New Year Recipes 2026
New Year Recipes 2026
Dec 30, 2025
Flipping through old recipe cards from about fifty years ago, I found some favorites. Easy and refreshing Bean Salad and Ambrosia can be made ahead and never fail to add flavor to any meal. The Strawberry-Banana Smoothie is a great snack drink.
Dieters please forgive the temptation but this chocolate cake with filling recipe kept calling out to me! A fun cake to make and give away!
Bean Salad
This recipe came from a high school friend, Deb. She loved to cook and bake. After graduation, we went to the same nursing school and shared a lot of meals. This vinegar based bean salad is good for those of us who want to increase our vegetables! As you know by now, I usually use less sugar and often leave out the salt. Being raised in Pennsylvania, I often wonder why so much saltiness and sweetness dominated every dish. Perhaps they were cheap ingredients.
Also, I couldn't find the yellow wax beans. We grew them in our garden years ago, but they may be out of season. FYI Instead of a can of carrots I sliced fresh ones. I bet you can use this vinegar base and create a veggie dish with cauliflower and broccoli. Have fun making a salad of your own!
Ambrosia
I forgot how easy this fruity dish is to make. The recipe calls for sour cream and a tiny bit of sugar. I bet greek yogurt (especially my homemade) would work just as well. I added some cherries and used almonds and pecans. I love those black grapes and mandarin oranges. Your kids or grandkids could make this dish. Kitchen family time is so special. Those memories will stay in your heart forever.
Strawberry-Banana Smoothies
Such a great drink for snack. Filling and delicious!
Eat Cake, if you must!
If you like dates, raisins, and nuts, this is your go to. Believe it or not, it is probably higher in fat than sugar.
(To be honest, the whipped cream in the filling layer could use a bit of sugar.)
And I felt intimidated to create such a glossy icing, until I made it. I wondered what chef came up with such a concoction. Melt chocolate chips in a sauce pan with some sour cream and consider yourself an expert gloss-maker!
I do hope your New Year is full of family, great meals, and joy. If you are in the mood to continue with the tradition of my Gram, don't forget the sauerkraut recipe found in the December blog! When I think back to all the years we had to stay up and eat that heavy, salty meal at midnight, I chuckle. I rarely stay up that late, ever!
May the Lord bless you and yours. May His face shine upon you and give you peace.
Because He loves each of us as if there was only one of us!
Rejoice! Another year has just begun.
Your nutty recipe Sister,
Dr. Donna
