat is almost ready, add a little salt and ground pepper for taste. One chopped tomato is added to the mixture.
Mix the mixture well, fry for another couple of minutes, and then remove from the stove. Now you can take the zucchini and place it on a baking sheet, place the fried minced meat filling in the grooves, and sprinkle cheese on top. The minced meat should first be greased with mayonnaise. The baking process lasts no more than half an hour, and the temperature should be set to 190-200 degrees.

Dish "Bear's Paw"

Minced bear paw

Ingredients:

large onion - 1 piece;
pork without bones and veins - 310 grams;
potatoes - 0.5 kg;
hot garlic - 3 cloves;
hard cheese - 120 grams;
spices and coarse salt - to taste;
vegetable oil - 1 spoon;
chicken egg - 3 pieces.

Preparation:

First, take a piece of pork, rinse it, and then lightly beat it. The finished plates are rubbed with meat spices and salt. It is also necessary to season the pork pieces with garlic.
The potatoes and onions are peeled and then chopped using a grater. Be sure to drain the liquid from the vegetable mass, and then add two chicken eggs to it.
Place a mixture of potatoes and onions on a cutting board; you need to make small cakes from the vegetable mixture. Place a piece of pork chop on each vegetable flatbread, and lightly brush the meat with beaten egg.
The pork is covered with a layer of potato mixture on top, and then you need to pinch the edges of the vegetable mixture well so that the chop is inside. These cutlets are fried on both sides until golden brown, after which the “bear paws” are transferred to a baking sheet and baked for twenty minutes.

Pork roll “Exquisite”

You can prepare this tasty and simple dish according to the recipe for the Old New Year 2018, because the roll will turn out to be very juicy, aromatic and satisfying.

Ingredients:

pork meat - 2 kg;
ripe pear - 1 piece;
chicken egg - 2 pieces;
ham - 320 grams;
walnuts - 120 grams;
pickled cucumber - 1 piece;
white wine for marinade - 1 glass;
spices for meat - to taste;
vegetable oil - 1-2 tablespoons;
coarse salt - to taste.

Preparation:

To begin with, a piece of pork is washed and dried, and then marinated in spices and salt. The finished piece of meat is placed in a bowl and poured with wine. The pork is left in this form for 2-4 hours; the longer the meat is marinated, the tastier and juicier it will be after baking.
When the time is up, you need to cut the meat with a book. The nuts are prepared in advance, fried in a frying pan without oil, and then chopped. The nut mass is mixed with a chicken egg, after which whole nuts, cucumber slices and chopped pear are added to it.
Pieces of thinly sliced ham are placed on the surface of the meat, and then the whole thing is covered with a mixture of chicken eggs, nuts, cucumbers and pears. Top the mass with salt and lightly pepper. The finished meat is rolled into a very tight roll, and the future dish is tied with culinary thread.
The workpiece should be greased with vegetable oil and then wrapped with cling film. Leave the roll in this form for 25-35 minutes so that the vegetable oil is absorbed into the meat. After this, the film is removed and the roll is baked in the oven for one hour. To make the meat more juicy, it should be poured with the juice that melts out of the pork during baking.

Cheese croquettes

Ingredients:

cinnamon - a pinch;
chicken egg - 2 pieces;
white bread - 520 grams;
hard cheese - 210 grams;
fresh milk - 210 ml;
fresh dill - 1 bunch;
coarse salt - to taste.

Preparation:

First, take the bread and cut it into small pieces. The crust must be removed and the pulp cut into medium-sized cubes. The finished bread is transferred to a bowl and poured with milk. Infuse the bread with milk for about 15-17 minutes.
When the time is up, you can add one chicken egg to the mixture and mix everything thoroughly. A pinch of cinnamon, various spices to taste and salt are added to the mixture. Finely grated cheese is added last.
Small balls are rolled from the resulting mass. In the meantime, take another chicken egg and beat it lightly, add chopped herbs there. Each ball is dipped in an egg and then deep-fried; you can bake this snack in the oven.

There are many more appetizers, hot dishes, salads, desserts and drinks that may be present on the table. It is worth remembering that the celebration of the Old New Year must necessarily take place at a table on which meat dishes will be placed.

