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Black-eyed Peas for Luck

Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day brings luck for the whole year. That’s the legend, anyway. Personally, I’ve never been a fan. I grew up with them and spent hours of my childhood hoeing, watering, and shelling them. According to my husband, by mother’s are the best, picked fresh from the garden, shelled with a few snaps thrown in, and home-canned with a little salt pork, but I could never develop a taste for them.

I always managed to consume a few on New Year's but didn't enjoyed them until this year. I found a recipe in the newspaper for Hoppin’ John (black-eyed peas and rice), but not the traditional recipe I’ve used before with sausage and lots of cayenne. This one called for dried peas, a ham bone, and collard greens. I happened to have a bone left from the Christmas ham and some frozen spinach to substitute for the collards, so I gave it a try. Who knew black-eyed peas could taste so good?

So, the lesson for me is to keep trying new things. Maybe I’ll eventually develop a taste for some of those other things I never enjoyed, like exercise and public speaking. Maybe all that luck I’ve stored up by eating all those black-eyed peas on New Year’s will help with the process. It can’t hurt. 


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