New Year's Eve, Russian Style!

 Since the first of every new year comes a mere week after Christmas in most countries, sometimes the lines between the two become blurred.  Families tend to leave their Christmas decorations up until after New Year's Eve (NYE) and hope for decent weather in which to take them down as soon as possible thereafter.  Still, NYE doesn't have the same family togetherness and twinkle that Christmas does because it has taken on the more adult feature of imbibing in alcoholic drinks to celebrate.  It's more of a couples thing, with children included....sometimes.

Every year, when I was much younger, I sought to find the glorious NYE experiences that were always shown on television.  Oh yes...the Times Square crowd standing out in the cold, waiting for the ball to drop.  What fun!  Or so I thought.  Of course, it is cold.  Of course, it is outside.  Of course, if you do anything different INSIDE, it is expensive...and then you have to go home.  Who's going to drive?  In all of my 73 years, I have never once had a NYE that equalled the hype of the celebrations that I imagined in my brain.  The older I got, the more I realized that the best place to be on NYE was at home.  It's not the kind of holiday that generates traditions.

And then, my son-in-law (SIL) came into my life.  He is a naturalized citizen, born in Russia, in America since 2008.  Along with him came Russian New Year's (NY) traditions.  Why would Russia have NY traditions?  Well...it seems that all those years when Russia was part of the Communist Soviet Union, religion was discouraged and sent underground.  Thus, Christmas was devalued (at least publicly), while NY was roundly celebrated.  It wasn't acceptable to celebrate Christmas, but NY was, complete with all kinds of Russian traditions, with family and community.  The Russian public then saved their gift-giving and family celebrations for NYE.  

There is no Russian Santa Claus.  There is, however, Father Frost, a figure in Russian folk tales.  

Russians generally don't have private Christmas trees, but do gather around a communal decorated fir tree outside on NYE to celebrate with neighbors.

Unbeknownst to me and most of the Western World, much of the pre-Bolshevik influence in Russia was French.  Thus came a Russian tradition of serving Salade Olivier for NY.  Olivier salad is the American equivalent of glorified potato salad--glorified because it contains non-brined pickles, peas, and some form of meat, all combined with mayonnaise.  It's delicious.  

Another traditional food, at least in my SIL's family, is garlic deviled eggs.  This is traditional deviled eggs infused with so much garlic that it will make your eyes water.  Oh...and caviar!  NYE is the one time that Denis's Russian beginnings are enabled and encouraged.  He's worth it.  He's worth every single crumb of traditional foods.  This man is American, through and through, and has been a kick-ass provider for my daughter and grandchildren, so if NYE provides a time for him to celebrate his Russian origins, we are all the richer for it. 

Sadly, I haven't learned how to say Happy New Year in Russian, but it is my wish for everyone in any language, no matter your customs.  May 2021 provide all that you need!