But don’t forget about desserts, because the Dog will be happy to enjoy something sweet. You can pay attention to traditional desserts, such as Napoleon, Bird's Milk cake, Tiramisu dessert and many other sweets.

Drinks remain an equally important part of the festive table; you can choose interesting options for preparing cocktails and smoothies. It is enough to use a little imagination to make the festive table delight your guests and family.

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The Old New Year in Rus' is considered one of the most joyful holidays, because after Christmas the strict fast ends, and you can serve whatever your heart desires. And the festive dinner should be hearty and generous, because luck in the coming year depends on the number of dishes. At the head of the table there should be kutya, and it can be cooked with the addition of milk, seasoned with butter and put in any fruit, dry or fresh. In addition, the menu must include meat dishes, egg dishes, and baked goods - all this will ensure a good mood for your guests, and will also definitely bring happiness to your home. Here you will find several simple recipes for the Old New Year that will make this holiday fun and tasty.

Pork with fresh tomatoes and cheese is perfect as a main dish for the Old New Year. To prepare the dish you need the following products:

pork (neck or tenderloin) – 1.5 kg;
large tomato – 1 pc.;
hard cheese – 100 g;
garlic – 3 cloves;
ginger - a small piece;
soy sauce – 3 tbsp;
mustard (preferably Dijon) – 1 tbsp;
lemon juice – 1 tbsp;
vegetable oil – 4 tbsp;
seasonings to taste.

Cut the tomatoes and cheese into thin slices, put a piece of tomato and cheese into each cut on a piece of meat. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, wrap the meat tightly in foil, place in the oven for an hour. Serve with any side dish, preferably potatoes.

It would seem that what could be interesting about herring under a fur coat, which most housewives prepare for any celebration. But this recipe is a little different from the classic one, because the fish will not be in the form of a salad, but in the form of a roll. So, we will need:

lightly salted herring – 1 pc.;
beets – 1 pc.;
potatoes – 3 pcs.;
carrots – 3 pcs.;
onion – 1 pc.;
eggs – 4 pcs.;
processed cheese – 1 pc.;
mayonnaise for dressing.

Boil all the vegetables and eggs, cool in the refrigerator, disassemble the herring, remove the bones, separate the fillets. Cut it together with the onion into small pieces and mix. Grate carrots, beets, eggs and cheese, lightly squeeze the juice from the beets.

Spread cling film on the table, place beets on it in a thin layer, add a little salt, and on top - a layer of carrots, which should be slightly smaller than the beet layer. Coat with mayonnaise, put potatoes mixed with cheese on the carrots according to the same principle (to make the roll beautiful, each subsequent layer should be slightly smaller than the previous one), grease with mayonnaise. Lastly, add the herring and onions.

Using film, form a roll, lightly compact it and place it in the refrigerator for several hours, preferably overnight. Before serving, carefully remove the film and garnish with parsley sprigs on top.

During the New Year holidays, the poppy takes on special meaning - it is popularly considered a symbol of fertility and wealth, so experienced housewives have always tried to serve poppy seed baked goods. An excellent recipe for such an occasion - easy to prepare with poppy seeds, for which you need to acquire the following products:

flour – 500 g;
milk – 400 ml;
butter – 150 g;
sugar – 225 g;
fresh yeast – 30 g;
egg – 1 pc.;
yolk – 4 pcs.;
honey – 1 tbsp;
poppy – 250 g;
ground crackers - 3 tbsp;
lemon zest;
cinnamon, nutmeg, salt.

Prepare the dough: mash the yeast, mix with a teaspoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, a tablespoon of flour, leave for 15 minutes in a warm place. Take 125 g of sugar, grind it with butter, egg and three yolks until smooth. Sift the flour into a container, add the butter and yeast mixture, pour in 200 ml of warm milk, add a little salt. Knead the dough, cover with a clean towel and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Boil the remaining milk (200 g), add 100 g of sugar and honey, boil until the mixture thickens. Add poppy seeds, previously ground in a coffee grinder, add zest, crackers and spices, mix well. Divide the risen dough into two parts, roll out and place the filling on top, then roll into rolls.

