Happy New Year

Above, the back yard on a cold winter's day.

The traditional New Year's lunch around these here parts is peas with greens. Peas as in the bean family. Greens, as in turnip or collard greens. Accompanied by cornbread. Sounds lackluster, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Here are the ins and outs of great southern cooking.

We ate the traditional lunch today, together. My friend had cooked the lunch and invited a couple of us over. It was a feast! The turnip greens were cooked well, tender and juicy. The peas were crowder peas and really tasty too. You top them with a tomato relish. Take a tomato, chopped, and reduce with sugar and vinegar till thick. Plop onto the peas. It is soooo good! Cornbread is baked in a seasoned pie tin - with buttermilk-  for extra moistness and a crusty crust. It is soooo good! A sweet potato oiled on the outside and baked slowly while wrapped in tin foil completes the meal.

We ate slowly, enjoying the cornbread soaked in crowder peas juices, and the potato steaming as we slit the foil. They drank sweet tea, of course. I had water. The peas are supposed to represent coins and the turnip greens, money, for a prosperous new year. So, Happy New Year to all and I hope 2010 is prosperous and happy for all of you.