New Year's

Five Do's & Don'ts For Tax Day 2013, Including Watching Lots Of Sitcoms

Another April, another (goddamn) Tax Day. The annual rite of paying taxes has been buffed up to a science by the media -- on no other day will you hear the team "Uncle Sam" used so often -- and all the people who have somehow forgotten this day was coming will be reminded ad nauseam. Still, ther ... More >>

5 Essential Foods for a Lucky, Healthy, Prosperous New Year, with Recipes

All throughout the world, different cultures have their own way of celebrating and ushering in the New Year. (And, of course, not everyone celebrates the New Year on January 1.) And while most Texans are familiar with the idea of having a pot of black-eyed peas or Hoppin' John on New Year's Day, the ... More >>

Ring in the New Year: Where to Eat on New Year's Eve and Day 2012

It's time to start making plans for New Year's Eve and Day, if you haven't already. Houston restaurants are opening their doors for you and your friends and family to celebrate the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 with a delicious meal and champagne toasts at the strike of midnight. Many locations ... More >>

Wet, Winter Weather Continues Right Through the New Year

If you looked outside Thursday and wondered to yourself, "What is this liquid falling from the sky?" don't feel too bad. It's been a pretty dry fall and winter thus far, so when we started seeing some misty rain Thursday afternoon, as ugly as it may have been, it was a welcome sight. By Friday afte ... More >>

Five of the Least Important Reasons Not to Drive Drunk on New Year's Eve

We all know driving drunk is dumb. We all know doing it is dangerous and literally kills a lot of people every year. We also know it is completely avoidable. With New Year's Eve coming up, the drunkiest holiday of the year, it is time for us all to reacquaint ourselves with the concepts of a designa ... More >>

Post-Holiday Diet Cleanse: Leek Soup

As the year winds down and all we have left to celebrate is New Year's, everyone says they will start their "New Year's Diet." It usually starts with cutting out sweets and trying to work out in some capacity each day, but let's be honest, that effort quickly dies and our New Year's resolution to h ... More >>

Ring in the New Year: Where to Eat on New Year's Eve and Day 2012

Yes, Christmas isn't here yet, but it's time to start making plans for New Year's Eve and Day. Houston restaurants are opening their doors for you and your friends and family to celebrate the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 with a delicious meal and champagne toasts at the strike of midnight. Man ... More >>

New Year's Eve 2012 Guide

Mugshot Etiquette 101: Don't Smile Unless You Did Something Cool

Every day here at Hair Balls we get to see great, sad, and dumbfounding mugshots from around the state of Texas. We sure do have a lot of criminals in the Lone Star State. Makes me fearful of seceding in 2025. REWIND: Sean Payne: Humble Man Too Drunk To Pose for His Mugshot REWIND: Michael Jordan ... More >>

Kiss Me Baby: Macy's Bringing Giant Mistletoe To Houston

As part of Downtown Houston's annual Holiday Spectacular, Macy's is bringing 15-foot candy cane with a 4-foot hanging piece of mistletoe to Houston for a five-stop tour. Beware ladies, creepsters all over town will no doubt be doubling-down to somehow get your unsuspecting ass under this thing to g ... More >>

Kaskade's Moment

On-the-go DJ/producer might be electronica's very own superhero.

Comment of the Day: Good Band Name

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit ... More >>

New Year's Eve Dining (What's Open, Deals and Hangover Fixes for the Following Day)

Yeah, yeah, we know. New Year's Eve is supposed to be a time of reflection filled with hope and promise for the coming year, a time to move forward and leave our struggles in the past. But for those of us resolving to lose weight in 2012, New Year's Eve is a lot like Fat Tuesday -- a last hurrah of ... More >>

Garden Fresh: Radishes

Photo by John Kiely​A Master Gardener will know the ideal dates to plant and harvest each crop, but a Casual Tiller like myself requires a simpler scheme, so I go with holidays. Tomatoes and hot peppers go in after Valentine's Day; broccoli comes out on St. Pat's. Parsley and cilantro get pl ... More >>

5 Ridiculously Cute Kitchen Gifts

www.kitchensonthesquare.com​If you know a home cook whose kitchen looks like Pee Wee's Playhouse or someone who might actually wear a pink, polka-dotted apron, these ridiculously adorable gifts for the kitchen are just the thing. 5. Scrubber Duckie When only having a rubber duckie in the b ... More >>

Local State Senator Pushing for Sunday Liquor Sales in Texas

pamlaneSunday Funday indeed.​Such times as these - the economy in recession, federal and state governments mired in debt, and more than 8 percent unemployment - are leading state lawmakers around the country to question the financial logistics of blue laws restricting any business from operati ... More >>

Facebook v. Leaky Boob

Houston mom in a FB face-off.