Preheat the oven to 180-200 degrees. Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet, let them rise slightly, and brush with a mixture of milk and yolk. Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on oven capabilities), check for doneness with a wooden stick. Cool, if desired, you can cover the top with glaze, sprinkle with powdered sugar or decorate with confectionery beads.

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Contrary to popular belief, the Old New Year is not a continuation of the New Year, but the same holiday, only according to the Julian calendar. The fact is that in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, due to the different lengths of the year - in the Julian the length of the solar year is eleven minutes longer - the dates of the holidays differ by an average of two weeks. And although the Julian calendar has not been used in Russia for six centuries, the tradition of seeing off the outgoing year twice has firmly taken root in Russian holiday culture.

Moreover, the date of the Old New Year coincides with the original Russian holiday of Vasily's Day.

What to cook for Old New Year

The range of festive dishes for the Old New Year is varied: you can stick to the gastronomic traditions of Vasily’s Day, or prepare your usual New Year’s dishes.

Russians who adhere to the norms of Orthodoxy prefer to prepare meat dishes for the Old New Year - and only from pork, since Basil the Great is considered in Orthodoxy to be the patron saint of swineherds.

The main element of Vasily's Day - or Old New Year - is, of course, roast pig. There are many variations of this simple dish, but the main requirement concerns serving: the pig is usually served whole, uncut.

Recipe for roasted pig with buckwheat

To prepare this dish for the Old New Year, you first need to gut the pig, leaving the head and legs. After this, the pig needs to be washed, dried with a napkin and generously rubbed with salt, pepper, or mustard. Let the spices soak in, and after an hour, place the piglet upside down on a baking sheet, pour oil on it and place it in a preheated oven. As soon as the pig's skin turns brown, the heat must be reduced. At the same time, boil the buckwheat with onions and boiled eggs, and add to the finished pig. The dish can be decorated with herbs and baked apples.

How to cook monastic-style cutlets for the Old New Year

For the Old New Year, you don’t have to buy a whole pig - you can limit yourself to minced pork and prepare equally delicious dishes from it. For monastery-style cutlets you will need:

Pork – 1 kg

Chicken eggs - 3 pcs.

Onions - 3 pcs.

Starch - 3 tbsp. l.

Salt and pepper

Cut the meat into small cubes into a separate bowl and add chopped onions to it. Stir. Add eggs, mayonnaise, pepper, salt and starch. Place the finished mixture in the refrigerator and let the meat marinate. After this, you need to put the meat in a pan in the form of pancakes and fry on both sides. Ready cutlets can be decorated with herbs, vegetables and sauce.

How to prepare a monastery shub for the Old New Year

The Polish dish shab is baked loin with cabbage. It’s not at all difficult to prepare this aromatic dish for the Old New Year. You will need:

Cabbage - 1 kg

Piece of lean pork - 1.5 kg

Water – 200 ml

Cut the pork into pieces, add salt and place in a pan in layers, alternating with shredded cabbage. Cover with water and simmer over medium heat until done. You can add one or two onions.

French meat recipe for Old New Year

Another delicious dish for the Old New Year is French meat. By the way, it is called French because it was first prepared in Paris for the Russian Count Orlov. However, this is the only thing that connects it with French cuisine. Take:

Pork – 0.5 kg

Potatoes - 0.5 kg

Tomatoes - 4 pcs.

Bulbs - 4 pcs.

Cheese - 300 g

Salt pepper

The first step is to beat off the pork. Cut the meat, pepper and salt. After this, place the meat on a baking sheet. At the same time, cut the onion into rings and place it on the meat. Cut the tomatoes into slices, brush with mayonnaise and cover them with grated cheese. Next, spread the tomatoes on the meat and place everything in the oven for 25 minutes at 180 degrees. Serve with side dish.

On the night of January 13-14, Russians celebrate the New Year according to the old style, or as people say, the Old New Year. This amazing holiday has a lot of traditions and signs. Let's understand the history of the Old New Year, how it was celebrated at different times in Russia, and also find out what to cook for the Old New Year, what traditions should be observed, what signs to believe in.

