New Year’s Day Meal
The Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal:
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NOTE: This was one of our very first posts made when we launched our website on January 01, 2012. It’s a traditional meal here in the South and I hope you enjoy reading about it and trying some of our recipes. Originally published: January 01, 2012.
A New Year… a time for new beginnings. What is it about being able to start off a new year?
Maybe you had a great year and hate to see it end – or – maybe you just can’t wait for New Years Day to hopefully wipe the slate clean and just start all over again. Either way, there’s just something special about New Years Day.
Here in the South, we try to start it off… with a plan. A plan that hopefully includes good health, good luck and good fortune. Oh yeah, and good times with family and friends.
Growing up, I always heard that it meant you would have “Good Luck” in the New Year if a MAN visited your house first on New Year’s Day. I’m not sure where that came from. Maybe it was just a woman’s way of thinking as she hoped the New Year might finally bring her a husband.
Secondly, you always had to serve up the Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal. What is that you ask?
Collard Greens
Black Eye Peas
Hog Jowl
Corn Bread
You can click on any of the links above to see the complete, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe.
It’s a simple meal, it’s Southern, and it’s really good.
There are many varied stories about each particular part of the plate above. Each is suppose to represent good luck and fortune going into the New Year. Just how and when it all started will always be up for debate I guess. Nonetheless, I’ll give it a go.
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The collard greens are supposed to represent folding money. Collards are green, so is our folding money. It’s all about wealth, prosperity and good fortune as the New Year begins. Some folks say the more collards you eat on New Year’s Day, the more prosperous you will become during the year ahead.
I’ve posted a recipe for collard greens here on Taste of Southern. If you’ve read that, you will already know that I just personally DO NOT like collards. It ain’t a secret in any way or form. I hope you’ll read the post however, just to see how much I hate them and to learn why I made cooking collard greens the very FIRST post to start out our Taste of Southern website.
I will take a bite ever so often, mostly on New Year’s Day, but as for eating a bunch of them… well, maybe that explains my life of prosperity. My mama loved them by the way.
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The peas are also supposed to be a symbol of good luck. Again, the more of them you eat, the more prosperity you’ll experience.
If you search the internet, you’ll find various stories as to why this is supposed to be true. One of those is going back to Civil War times when the Union troops stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, livestock and whatever else they could not carry away. Northerners it seems, considered black eye peas, field peas, and field corn to only be good for feeding animals… thus… they didn’t steal it or destroy it.
As the story goes, this then was the only food, along with maybe some salt pork, that was available at the time and Southern soldiers lived off it for awhile. It was their good luck to have had it.
I’ve read that some people thought placing a coin in the pot of cooked peas was also part of the tradition. The person that found the coin in their plate was considered to be even more likely to prosper. Mama never did this at our house so I have nothing to go by in that respect.
Peas also swell when they cook. This again was a sign of increase.
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Hog Jowl is pork. You could use ham, bacon, tenderloin or fatback along with your meal.
The important thing is to include pork as the meat of the day as opposed to some other animal meat. Pigs it seems, root or forage in a forward direction. This moving forward is seen as a symbol of moving forward in the New Year. Serving chicken, or a winged animal that flies, would represent your fortune as possibly flying away from you. So, make it pork, whatever the cut of choice might be. Mostly, it adds good flavor as a seasoning for your collards or black eye peas.
Hog Jowl is usually smoked, salted and cured. It’s like bacon, only it has more fat than it has meat. You can slice it up thin, fry it and just enjoy it as a meat addition to your meal. Or, cut it into larger portions and add it to a pot of vegetables for flavor as a seasoning.
You’ll probably need to boil it some ahead of adding your peas to the pot to extract more of its flavor. After you’re done, you can just remove it all together prior to serving. Or, you may want to cut the boiled piece up, removing most of the fat and keeping the meatier parts and tossing them back into the pot.
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Corn bread is just a good addition to any Southern meal. Folks will argue over whether it should be white or yellow. The yellow corn bread is thought to represent gold… thus adding more of a chance of good fortune and prosperity to the New Year.
Baking your cornbread in a round skillet forms a circle, like a cake. It’s a continuous circle of prosperity.
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A Poor Man’s Meal:
Many would consider this type of meal to be a “poor man’s meal.” It was often thought that if you “Eat poor on New Years, you’ll eat fat the rest of the year.”