College Football Bowls -- This Week's Best Bets

The color, the pageantry of college football​Since it's Week 17 of the NFL season, we're changing it up a little bit this week. I don't know about people who actually know what they're doing when it comes to wagering, but my experience with the NFL in Week 17 is that it's a good time to stay ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Alternative Party Chips

​When it comes to the all-American pairing of football and snack food, New Year's Day doesn't have the same cachet as Super Sunday ®, especially now that the bowl season extends until January 10 and most of the big-time bowls that used to be New Year's Day fixtures are scattered throughout th ... More >>

A Toast to the New Year

​Whether you want to provide a memorable evening for your friends and family or try to impress a New Year's date, nothing classes up a joint like well-spoken, thoughtful toast. Especially if you came up with that toast yourself. Of course, not all of us have the talent and skill of Robert Bur ... More >>

Looking to Ring In the New Year at a Restaurant?

chicagofoodwhores.com​Sick of lame parties and crowded bars and a night that rarely lives up to its billing? Can't bear the thought of another New Year's Eve with Ryan Seacrest? Need a place to grab a bite before hitting the dancefloor? It's been a hard year, Houston. Why not ease your way i ... More >>

New Year's Brunch Star: Crab Strata

​For those (very few) of you who will wake up on New Year's Day sans debilitating hangover, this crab strata recipe would make an excellent brunch to start out the new year. Surprisingly light in texture, yet full of flavor and absolutely filling, it would pair wonderfully with some pepper ba ... More >>

Ticket City, New Era Pinstripe? What Happened To The Real Bowl Games?

What kind of name is New Era Pinstripe Bowl?​It's possible that I'm getting old and becoming one of those grumpy old dudes who think that everything was better during his day. That caveat out of the way, I've got to ask: am I the only one around here who remembers when the New Year's Day bow ... More >>

Five Fortuitous New Year's Foods

A30_TsitikaEat grapes for smooth sailing in 2011. ​Not like you need any excuse to stuff yourself during the holidays, but take heed of what you eat around December 31st if you're interested in a little extra good fortune. Depending on who you ask, certain foods -- if consumed on New Year's -- ... More >>

New Year's Eve: The Blogging Will Continue Until Morale Improves

​This weird year could only end weirdly, and that's what it's doing, with some people getting Thursday and Friday off, some people just Friday, and -- we assume -- some poor souls being told "Hey, New Year's is on Saturday, tough luck." (We assume many in that last category lack sufficient wor ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets

When it comes to college football, I'm not a staunch traditionalist. I believe the season is more compelling when the longtime powers are strong (Translation: Texas, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Miami all being mediocre is, to me, a bad thing.), and yet I picked Boise State before the season ... More >>

Top 5 Groceries You Buy and Then Throw Away

We go into the grocery store with the best of intentions, usually... I mean, assuming we're not violating the cardinal rule, "Never grocery shop while hungry." We try to plan out our meals to some degree, and think of all kinds of great things we can cook with various ingredients. But outside the gr ... More >>

Chinese New Year: The Year of the Tiger

​This Saturday, February 13, marks the Chinese New Year's Eve. Valentine's Day will usher in the Year of the Tiger, whose zodiac symbol is marked by a fondness for bread and poultry (turkey sandwiches, anyone?). Although the most traditional way to spend Chinese New Year's Eve is by cleaning y ... More >>

BYZANTIO'S MOTITO

I Wanna Be Your Dog (or Cat): Resolution Time

New year. New decade. New mayor. New director of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. But same old problem: Too many awesome dogs and cats stuck behind bars, the clock ticking as they wait for a good home. Hair Balls is hoping that, along with the traditional new year's resolutions of goin ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Musical Resolutions for 2010, Part 2