Old New Year - the history of the holiday

New Year in Russia, by decree of Peter I, began to be celebrated on January 1 in 1700, and they began to celebrate the Old New Year in 1918, when Soviet Russia switched from the former Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar adopted in Europe. The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year appeared thanks to believers. Due to the difference between the calendars in Russia, until 1919, Christmas and New Year were celebrated 13 days later than in Europe. But the Russian Orthodox Church did not obey the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of 1918 and did not accept the Gregorian calendar. With the official introduction of the new calendar, Christmas, as before celebrated on December 25 according to the old style, “moved” to January 7. And the Orthodox continued to celebrate the New Year as before - six days after Christmas, that is, on the night of January 13-14.

Interesting:
in 1918, when, during the transition to a new chronology, an amendment of 13 days was introduced, immediately after January 31, 1918, February 14 came in Russia.
The discrepancy between the dates of the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases every century. In the 20th-21st centuries this difference is 13, and from March 2100 it will be 14 days.

January 13 - Vasiliev evening

On the night of January 13-14, the Old New Year is celebrated(among Belarusians and Ukrainians it is known as a generous evening, in the central and some southern regions of Russia as autumn). This tradition arose after 1918, when a new chronology was introduced in Russia. Once upon a time this day fell on January 1 and was called Vasily's day(memory day of St. Basil the Great, and its eve is December 31 (which became January 13) - Vasilyev’s evening.

The evening on the eve of the Old New Year was popularly called generous. On the morning of January 13 (the day of Melania (Melanka)) it was necessary prepare porridge made from whole wheat grains. It could be seasoned with meat or lard, or topped with honey, sugar or jam. In addition, the hostesses baked pancakes, prepared pies and dumplings with cottage cheese to thank the guests. The most important dish for the Old New Year was considered pork dishes, by the way, a saint Basil the Great was considered the patron saint of pig farmers. “A pig and a boletus for Vasily’s evening”, “a pig is not a clean animal, but God has nothing unclean - Vasily will sanctify winter!”, say the proverbs about this day. This animal symbolized fertility and well-being. On this day, it was customary to generously set the table: a generous table on this day means prosperity throughout the year.

In the evening, people visited their neighbors to celebrate the New Year in peace and harmony.. According to popular beliefs, it was considered important who will be the first guest in the house in the New Year. It was a good sign if the first was a young man from a respected large family with a good household. And on the morning of December 14, young people walked to the crossroads burn “Grandfather” or “Didukha” - sheaves of straw. Young people jumped over the fire, which symbolized cleansing from wickedness.

Signs and traditions for the Old New Year on January 14

We prepared for Vasilyev's evening in advance. They sewed or bought beautiful clothes for him. The housewives put all the best things in the house on the table: pies, kutya, meat, wine, beer, vodka. Traditionally, a pig was prepared for this evening. It was a symbol of the fertility of the earth and the fertility of livestock in the coming year. Our ancestors, just like modern Russians, believed “how you celebrate the New Year is how you will spend it”: it was believed that an abundance of food on the first day of the year would bring prosperity for the whole year.

Another custom associated with cooking is cooking porridge. The ceremony was performed before dawn; When the porridge was ripe, the housewife took the pot out of the oven, and the whole family began to look at it. If the pot was cracked or the porridge turned out unsuccessful, this foreshadowed bad things. If the porridge turned out fluffy and tasty, happiness was expected for the whole house.

In some parts of Russia they caroled on this day. For example, in the Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Tula, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Orenburg regions, the roundabout ritual of bunting was popular. The tradition got its name from the song that was sung while going home - “Osen”. People walked from house to house and sang songs. Participants in the walk-through approached from house to house and asked the owners for permission: “Can I call the oats?”, and they answered: “Click!” Then the ritual participants sang autumn songs to each family member individually. The most important “ovsen”, designed to ensure the well-being of the home and family, were addressed to the owner and his eldest sons. At the end, the generous owners of the house presented gifts to the performers.

Gardeners shake snow off apple trees at midnight for harvest.
If at night the wind blows from the south, the year will be hot and prosperous, from the west - to an abundance of milk and fish, from the east - expect a fruit harvest.
Vasily's night is starry - for the harvest of berries.
A lot of fluffy frost on the trees foreshadowed a good honey harvest.