Whatever your reasons, eating this traditional New Year’s Day meal is a great way to start off any New Year. It’s just the good thoughts behind starting off another year with a hope for prosperity and good fortune.
You’ll find complete recipes for each part of your Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal right here on Taste of Southern. And of course, we’ll provide full photo and step-by-step instructions to help you prepare it.
Why not make this the year you start some new traditions at your house. Cook up our New Years Day Meal for your family. Just don’t forget the Sweet Tea.
Let’s Get Cooking!
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I’d love to hear your thoughts on our New Years Day Meal menu. Is it a part of your family traditions? Please share your comments below. Thank You.
NOTE: This article first appeared on January 01, 2012 @12:25am. It was part of the the original launching of our Taste of Southern website that began on that date. Our Collards Recipe was the first recipe we created, and we only had about 5 other recipes completed and online when we made the official announcement to our family and friends that we had started a website about Southern Cooking. We’ve strived to add one new recipe each week and have been very pleased to follow the growth of our work. Thank You for your visit today. I hope you’ll visit with us again… real soon. God Bless You!
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Category: Main Dishes, Pork
Hi, Steve.
This year I will have left-over sliced ham, canned black-eyed peas, mustard greens, and possibly some cornbread if I get the oven cleaned before January 1, 2021. Like you, collards are not my favorite type of greens; however, I will eat them if they are served to me… I might have to add some baked yams to the above.
Happy New Year! May it be a better one for you and yours.
My husband doesn’t like collards, but will take a bite or two New Year’s Day. This year, since store trips are few, I’ll fix spinach along with our pork roast, black eyed peas, rice and cornbread.
And since it’s his birthday, I’ll also fix his favorite, lemon meringue pie.
Always Love reading your page and sometimes bring back old memories
A belated Merry Christmas from north of Cuba Steve! ;]
And a Healthy and Happy New Year to you and everyone in your family.
I made Chicken and Pastry recently and yum, it hits the spot especially in the cold. Also duck for Christmas dinner dressed with dressing with homemade corn bread which makes me think of you and other Southern friends. A slow week. A good week for cruising through your musings. And recipes!
Thank you for everything.
Happy New Year Steve! I’m a new subscriber and I have a little problem… I like your website so much I spend entirely too much time enjoying your stories, tips and memories and not nearly enough time executing your recipes! The New Years Day menu sounds wonderful and very timely as the doctor tells me to add greens to my diet and while I see collards at the market up here more often now,I had no clue how to cook them. No such thing as hog jowls in my area, could I substitute a meaty chunk of salt pork I have on hand?
Prayers for your sister-in-law, brother and yourself.
Susan
ps: your Baked Pork Shoulder was the centerpiece of our Christmas dinner, enjoyed again by everyone.
Hi Susan, Thank you for your very kind comments about our recipes. I’m happy you found us and Thank You for subscribing to our Newsletter. Happy New Years to you and yours. I trust 2020 will be your best year yet. Salt pork, ham hock, even bacon could be used for seasoning. I had a bite or two of collards on New Years Day that had been seasoned with bacon grease myself. Even though I’m not a fan of collards, I thought the bacon grease did help the taste more than some others I’ve tried. Thank you also for trying the pork shoulder recipe. Your prayers for my family are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your visit today. I do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
My sweet Grandmother was always insistent that we have cooked cabbage every New Years day-how I hated the stuff then, but love it now! This year I will not be making it–no one left at home who likes it, except me. One of my daughters was a new years baby–she was Very overdue–many in the family say she just wanted ‘her holiday’ like the others–I tend to hit holidays-Christmas July 4th Good Friday Canada Day, if I’m leaving out someone-I’ll hear about it later! You spoke of staying up on New Years–in our house it was always a must–we never went anywhere-but we had to be on hand to open the doors; every year at midnight the back door opens to say goodbye to the old year and at the same time the front door opens to welcome the New Year. In our household this was a Must–so I still do it today–going to bed right after. The older I get, the more I miss the sweet family of my childhood. Coming to your website brings them all back to me for just a moment–and that’s a really good thing! Nearly 30 years now without them, but they are never far away. Thank You for your website and most especially the time you’ve put into it over the years! It is such a beacon for some of us, in a world that seemingly has lost its way…
Hi Cheryl Ann, Thank you for taking the time to share your New Years traditions with us. I’ve heard of the front/back door tradition but it wasn’t a tradition with us. I’m glad you reminded me of it though. I wonder why the older we get the more we miss our no longer with us family members. Smile. I hope you have a very Happy New Year and wish you and yours all the best in 2020. Thank you for your visits and I do hope you’ll continue to visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
I just a moment ago discovered this wonderful website. From the four recipes I just finished reading, I swear you must have grown up in our house with my grandmother and mother. I just feel like I should know you. I’m sorry I never had a chance to meet you.