Did you know the U.S. Government publishes a list each year of popular American New Year's Resolutions? No. 1 is "lose weight," and No. 2 is "manage debt" which shows the kind of fucked-up priorities we as Americans have as we finish this decade off with the worst recession since the Depression. Su ... More >>

Top 5 Best Bloody Marys to Ring in the New Year

Let's be honest. You don't feel so hot after last night's New Year's Eve celebration. When you downed your last champagne cocktail at two a.m., the world was your oyster. This morning, the thought of oysters makes you nauseous. Never fear. We will help you find that spicy cure-all to help you ring ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind: ACL, Before, During and After the "Shit-Mud"

Mark C. Austin​ This is the very, very, very, very last thing Rocks Off has to do before we're off New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and the whole blessed weekend after that, so we'll tell you what: Click right here and feast on our copious ACL '09 coverage to your heart's content. We are so outta he ... More >>

Seasons of Sharing: New Year's Noon Celebration

Hello, 2010!

Buh-Bye 2009

Where to celebrate the dawn of a new year: Our guide to the best events in town.

Lucky Black-Eyed Peas

If you don't eat black-eyed peas this New Year's Day, next year could be really unlucky. Luckily, there's Family Discount Food.

He Said She Said: Songs for Your New Year's Eve Party

You know when you're at a bar or a party and everything seems über-subdued, then suddenly someone pops a dollar in the jukebox or a CD in the player and it's just the right song for the moment? And then everyone hops up and does this synchronized line -ance perfectly choreographed for the song just ... More >>

Five Best New Year's Eves In The Movies

The New Year's Eve countdown is only hours away. The built-in suspense of it all, along with the opportunity for pathos via a lonely celebrant, or a doomed couple exuding cheery optimism, has been catnip for moviemakers.There have been some great New Year's Eves in the movies. Here are five of the b ... More >>

5 Foods That Look the Same Coming Out As They Did Going In

Coming straight off our admonishing post of foods to avoid if you want to keep your throat intact while throwing up on New Year's Eve, we thought we'd do a photo retrospective of foods that look exactly the same on the plate or on the street. Find yourself blowing chunks outside the House of Blues o ... More >>

New Year's Pigs' Trotters

​This weekend, Da Marco will be serving zampone, the stuffed pig's foot that's traditionally eaten on New Year's in Italy. Da Marco is serving the zampone with lentils and the mustard-marinated fruit called mostarda. December 31 is called La Festa di San Silvestro in Italy. You eat lentils, ... More >>

Please Make Obama Eat Some Cabbage

​I am worried about whether or not Barack Obama will be eating black-eyed peas and cabbage on New Year's. As everybody knows, you have to eat black-eyed peas for good luck and cabbage for prosperity on January first. I am not sure they have black-eyed peas in Hawaii (if that's where the Obamas ... More >>

Please Pass the Peas

​In this week's Café Review, we visit Family Discount Food Store, a salvage grocery store in the Fifth Ward with a soul food buffet restaurant in the back. The place will be open New Year's Day, and it serves black-eyed peas and cabbage along with the other traditional New Year's Day food -- ... More >>

If Santa Couldn't Stop Our Posting, Then New Year's Doesn't Have A Chance

Tomorrow is probably one of the days when the least work gets done -- all eyes are on the clock from the get-go. Recognizing this, we've been given Thursday and Friday off.Recognizing your need for diversion, however, we will not be going dark.Look for posts tomorrow and Friday. As you prepare for y ... More >>

Braving The Crowds On New Year's Eve? Here's Where To Do It

​So you've decided not to take any of our advice to stay home on New Year's Eve and cook a nice, memorable dinner. You're either brave or foolhardy and have somehow come to the conclusion that it's an awesome idea to ford the river of amateurs and drunks that will be coursing through the stree ... More >>

Party Like It's 2009

​Before you peruse our exhaustive guide to the best New Year's Eve parties in the city, we suggest you flip through our best party pics of 2009 to give you guidance and inspiration. And for your New Year's Resolution? Party even harder, Houston.

Buh-Bye 2009

Where to celebrate the dawn of a new year: Our guide to the best events in town.

Beaver's Belt Strap

HOUSTON PRESS NEW YEAR'S EVE GUIDE

Kiss 2008 goodbye in style

Happy New Year (Again)!

Rassol Relief

The Russian General Store's Rassol