So we just finished our traditional New Years Day meal. This year we had Pork Chops, Collard Greens w/smoked bacon and pepper sauce, Black Eyed Peas with the same smoked bacon, and Cornbread. This traditional meal (Pork, greens, peas, and cornbread) started in the South following the Civil War after the Northern Army destroyed what they deemed were the most valuable crops....leaving the greens and peas intact. I found this good explanation of the tradition here:
In the Southern United States, eating black-eyed peas or Hoppin’ John (a traditional soul food) on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity in the new year. The peas are typically cooked with a pork product for flavoring (such as bacon, fatback, ham bones, or hog jowls) and diced onion, and served with a hot chili sauce or a pepper-flavored vinegar. The traditional meal also includes collard, turnip, or mustard greens, and ham. The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity; the greens symbolize money; the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion. Cornbread, which represents gold, also often accompanies this meal.
My humble wish for this year was for us all to have great health and wealth and for my beloved Yellow Jackets to regain their swagger and proper place in the upper echelon of college football.
Happy New Year Y'all!! Goooo Jackets!!! Sting 'em!!