So far those recipes were exactly on target with my mothers. THANK YOU!!!!!
The Thanksgiving meal and the New Year’s meals were the same as ours. However, I started out looking for the Orange Slice Cake recipe. My mother always cooked the old fashioned fruit cake from scratch every year. Cracked nuts, cracked coconuts, and all the other labor intensive ingredients. My goodness, I dreaded helping to get that cake put together; but, I didn’t dread eating it. After she passed away, there was no way I was going to all that trouble to make it on my own. It would just have to be a wonderful memory. Then, I went to a church social about 8 years later and enjoyed my first Orange Slice Cake and thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Now the nuts come in a bag, the dates come already chopped up, and all he rest just came ready to add. However, then it came to cutting up the orange slices. That was the only thing I dreaded doing. I don’t know where she got that recipe but I felt like I had found a treasure. It tastes the same and my mother’s, grandmother’s, aunts etc. “Praise the Lord”! Now it has led me to my new treasures in your website. I can’t wait to learn more from you. God Bless!!!!
P.S. Thank you for all the info about the New Year’s meal. I never heard all that good stuff until now. It’s great.
Hi Sandy, Thank you for all the great compliments and comments on our website. I’m thankful you found us and I do hope you’ll try some of our recipes. And, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well even if it is only via the Internet. I’ve made some great friends that way. Smile. I hope you’ll make the Orange Slice Cake one day. It’s really good as you already know. I’d like to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year as we head into 2020. I look forward to your continued visits to Taste of Southern. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Hello Steve
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! I just read about the New years meal and traditional meaning behind each food. Good reading! I love your website, so glad I found it.
Hi Phyllis, Thank you for reading our stories about the food items for New Years. I’ve already cooked my Blackeye Peas to have ready for tomorrow. Let me just wish you and yours a very Happy New Year and nothing but good wishes for 2020 and the years ahead. I appreciate your visits and hope you’ll visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Steve,
I enjoyed the meaning of the foods, but you didn’t say it’s name. Hoppin John.
Hi Ann, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the entire collection of dishes referred to as Hoppin John. I do have another recipe here on Taste of Southern that is just a black eye pea dish that we call Hoppin John. Have you seen that one? It’s always interesting to hear how different areas refer to a dish and it’s name. Thank you for sharing the information. I hope 2019 and beyond will be your best years ever. Thank you for your visit and be sure to visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
January 2/2019. HAppy New Year Steve!
Read all about the traditional Southern dishes in your post, which was first published January 1/2012. You made a comment about Good Luck and how the first visitor after the new year should be a MAN. Well, that tradition comes from Scotland! The story goes that it should be a handsome, dark haired man who is the “First Footer” over your threshold on January first. This is an ancient tradition and even those who are many generations away from our Scottish ancestors still know of, or follow the tradition for good luck. The old saying or blessing was/is (and I will say it in English) “Long may your chimneysmoke!……with another man’s coal!” How appropriate for a thrifty Scot to wish this for his family and friends! From one Gordon to another I wish you all that you need! Thank you for sharing such great family traditions….via the kitchen! BE blessed.
Hi Donna, Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I like the term “First Footer,” I’ve never heard that. Learn something new all the time. Smile. It’s my pleasure to share the recipes. I hope 2019 and beyond will be your best years ever as well. I always appreciate your visits and hope you’ll visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Ms.Pike,
I had never heard of “Big Man through the door first” until I met my wife. Her family beleived in it! Thanks for the history lesson.