What to cook for Old New Year

It is customary to spend the evening and night from January 13 to 14 with family at the festive table. Our ancestors always cooked for the New Year's table pig in its own juice, and made a dish of hare and rooster. All this was very symbolic:

the pig promised wealth and prosperity in the house next year;
hare - speed and success in business;
rooster - flying lightness and freedom.

If you want to set your festive table this evening according to ancient traditions, prepare generous kutya or sochivo. It is believed that the more varied, tasty and satisfying the kutia is, the greater the wealth in the family will be next year. So try and make it really generous and rich: don’t skimp on nuts, raisins, halva, honey, etc. In previous years, kutya was cooked from buckwheat, wheat, and barley, but ordinary rice will also be quite suitable. When choosing wheat, try the grain on the tooth; it should fall apart easily; hard grain is not suitable for kutya. All Sochiv products have a symbolic meaning:

the grain symbolizes new life;
honey - well-being and health;
poppy - wealth in the house.

Traditional kutia recipe

Ingredients for traditional kutia:
Wheat - 2 tbsp., poppy seeds - 200 g, walnuts - 200 g, raisins - 150 g, honey - 3 tbsp.
How to prepare traditional kutya:
Soak the peeled and washed wheat grains overnight in cold water. In the morning, drain the water, rinse the wheat, add hot water and cook over low heat until tender. Add a little water as needed. The porridge should turn out soft and crumbly. Cool the finished porridge and mix with a tablespoon of honey. Pour boiling water over poppy seeds and raisins for 30 minutes, each separately. Then strain the poppy seeds, add 1 tablespoon of honey and grind in a blender to obtain poppy milk. It’s better, of course, to do it in makitra for authenticity. Roast the nuts until crispy. Strain the raisins. Mix all ingredients, add honey. If the kutia is thick, then it should be diluted not with water, but with uzvar, the recipe for which we have given at the end of the article.

Generous rice kutia recipe

Ingredients for generous rice kutya:
1 cup rice, 100 g honey, 100 g nuts, 100 g raisins, 150 g poppy seeds, butter to taste, salt to taste
How to cook sochivo (kutya):
Prepare fluffy rice as usual. Roast nuts, if necessary, peel and chop. You can use any according to your taste. Wash the raisins and steam with boiling water. Also steam the poppy seed with boiling water and let it stand until it swells. Drain the water and grind in a mortar or coffee grinder. You will get milk of poppy seeds. Melt the butter and season the porridge with it. Send nuts, raisins, milk of poppy seeds and liquid honey there. If the honey is thick, you can dilute it slightly with water or cream. Mix everything and let the kutya stand. The taste of this sweet porridge can be varied with homemade jam, vanilla, candied fruits and so on.

Recipe for generous wheat kutia

Ingredients for generous wheat kutia:
200 grams of wheat, half a glass of poppy seeds, 100 grams of walnuts, sugar to taste, sweets (raisins, candied fruits, marmalade) to taste
How to cook kutya:
Wheat must be washed well, pour warm water over the grains, allow them to swell a little and cook in a large amount of water into a crumbly porridge. Add water (or uzvar), sugar (honey), crushed nuts, raisins to the steamed and ground poppy seeds and combine all this with wheat. The finished kutya can be put on low heat again and warmed up (5-7 minutes).

Dumplings with a surprise for the Old New Year

The Old New Year is a quiet, family holiday with its own traditions. One of them is to make dumplings with surprises. This is a long-standing tradition that originated from the custom of telling fortunes during Christmastide week. The filling in the dumplings symbolizes good wishes for the next year. Or rather, the filling is made as usual - cottage cheese or potato, and when molded, “surprises” are added. You can avoid putting your guests’ teeth in danger and fill the dumplings with oranges or cabbage - such fillings also have a special meaning.

Important! Be sure to warn your guests if you put hard objects in the dumplings!

Recipe for dumplings with a surprise

If you are short on time, you can use store-bought unleavened frozen dough and make dumplings from it.

