We woke up about 8:00 this morning, looked out the window to see two of our neighbor's cows taking a "walk about" on our property. After a few cups of coffee, we got together with the neighbors to return their cows. We were lucky, we put a few cubes in a couple of buckets, rattled them around, and the little heifers came running and followed us through two gates into the correct pasture. I wish all visiting cows were so easy to return.
Last night I put a pound of black-eyed peas in the slow cooker so we would be sure to get our fair share of good luck and maybe a little of that "wealth" back that evaporated in 2008! For those of you that have never heard of the New Year's black-eyed pea tradition, it started in the South during the War Between the States. Northern troo
ps considered black-eyed peas as animal fodder and did not steal the peas when raiding Southern farms. That very fact saved many a Southern family from starving.According to Wikipedia, though, the Sheparadi Jews brought the practice to Georgia in 1730 which apparently was picked up by those living in the area. Actually the custom goes back much further than that since it was mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud. I had to look up the origin of this tradition because eating black-eyed peas every New Year has been the custom in my family since long before I was born. And, naturally, corn bread was on today's menu because you can't eat black-eyed peas, pinto or black beans, or chili without fresh corn bread.
Leave a comment telling me what your family's New Year's traditions are and if you have or have not question their origins.
May 2009 bring you and your family good luck, good health, increased wealth, and many blessings from the Creator of the Universe.
2 comments:
I knew about the black eyed peas but I don't have any New Years Day traditions. When my girls were young were use to try to run away to get away from all the football games but everything was closed back then so that didn't work out well. I do have a good recipe for black eyed peas and bean hocks in a cookbook that is somewhere, maybe I will look for it when I feel ambitious. Lenore
In my poor Oklahoma family, the tradition was the blackeyed peas with salt pork--especially with cornbread-- too. I happen to love them myself but hubby doesn't...
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