Friday, December 28, 2012

Reminder: Eat Your Black-Eyed Peas for New Year's


My yearly reminder to all of my blogger friends:  For good luck and prosperity, you simply MUST eat black eyed peas first thing on New Year's Day (which, in my world, means they must be eaten at 12:01 a.m., along with your champagne toast to the New Year!)

For a more detailed explanation of  the reasons why you must eat black eyed peas[footnote 1] first thing on New Year's Day, please see this prior post.

For a recap of the bad luck I experienced the one and only year that I forgot to eat the darned peas, please see this prior post.

Here are some links to recipes that will make them delicious for you:

1.  Healthy and Delicious: Southern-Style Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon

I'm not sure how the word "healthy" got included in the title for a recipe that includes bacon but I can vouch for the fact that the bacon will make it delicious!

2.  Crockpot Black-Eyed Peas With Ham

Ham is good, too, and perhaps more traditional than the bacon.  In fact, real Southerners use ham hocks.  Yum!

3.  Spicy Black-Eyed Peas With Tomatoes

And in Louisiana, they like their food spicy.  (See, e.g., Jambalaya).   These are a nice change from the salty, slightly sweet versions above.


Note that the first two recipes call for dried or frozen peas, which taste better than canned, but take longer to prepare than the kind out of the can. No procrastinating if you want them ready on time!

Then again, you could probably substitute the canned peas.  They wouldn't be as delicious, of course, but it would be easier.

Or, if you actually like the canned peas (like I do), and/or if you won't be home but want to be sure you get your good-luck-peas, you can just pop open a can, dump them into a bowl, heat them in the microwave, and you are ready to go within two minutes on New Year's Eve!  Definitely lacks the gourmet flair, but it's quick and practical and will keep you from suffering horrible bad luck all year!

I wish you all the best for the coming year.  May you all be healthy, happy, and prosperous.

* * * *
Footnote 1:  That would be a good name for a punk rock band, wouldn't it?  "The Black Eyed Peas". . .

7 comments:

Verdant Earl said...

Was just reading about Hoppin' John (black-eyed peas with rice, bacon and onions) and it's New Year's Day traditions a few moments ago! Wow!

Happy New Year!

Janie Junebug said...

I'm doomed to bad luck cuz I ain't gonna eat no peas of any sort, with or without bacon. May the Lord bless you and keep you during 2013 and forever after.

Love,
Janie

stephen Hayes said...

My late father-in law wouldn't think of sitting down to the table on New Year's Day without a platter of black-eyed peas. Now you've made my mouth water for them. Happy New Year.

Gerry Hatrić said...

Why have I only discovered this now?? It explains a lot.

SkylersDad said...

I have never had them, only have heard about them.

Nan said...

Can I just have some green beans and pretend they're black-eyed peas that got picked before they got big enough to shell?

The Southern food that mystifies me is "purple hull peas." Every time they show up on a menu, they come out of the kitchen looking like ordinary boiled cowpeas, so what's the big deal? How can anyone even tell the beans ever had purple hulls?

Jo ~ said...

okay on planning dinner (a late midnight dinner) I suppose some black-eyed peas could be put into the menu; gotta get bacon too! LOL Your tree was beautiful and I hope your Christmas merry, hug those babies closer and make sure people know you love 'em every chance you get the New Year.