• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
My Big Fat Cuban Family

My Big Fat Cuban Family

Cuban recipes, family, heritage, and culture.

  • Meet Marta
    • Media Mentions
  • Lifestyle
    • Cuban-American Life
    • My Big, Fat, Cuban Family
  • Entertainment
    • Disney
    • Marvel
    • Television
    • Concerts
    • Books
    • Theatre
  • Celebrate
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Cuban Christmas
    • Mother’s Day
    • Movie Nights
    • Summer Nights
  • Recipes
    • Cuban Recipes With Pictures
    • Family Favorites
    • My Cook Book
  • Shop
    • Cuban Foods Poster
    • Cuban T-Shirts
    • Costa Rican Foods Poster
    • Honduran Foods Poster
    • Puerto Rican Foods Poster
    • Salvadoran Foods Poster
    • Scottish Foods Poster
    • Customize Your Own
    • Cuban Goodies In Your Mailbox
  • Contact
    • Advertise
  • Archives

Cuban New Year’s Eve Traditions

December 31, 2008 By Marta Darby 13 Comments

I'm sooo ready.

New year's eve

On New Year's Eve, at the stroke of midnight, we Cubans are BUSY.

When the clock strikes 12 we:

  1. quickly eat 12 grapes – one for each month of the past year.
  2. wash these down with sparkling cider to celebrate the end of the old year.
  3. throw a bucket of water out the front door to symbolize getting rid of all the bad juju from the past year.
  4. put a suitcase outside if we are hoping to travel in the new year.
  5. put some money in the mailbox for prosperity. =D

We did all of this one year ago today.

So I'd like to do a quick recap of this past year based on our Cuban New Year superstitions.

We traveled to all of these places:

  • Hawaii
  • Mexico
  • Las Vegas (twice)
  • Yosemite
  • Miami (twice)
  • Sacramento

It's been a wonderful year for us in so many ways. 

My husband was able to quit his day job and come home and he doubled (yes, you read that right. =D) his income.
I published My Big, Fat, Cuban Family Cookbook.  =D
I got to meet so many of you at Cuba Nostalgia – what a treat that was!
I celebrated my 2 year Blogiversary with lots of give-aways.
Not to mention getting to spend time with three of my favorite Cuban blog-friends, Amanda, Chantel, and Carrie.
I get to be a part of Babalú blog – always an honor.
Of course, we spent lots of time at The Park this year.
I finally got my white picket fence.
I got to cook (and cook, and cook some more) for you.
I had my magical moment with my new friend, Desi.  😉
My kids, well… you can read all about their wonderful exploits here.

So, this year, I'm ready with all my Cuban superstitions traditions for the New Year.

And yes, I'll be wearing my red underwear for luck because I'm not taking any chances.

I know. Total over-share, but that's not important right now. 😉

You might also like:

8 Crazy Cuban New Year’s Eve Traditions Celebrating Six Years in the Blogosphere (MBFCF Giveaway WEEK!) Nine Years of Awesome My Big, Fat, Cuban Family is 8 Years Old

Filed Under: Cuban-American Life

Previous Post: « The Man Child
Next Post: WAY. TOO. LONG. »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carrie_in_TN says

    December 31, 2008 at 4:20 pm

    Damn, Marta…maybe I needed to trapiar last year…Off to get the Cuban Mop!
    Un beso y muchas cosas buenas en el 2009!

    Reply
  2. BFF says

    December 31, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    How much money is in the mail box? 😀 Maybe I’ll be traveling tonight!

    Reply
  3. Ody from Miami Lakes says

    December 31, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    I just found out that I have to walk around the block with my suitcase!!! Are they kidding?!!!Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!!!!

    Reply
  4. Chantel says

    January 1, 2009 at 7:18 am

    Meeting you was a highlight of ’08 for me, Marta:) Have a wonderful ’09!

    Reply
  5. class factotum says

    January 2, 2009 at 11:55 am

    Felicidades, Marta! Un aviso — with the journalspace crash, I lost two years of blogging. yes, the last time I backed up my blog was August 2006. How dumb was that? Don’t let this happen to you!

    Reply
  6. Unknown Mam says

    December 7, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    You do more at midnight than I do most of the year!

    Reply
  7. Marta M. Darby says

    December 7, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    We are all doubled over with laughter after attempting the grape consumption. Then it turns into kind of a free-for-all. =DBesos,
    Marta

    Reply
  8. Christy Rodriguez says

    December 29, 2011 at 10:05 am

    I can’t wait! OMG.. Carrie.. the infamous “Cuban Mop”! LOVE IT! My husband calls it my polo stick..he asks where’s my horse to go with it! LOL He just doesn’t understand us Cubans! Marta: so red undies huh? I’m adding that and the suit case! Its going to be a great New Years Eve! I just read about doing ‘un bano’ with boiled ruda, cinnamon sicks, honey & savila. Boil them together, then turn off when fragrant, once cooled, pour it over yourself and santiguate with the ruda. Adding this too to my ritual.

    Reply
  9. Maria Aponte says

    December 31, 2011 at 10:22 am

    Love it! Felicidades a la familia!

    Reply
  10. Maria says

    December 31, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    Felicidades Marta! Deseandote a ti y tu bella familia un Japi Nujiar! I just finished running all over Northen New Jersey because Shop Rite was out of uvas!!! What’s a Cuban to do!?!?!? ::::GASP::::

    Reply
  11. Irma Navarro-Hankins says

    December 31, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    So nice to have you accidentally through Nicolita. I love meeting fellow Cuban bloggers! Looking forward to reading and learning more about you.

    Reply
  12. Tania says

    December 28, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    I have always done the twelve grapes but we do it with a time limit of one minute. Each grape not eaten within the minute represents one month of bad luck. Is there a time limit to get all the things done? How long do you leave he suitcase and money out? How much money do you put out and is there an assumed correlation between the amount you put out and the prosperity ?? Inquiring minds want to know 🙂

    Reply
  13. Armando says

    December 31, 2014 at 2:16 pm

    …y el año que viene en La Habana!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

TRY SUPER SMOOTH CAFE LA LLAVE ESPRESSO

Cafe La Llave

My Cuban T-Shirt Designs

“Cuban T-Shirts

Subscribe to MBFCF Newsletter!

Never miss a post! Sign up with your email address to receive recipes, news and updates right in your inbox!

Cuban Foods Poster

“Cuba

Cuban Coffee Poster

“Cuba

Cuban Desserts Poster

“Cuba poster - Cuban desserts subway art print

Most Recent Posts

  • What Do You Call Your Mami?
    April 30, 2022
  • Cafe La Llave Brings the Brunch Together
    April 12, 2022
  • Thoughts on Love
    February 14, 2022
  • Three Sixty Five
    January 28, 2022
  • The Lily – A Luza Story
    January 14, 2022

Cuban Recipes Cookbook

Cuban recipes with pictures cookbook from My Big Fat Cuban Family

Follow Me on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

Follow Marta On Social

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

FEATURED POSTS

  • Three Sixty Five
    January 28, 2022
  • The Lily – A Luza Story
    January 14, 2022
  • 15 Years
    October 1, 2021
  • Picadillo Pies Recipe
    July 27, 2016
  • Pastelitos de guayaba recipe with picturesPastelitos de Guayaba Recipe (Guava Pastry)
    July 27, 2016

Blog Archives

Footer

Meet Marta

Marta Verdes Darby is a Cuban-American food blogger in South Orange County.

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Sign Up For My Newsletter

December 2008
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031 
« Nov   Jan »

Copyright © 2022 my big fat cuban family