A family New years party

Start the year out right with a New Year's Day open house party (a long-standing Dutch and Scottish tradition) for family and friends. You'll be remembered for throwing the perfect first party of the new year.
For a festive and memorable spread, create a buffet of your favorite sweet and savory crowd-pleasers, with a mix of New Year's traditions thrown in. Children, in particular, love it when certain foods are served at special times of the year and have a "story." Since Roman times beans have been associated with good fortune, so whip up a batch of Hoppin' John, a hearty mixture of black-eyed peas, rice and salt pork or bacon. The kids in the crowd will also love it if you prepare a Japanese favorite, soba noodles. They'll have fun trying to slurp up the noodles without breaking them, thought to ensure a long life. Create fruit parfaits, each containing 12 grapes; in Spain, grapes are traditionally eaten when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve — one grape per chime for good luck.
Parade watching is always a favorite New Year's Day activity, so start your brunch early, around 10 a.m., so that folks can come and watch. Create a parade game/activity for the children. Those who had to go to bed early the night before will appreciate the chance to hike the commotion with horns, noisemakers and other traditional favors. For a pre-party activity, decorate plastic champagne flutes with guests' names and festive designs. When the time comes (maybe the "ball drops" at your party at noon instead of midnight), young and old can raise their personalized glasses of sparkly (champagne or white grape juice) to the new year.
Hoping for good fortune this year? Hire a fortune-teller to come and read palms or cast fun fortunes. Or practice with a set of tarot cards before the party so you can be the fortune-teller. Another option is to order fortune cookies from Asian markets or make your own fortune bubbles. Write a variety of funny fortunes and sayings on strips of paper that you enclose inside inexpensive clear plastic or glass ornaments. Use a gold pen to write "Happy New Year!" or "New Year's Day '08" on the outside — voila! Your guests have a memento to take home with them. Have guests write down resolutions and make a game of guessing or acting out (resolution charades!) what they're hoping to accomplish.