New Year's Eve

Some New Year's Eve traditions are:

• cleaning the house (this can also be done on New Year's Day)
• visiting the temple and drinking amazake
• listening to the bell ring at the temple
• eating toshikoshi soba into the new year
• setting up kamisama mochi (with a tangerine for a head) somewhere in the house and praying for a good year

There are many more traditions for the actual day like eating osechiryouri and giving money to children.

This year Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas will be hosting along with Dick Clark for the "New Years Rockin Eve" event in Times Square.

Times Square Ball Drop is the official New Year's Eve event in NYC but this year's biggest party will be on M2 (530 West 28th Street). There will be 2000+ party goers. it's officially the biggest party in New york City. Official site: http://m2newyears.com

1. Bill Lembeck, a scientist, was opening a bottle of Champagne when he speculated on how many bubbles would soon come bursting to life. Having realized that there would probably not be the same number of bubbles in every bottle, Bill Lembeck decided that he would be satisfied with a reasonable estimate. He then determined that essentially all he had to do was calculate the volume of CO2 in a 750 ml bottle of Champagne and divide this number by the volume of an average bubble.

Putting aside such questions as whether all the bubbles are the same size, and the impact of temperature on the size of the escaping bubble, Lembeck doggedly attacked the problem in a systematic way. First, he established that the average pressure in a Champagne bottle was about 5.5 atmospheres at 20 degrees C. In other words, he explained, a bottle of Champagne contains 5.5 times its volume in the form of gas produced by the second fermentation in the bottle. Accordingly (at standard atmospheric pressure), a 750 ml bottle contains 4,125 ml (252 cubic inches) of gas dissolved in the wine. The gas is not released until the cork is removed.

The next step in Lembeck's scientific inquiry was to determine the size and volume of an average Champagne bubble. With the aid of a machine called an "optical comparator," Lembeck was able to determine the average bubble diameter at the surface of the wine in a glass. It was 0.5 mm (0.020 in). Knowing this, it was child's play for him to compute the volume of the average bubble; a minuscule 69 millionths of a ml (4.2 millionths of a cubic inch).

A non-scientist would hastily have concluded that all that remained was to divide the total volume of gas by the volume of an average bubble. Lembeck, being a scientist, knew that at least one 750 ml volume of the CO2 dissolved in the liquid would remain behind when the cork was removed: 750 ml of CO2 that would never burst. The available CO2 would therefore be the originally calculated CO2 (4,125 ml) minus the trapped CO2 (750 ml), leaving 3,375 ml (206 cubic inches) destined for "bubbledom". Finally, all that remained for Lembeck to do was divide this available volume of gas by that of the average bubble.

Lembeck obtained the astonishing number of 49 million bubbles per bottle.

2. Bruno Dutertre headed a three year, $7 million joint project between Moet & Chandon and Heineken to "Understand and Study the Influence of Chemical and Physical Parameters on the Formation of Bubbles and the Stability of the Mousse" between 1986 and 1989. At the heart of this research was a camera based "artificial vision" system that was linked to a computer and built by ITMI (Industrie et Technolgie de la Machine), which recorded the release of bubbles and counted them.

According to Monsieur Dutertre, there are on average 250 million bubbles in a bottle of Champagne.

Another estimate is that tghere are 49 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne.

In Scotland, the New Year is a higher profile holiday than Christmas.

New Year's Eve is called Hogmanay and the 1st and 2nd of January are Bank Holidays.

There is no special name for the New year in Scotland or for the first Monday.

(When dates scheduled for Bank Holidays fall on Saturday or Sunday the actual Bank Holiday is usually deferred to the Monday.)

Use ham hocks or hog jowl in this basic black eyed pea recipe, also known as Hoppin' John. * 2 pounds dried black-eyed peas * 8 ounces hog jowl or 2 small to medium ham hocks * 6 cups water water * 1 large onion, coarsely chopped * 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper * 1/4 teaspoon sugar * salt, to taste Pick over the peas and rinse well, then soak in cold water overnight. Place ham hocks or hog jowl in large kettle with water, bring to boil, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Drain peas and add to the hog jowl. Add whole onion, crushed red pepper, sugar, and salt. Add more water if needed to cover peas. Cover tightly and simmer slowly 2 hours or until peas are tender. Serve with hot cooked rice and cornbread. Serves 8. New Year's Black Eyed Peas and Cabbage Recipe

* 1 tsp garlic powder . * 1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas with jalapenos . * 1 lb ground beef . * salt & pepper . * 2 large onions, sliced . * 1 head cabbage . * 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce . * 1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas . * 2 c ham or salt pork, sliced . * 2 stalks celery, sliced . * 1 c bell peppers, sliced

* Step #1 Black eyed Peas:. * Step #2 Saute onion with ham or salt pork until onions are soft. * Step #3 Add both cans of black eyed peas with juices. * Step #4 Bring to boil. * Step #5 Reduce heat & let simmer for 30 - 45 mins. * Step #6 Cabbage Dish:. * Step #7 Brown ground beef. * Step #8 Mix in worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt & pepper. * Step #9 Add one onion, bell pepper, & celery to beef just before browned & saute for about five mins. * Step #10 Slice head of cabbage into quarters & separate leaves. * Step #11 Mix cabbage leaves in with beef & vegetables & cook on low heat until leaves are soft but still some what crisp. * Enjoy the New Year's Black Eyed Peas & Cabbage recipe