Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy · Episode 240 · December 23, 2025 · 28 min
Cooking for the New Year! Our Top Recipes for Celebrating and Starting Fresh!
What if the dishes you cooked on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day could invite luck, prosperity, and ease into the year ahead? New Year’s can feel surprisingly complicated for home cooks: too celebratory to ignore, but too close to the holidays to summon big energy. That’s why this week we’re helping you decide what’s worth cooking, what can be made in advance, and all the auspicious food rituals and symbolic dishes to sweeten the year ahead. By the end of this episode, you’ll: Discover playful appetizers that are eaten for luck and deliciousness New Year’s classics like noodles for longevity, and a gumbo made with auspicious black-eyed peas Nutritious and lighter recipes to ease into the first day of the year Press play to celebrate to start a new year feeling supported in your kitchen! *** Links: Appetizers Bacon wrapped dates from Gimme Some Yum, and you can also make it with beef bacon Cheese ball bites with a pretzel handle from Delish.com Pistachio goat cheese dates from Live Eat Learn Sour patch grapes and Prosecco grapes Delish.com Mains & Sides Mushroom ragu pasta by Heidi Swanson Gochujang mushroom udon by Hetti Lui MCkinnon Mini Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins from Our Zesty Life Black-eyed pea and pork gumbo by Donald Link, Stephen Strymewski and adapted by Bret Stephens for NYT Cooking – served with rice and potato salad on the side, like our fave Herby Potato Salad and or Sonya’s Salad Olivier (Soviet potato salad) Desserts Carolina Gelen’s no-bake chocolate mousse pie or cranberry pudding Old School chocolate trifle with chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, oreos and whipped cream January First Food Lentil and chicken soup with sweet potatoes and escarole by Anna Stockwell for Epicurious Coconut braised collard greens by Von Diaz and Julia Moskin for NYT Cooking (Served with leftover white rice from the night before if you made gumbo for NYE!) Anna Thomas’ Green Soup from Food52 Chickpea Spinach and Feta Pie by Hetty Lui McKinnon for NYT Cooking - make in individual in muffin tins to ease you into meal prep! *** Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084 For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here . You can also now find us on YouTube. We love hearing from you — follow us on Instagram @ foodfriendspod , or drop us a line at [email protected]! Looking for an in-person Food Friends experience? Book a farmers’ market tour with Sonya in Portland, OR!