Ingredients for dumpling dough:
1 egg, 4 cups flour, 1 cup water, 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 2 tsp. sugar, salt
How to cook dumplings with a surprise:
Mix flour with sugar and salt and make a mound.
Make a depression on the top and break the egg into it, pour in the water and oil.
Knead the stiff dough, knead until it becomes smooth and homogeneous.
Place in the refrigerator for two hours, covering with film to prevent drying. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
Sprinkle the table with flour, roll out the dough into a thin layer, and cut it into circles with a glass.
Place the filling in the middle of the circle, fold the dough in half, and pinch the edges.
Cook by throwing into boiling water.

Meanings of surprise fillings

Orange - for pleasure
Peanuts - for a love affair
Cherry - good luck
Peas - home peace
Walnut - health
Buckwheat - favorable and profitable news
Mushrooms - to a long and happy life
Big money - big win
Grain - to wealth
Raisins - to great temptation
Cabbage - for money
Caramel - for love
Potatoes - for a promotion at work
Cranberry - to unexpected changes in life
Ring - for the wedding
Red pepper - to chagrin
Dried apricots - to joy
Bay leaf - to fame (career growth)
Honey - health
Coin - a prosperous year in material terms
Carrots - for new acquaintances
Torment - to suffer
Meat - for well-being
White thread - long journey (long and long journey)
Green thread - the road abroad
Thread with knots - for a difficult year
Black thread - a short and not very long trip
Cucumber - for a strong man, good sex
Nut - immediately to two fans (admirers)
Pepper - thrill
Ground allspice - to “spicy”, i.e. an eventful life, major changes
Button - for a new thing
Millet - futile efforts
Rice - prosperity in the home
Sugar - sweet life (easy, favorable year)
Seeds - to new fruitful plans
Salt - to quarrels and failures (tears)
Capsicum - for sexual pleasures
Cheese - to win
Cottage cheese - to new friends
Dough, beans, or fish scales - to add to the family
Dill - to good health
Hazelnuts - for successful acquisitions
Bread - the year will be full and good
Chain - strengthening family ties
Black peppercorns - to friends (to new friendly relations)
Garlic - for a marriage of convenience
Apple - to a well-deserved reward

Fortune telling for the Old New Year

Vasilyev's evening was recognized as the most successful time for predicting the future. They said that everything predicted at this time would certainly come true. However, the Orthodox Church does not approve of fortune telling.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year on a ring, bread and hook: the listed three things are placed in a vessel along with pieces of bread, coals, pebbles and other small objects. The vessel is covered with a towel, after which each young lady, without looking, drags the first thing she comes across (the pulled out item is then returned to the vessel). If he pulls out bread, the husband will be rich, if the ring is handsome, if the hook is disabled or poor.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year using bulbs It is carried out like this: all the girls take an onion and place them with their roots in the water, after which they observe - whose onion will give green sprouts first, which girl will be married sooner.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year by dogs. The girl is left alone in the room, after which the dog is allowed in. If a dog immediately runs up to a girl, then family life will be happy; if it starts sniffing the floor first, then the husband will be angry, and family life will be unhappy; if the dog begins to caress, then the husband will be affectionate.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year using the names of passersby. You need to leave the house and call out to the first male person you meet, asking what his name is. Whatever name he gives, that’s what his future husband will be called.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year using a comb. Before going to bed, the girl puts a comb under her pillow with the words “Betrothed, mummer, come and comb my hair.” If in a dream she sees a man combing her hair, then this year she will be married to the person in the dream.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year using conversations. They went to eavesdrop under the windows of their neighbors and, based on what they heard, judged their future marriage. If they scolded in the hut, then the husband will be angry, if they laughed, he will be a merry fellow, if they drank, he will be a drunkard, etc.

Fortune telling for the Old New Year from a book. To do this, take a book and each girl in turn asks a question, and then names the page number and line (bottom or top) where the answer is contained. The answer is read in the book. The works of classics of Russian literature are great for fortune telling (just be careful with Dostoevsky! But Tolstoy or Pushkin are simply ideal). It is better to formulate the question so that it requires a detailed answer, rather than “yes-no”.