New Year's Menu

Here we are at the bewitching hour when we kiss at midnight, sing Auld Lang Syne, and begin to make our New Year's resolutions for the coming year. And then we gather the next day for our New Year's dinner, all the while observing the superstitions of the day by not making our beds, sweeping or mopping the floors, washing clothes, doing dishes and of course I almost forgot...in our home the Christmas tree had to stay lit from New Year's Eve on throughout New Year's Day. Whew!!!!!

Now comes the resolutions, they are always a lot of fun because it never fails that within a few passing days we are right back where we started from, so you can basically say anything and not mean it. Some resolutions like dieting and saving money, (good luck with these two), are much the same in the sense that as the old saying goes; here today and gone tomorrow. But seriously there are many resolutions that are made and with effort, they become a reality.

Having grown up in the south the traditional good-luck menu was black-eyed peas. Mother always served them with no exceptions allowed. She was a terrific cook but her penchant for preparing the New Year's Day dinner was always so ceremonious. She would make a dish called "Hoppin' John" which is a mixture of black-eyed peas, tomatoes, onions and sometimes okra. This was served over white rice while on the side we enjoyed cornbread, collard greens and carrots. All of this is suppose to bring good luck for the New Year. On one occasion I fondly remember a slice of hog jowl served along side them. You heard me right, I said Hog Jowl; how southern can you get? I still recall going to the meat market with mother to purchase this strange looking piece of meat that looked that big fat bacon and I mean fat, it was all fat.

On New Year's Day she got out her iron skillet and fried this hog jowl until it was crispy and brown, and we all obediently chewed on it enough to satisfy the custom of bringing us good luck. I personally didn't care about the good luck; I thought it was a blessing that I didn't have to eat the whole thing. Aside from this menu on this particular New Year's, my father insisted we also have baked ham, pork roast or chops; he said this would compliment the hog jowl.

Every passing year this would be our traditional New Year's Day dinner except for the hog jowl. After considering our reaction to it mother never served it again with the exception of using it to flavor the peas and collards which made them delicious. We felt like we were in hog heaven....Oh yeah I forgot to mention, a chocolate fudge cake for desert rounded out our meal.

Aside from all of this, prosperity and good fortune does not come from the food, it comes from the blessings that made it possible for this food to be on our table.

Happy New Year!