Jimmy
Happy New Year Steve. I enjoy your site, the recipes are so familiar to we Southerners. Reading the comments are very interesting. For our New Years meal this year, we were going to try and fool our collard disliking son in law into trying them. He and my family like creole/cajun inspired food. We make an original pot of Cammellia’s brand black eyes and a creole pot seasoned with the trinity (bell pepper, celery & onion) and Anduille sausage. We always prepare and serve the peas and rice separately. We mixed the creole peas and rice after cooking and wrapped the mixture in steamed collard leaves (serving size). The Pyrex casserole held 16 serving size wraps. Poured a thin seasoned tomato gravy around the wraps. Warmed up to bubbly while cooking cornbread. He served his plate thinking it was Hopin John stuffed cabbage. He went back for seconds! Carried home the leftover 2 rolls. Just wanted to pass that on to you folks that don’t care for greens. Wish you health and happiness.
Hi Anthony, I’m not sure I can approve of trying to fool someone when it comes to eating collards. Smile. Sounds like you made a great dish and he enjoyed so I guess all is well. Did you ever confess? Thank you for sharing your comments with us. I’m glad to know you’re enjoying the recipes. Thank you for your support and for all of your visits as always. May 2019 and beyond be your best years ever. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Hi Steve, I just love the Taste of Southern!! As I read your letter I can visualize you, your family, friends,the towns you visit, I enjoy your writings so much! Our Christmas was somewhat like yours,Our youngest son and wife were planning to have Christmas at their house because our home wasn’t big enough, we had taken chairs, tables to their home, Christmas morning they called and were both sick.We went over picked everything up and brought it to our home and had Christmas!!! HAVE A GOOD YEAR! Gary
Hi Gary, Thank you for your compliments on our website and on the Newsletter. I’m thankful to have you as a subscriber. I do hope your family members are doing better by now and I’m glad to hear that you managed to save Christmas for everyone. Smile. I appreciate your visits as always, and may 2019 and beyond be your best years ever. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Steve,
This has always been our traditional New Years meal. It would simply cast a shadow on my health to begin a new year without it. Now, my Mama always said the jowl needed to have teeth in it if one was going to truly have a good year.
As a young woman I went home on leave for the holidays one year. But I had to leave on New Year’s Eve. This so vexed my mother that when I got back to the barracks (after changing planes three times) I opened my suitcase and found a well padded mason jar of peas and hog jowls!
I hope 2019 brings you good health and prosperity.
Hi Charlotte, Thank you for sharing your memories of this meal with us, especially regarding the hog jowl. But, I don’t think I want to set down to a plate of jowl that still contains the teeth. To each his own though. Smile. How nice of your mom to fix that jar of peas and jowl for you to take back with you. I’m sure it was very good. Thank you for your service to our country as well. May 2019 and beyond be your best years yet. I am thankful for your visits and do hope you’ll stop by again… real soon. Just don’t expect any recipes that contain teeth. Okay? Smile. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Happy New Year! Thanks for sharing all your recipes and stories. God Bless
Hi Emily. Happy New Year to you and yours as well. May 2019 and beyond be your best years yet. It’s my pleasure to share the recipes, and your visits make it all worth while. I’m thankful you stopped by, and I do hope you’ll visit with us often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
After reading your newsletter, Please forgive me, but I could not help but smile–for some reason all your misfortunes reminded me of MOST Thanksgivings at our house! Also reminded me of my dear sweet Grandmother, who would have said, “You were just getting ALL the Bad Luck out at the end of the year, so you can start fresh with Good Luck for 2019!” How I love and miss my Grandmother! She died at Christmastime 25 years ago but we still honor her custom of on New Years-Opening the Back Door to let Bad the Old Year leave while Simultaneously opening the Front Door-to let the New Year In! Sorry this was So Wordy-Just wanted to let you know-you gave me a smile-in the most unusual manner!
Hi Cheryl, I like your Grandmothers idea of getting all the bad luck out at the end of the year. I hope she is right. Smile. I’m sure you miss her very much, but I’m glad I could bring back some memories of her for you. I hope 2019 and beyond will be your best years ever. I appreciate your visits and your support. Thank you for being a subscriber to the Newsletter and be sure to stop by again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Yes black eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread is our dinner tomorrow. It’s the southern in us. Some things are just ingrained. Happy pre Birthday/Anniversary. And may the new year be a little brighter then this one.
