Here in the South we eat certain things for certain holidays. I don't remember eating the things on New Years Day as I eat now and cannot remember when I started these customs. Most Southerners eat black eyed peas for luck and something green-supposedly so you will have more money in the coming year. I guess maybe it works, I always seem to have enough to live on! Anyway it is fun to prepare these foods as most of it is a once a year time to eat them.
Black Eyed Peas have to soak for 5 to 8 hours, with the water changed several times.While the peas are soaking I boil the hambone left over from the Christmas ham-along with celery, onions, and garlic. Afterward the broth is strained and the peas are cooked in this. More garlic and onions, as well as a can of Rotel tomatoes are added. When the peas are almost done, I add about 1 and 1/2 cups of uncooked rice to the 1 pound bag of peas.I also add about two Tablespoons of butter and some cajun seasoning and salt.
I always pull out my grandmothers old pots to cook this in-now that I think of it she cooked this at New Years, so that's where I got the idea, besides she was a fabulous Southern cook.I always serve the peas/rice with cornbread-sorry not homemade-I am not that good-I use Jiffy mix. Also a big bowl of hand cut coleslaw. Did you know that hand chopping your cabbage tastes sooo much better than if it is chopped in a food processor-don't know why-but try it, I think you will agree. This makes way more food than the two of us can eat, so I freeze the leftovers for later.What are the food customs where you live, or is this just a southern thing? I hope you all have a wonderful lucky, prosperous New Year-whatever you eat!
Black Eyed Peas have to soak for 5 to 8 hours, with the water changed several times.While the peas are soaking I boil the hambone left over from the Christmas ham-along with celery, onions, and garlic. Afterward the broth is strained and the peas are cooked in this. More garlic and onions, as well as a can of Rotel tomatoes are added. When the peas are almost done, I add about 1 and 1/2 cups of uncooked rice to the 1 pound bag of peas.I also add about two Tablespoons of butter and some cajun seasoning and salt.
I always pull out my grandmothers old pots to cook this in-now that I think of it she cooked this at New Years, so that's where I got the idea, besides she was a fabulous Southern cook.I always serve the peas/rice with cornbread-sorry not homemade-I am not that good-I use Jiffy mix. Also a big bowl of hand cut coleslaw. Did you know that hand chopping your cabbage tastes sooo much better than if it is chopped in a food processor-don't know why-but try it, I think you will agree. This makes way more food than the two of us can eat, so I freeze the leftovers for later.What are the food customs where you live, or is this just a southern thing? I hope you all have a wonderful lucky, prosperous New Year-whatever you eat!
5 comments:
Vicki,
This is just too funny! Not only did we post about what we eat, our first photos were pots of peas!!! The way you cook your peas sounds really delicious. Well, all I can say is, I love Southern traditions!
Your peas sound scrumptious! I can almost taste them now. I do agree on the hand-cut cabbage. I learned that from my mother-in-law who referred to it as "chipping" the cabbage. Thankful for the old traditions we carry forward as we also create new ones to pass along to our loved ones. Happy New Year to you and yours!
Ok, this is my first year ever to cook the black-eye pea's, and I just put them in the crock pot over night with the ham from Christmas. Ugh! I kept waking up during the night smelling them. The rice thing sounds good, along with your other seasonings. I just did mine the typical southern way, grease, salt, meat, lol. I do make home made cornbread, hubby loves it!
Now, on to the green stuff, I am using cabbage for the green stuff because we don't do turnip greens. Hubby is wanting slaw, so slaw it is. But.....it is going into the food processor for fine chopping, because I am not going to stand around chopping on a cabbage all day long, lol. I won't even mention that to him, because he will want me to try it.
Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy New Year, and I look forward to much more blogging with you in 2012. And yes, any time your headed our way, give me a shout out and I will give you directions here, and have you something really good cooked!
I hated peas of any kind as a child (I was more of a broccoli/spinach/green bean kinda gal) and my mother would try and force me to eat at least one pea on NY day! Now I love ALL kinds of peas. Our favorite NY dish is black eyed pea soup (the recipe is somewhere on my blog - just click the soup tag). For some reason we never did the cabbage/green thing.
Hope your peas bring you lots of good luck in 2012!
Wow that looks good.
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