Hi Josie, Hope you had a great New Years Day meal. Thank you for your well wishes regarding the anniversary of Taste of Southern. I’m glad we found each other. Smile. I do appreciate your visits and I pray that 2019 and beyond will be your best years ever. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Wow, all the dishes look so so good. I would love to try them all. thanks for the sharing.
Happy New Year Steve. Your black eye peas, collard Greens and corn bread will be featured on my table at this New Years dinner. Dessert will be peach cobbler. I have enjoyed your stories and escapades with Older Brother. Have a great year.
Thank you Joyce, I wish you a very Happy New Year as well. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Hi Steve,
Nice to see that the old time-honored tradition of my favorite New Year’s meal is
still being enjoyed by others. The only food item that we add is white rice,
steamed to perfection and served ‘under the black-eyed peas’. The peas with rice
has certainly kept us healthy into our 80’s, and the greens (I add a little green cabbage to my greens and cook them all with more of the sliced hog-jowl, is
keeping a few pennies in my piggy bank from one year to the next.
The cornbread is also a must, and in our home, it must be the southern kind, in
other words, it has very little sugar in it. A few shakes of my Mom’s pepper sauce which I still make with apple-cider vinegar is all we need to keep us happy. I’m still planting seeds from the peppers my mother grew so many years ago. Each year, I save a few of the peppers from the plants, and start my new plants with them every spring. It’s one way, Mother’s influence is still guiding us. Another way is making her wonderful Coconut Cake, not quite as tall as the ones she’d make, but the flavor is there.
Happy New Year to you and all your readers.
Julia (a 5th generation Floridian now living in snowy Michigan, and loving it.)
Hi Julia, Thank you for sharing your memories of the New Years Day Meal with us. I had turnip greens and turnips this year instead of collards, and hoe cakes instead of a pan of cornbread. My brother loves his peppers, but I’m not much for hot and spicy foods, so I don’t usually add that. But, I do love some Coconut Cake. It’s all good. I see on this January 3rd, 2018 that northern Florida has seen some snow… you didn’t need to move to Michigan to get snow. Smile. I’m happy you enjoy snow and feel free to enjoy my share… okay? I appreciate your visit and trust you’ll visit with us again… real soon. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Steve, I have collards in the fridge right now waiting to be cooked. I think I’m going to break with the pig part of the meal though and hope it doesn’t make my good fortune fly away when I eat the smoked turkey I have with this meal.
Thanks, and Happy, Happy 2018 filled with good things, good health, and good people.
Thank you Cheryl, I wish you and yours a very Happy New Year as well. Looking forward to 2018 and hope you’ll stop by often. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
Steve, I don’t know why I am not getting my emails from you the way I used to. Great menu here, Happy New Year.
Hi Tiffany, It’s possible you have been removed from the Newsletter list. I go through the list ever so often and remove names that haven’t opened the last 5 to 10 Newsletters they have received. I figure if you aren’t opening and reading them, you’re probably no longer interested. I’m sorry this may have happened to you, but you can easily get back on by subscribing again. I try to send out a new one each Monday morning. I do hope you’ll sign up once again, and I look forward to seeing you on the list. Be Blessed!!! -Steve
If you don’t like collards, try turnip greens sprinkled with cider vinegar. We always cooked the hog jowl in the blackeyed peas – also put some of the jowl in the greens.
Don’t pity the poor eating beans and greens. B@G makes a complete protein and is very healthy if you don’t put too much fat in them.
DylanAnn
Hello,
Thank you so much for the great recipes. I enjoy your letters so much, fun to hear about your family Christmas. I just wanted to thank you for mention Christ, meant a lot. Glad people will hear about Him in your lovely letter. Hope your new year is great, have a wonderful day.
Thanks again for all the time you put into your recipes and lovely letter.
Happy New year
Linda
Happy New Year Steve,
I’ve been reading your site for over a year now. I always enjoy the stories and recipes that remind me of simpler days and times. I grew up in Southeastern NC (Columbus County) and we too had this traditional New Years Day meal, a tradition I’ve continued as I’ve grown older.
While the basics here are the same, Mom never added sugar to her collard greens and cornbread was pan fried (no sugar there either). While I’ve had the baked cornbread many times in my life I’ve never prepared it that way and decided to use your recipe. It was very tasty and I’m glad I decided to give it a try. I’m not sure I prefer it to what I’m accustomed to but it was certainly delicious.
Thank you again for the entertainment and memories you’ve stirred for me in 2015 and hoping for many more in 2016.
I live in coastal south Mississippi, and have a pot of blackeyes with leftover ham simmering on the stove as I type this. Fixing to pick some greens from my garden, and pick up a quart of buttermilk to make jalapeño cheese cornbread (yellow, of course). Thinking of making homemade ‘naner pudding for dessert.
My Indiana-born and reared Grandma always had a big pot of hambone and some sort of beans, cornbread, greens and pork for New Year’s Day supper, but she said the reason for never serving chicken was because pork roots forward, but chickens scratch backwards. She also mentioned a copper penny in the pot, but I never saw this. I never knew if this was also a rural tradition in other areas besides the south, or if she adopted the custom on behalf of my West Virginian grandfather.
Dear Steve,
Glad you spent some time with your family on Christmas Eve and I understand your “alone” time on Christmas Day also. My husband and I were home alone Christmas and it was nice. Everyone needs time to themselves with their thoughts and memories.
I have enjoyed all your stories and recipes this year and look forward to all the ones you will share with us in 2016. I hope you have a Happy, Healthy New Year!
Thank you for all the inspiration you give us.
Sandra Lowry
Good morning Steve,
I was born and raised in New York, however both my parents were from the south, Mississippi and Virginia. Every New Year my mother would prepare collard greens, black eye peas, chitlins, corn bread and peach cobbler (yum). Thursday I will be preparing the traditional New Years meal – the chitlins, knowing my parents (deceased) will be proud. I adore your stories. Have a blessed New Year.
Kathy!
Great article for New Year’s Day meal. Pinned and will be cooking it on Jan 1, 2016. Happy New Year!!!!!
Just like you eat any pork, it doesn’t have to be hog Jowl. The same goes with greens, you can substitute cabbage. So a nice Cole slaw or cooked cabbage, yum. Enjoy reading your posts.
We always cook collard greens. Hopping johns black eyed peas and corn fried in a old fashion skillet. I put red and green bell peppers onions and smokehouse ham hocks in my hopping johns, and I cut up green bell peppers, onion and sugar in my collard greens. The bell peppers give the collard greens a really good taste. Try putting bell peppers and sugar in your collard greens and you might like them cooked that way. I had a beautiful happy Christmas with family.
Hope you have a happy and prosperous New Year.
Sally
Hi Steve, I always enjoy your blogs including the recipes. I, too, am an original Central NC tarheel, transplanted many years ago to Gulf Coast Alabama. No collards for me either! I have the traditional New Years’ meal substituting turnip greens and tenderloin. Also, it would not be quite complete for me if I did not have raw onions sprinkled with apple cidar vinegar.
I do not like collard greens either, Steve, but I try a little on my plate. Up here in Canada it is entertaining to read your recipes and attempt to re-create them. Sometime I travel to the Carolinas (and other States) to friends in Kannapolis. Reidsville and Greensboro and their tables often have the delicacies you describe. 2016 here soon…Happy New Year !!
I love reading Taste of Southern. I, too, have black eyed peas & cornbread for New Years Day. I don’t eat hog jowl. too fat. I substitute bacon or ham.
Keep up the wonderful articles.
Happy New Year.
Just love reading your stories, they bring back a lot of memories from my childhood. Happy New year
Hi Steve
Greetings and New year wishes from Tennessee. As a transplanted Yankee, I had lots to learn from my southern born mother-in-law.it worked well and I blended her lessons with my Polish heritage.
We do have black eyed peas which I generally make as hoppin John, a pork roast, potatoes, corn bread green salad. My husband doesn’t like any greens! The polish part was Christmas Eve with sauerkraut, fish, ham, pierogi and a green pea side which are made from dried green peas and cooked very gently to keep them whole!
Wishing you all the best and keep up the recipes and newsletter…such fun!
Marlene
Hi Steve,
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you for all the information about our New Year’s traditional dinner here in the South. I knew some of them but am happy to learn the others. I will be cooking all the ones you mentioned.
I normally have turnip greens but will be having collards this year as my cousin gave me some from his garden already cooked and frozen. Black eyed peas and pork are always on the menu and I add stewed tomatoes, delicious with the peas! It will be a great day!
Love your stories and recipes and wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
Sandra