New Year's Traditions in the South

As many of you know, I live in the South and Southern girls hold onto traditions and pass them along. When it comes to traditions, New Year's is king in the South. Southerners spend the day celebrating with traditions that date back to the Civil War. If you've never had the pleasure to be in the South on New Year's, it's about time you learned about our traditions. You never know, these Southern traditions may bring you luck, health, and even financial success.

One of the biggest New Year's traditions in the South is to cook a meal that will ensure that our year will be filled with luck, money, and good health. This is not a meal we take lightly in the South. Even people in the South who don't like these foods, still follow this important tradition. The meal consists of hog's jowl, greens, and black-eyed peas.

Hog's jowl is a lot like bacon, except it isn't smoked. Another big difference is that hog's jowl in probably 80% fat and only 20% lean meat. Many people, especially those who aren't from the South, have a problem eating this meat. But, on New Year's, this tradition is a must in the South. Hog's jowl, surprising as it may seem, ensures good health for the New Year. To properly prepare hog's jowl, you fry it the same way you would bacon.

When it comes to greens, any greens will do. You can either buy a can of greens or you can make greens from scratch. When making greens, you will want to add flavor. Two of the best ways to add flavor is to add a ham hock and chicken stock. As the greens slowly cook, the flavor of the chicken stock and pork will infuse into the greens. Even if you don't like greens, they are part of the New Year's traditions that take place in the South. In the South, if we want to ensure financial success for the New Year, we make sure to eat greens each New Year's Day.

The last food that is part of New Year's traditions in the South is black-eyed peas. These have to be the most hated of the New Year's Day traditions in the South. Again, you can make homemade, but I actually prefer Bush's Black-Eyed Peas with Bacon. They actually taste better than any I've ever had and truth be told, I don't care for black eyed peas. But, like every good Southern girl, I eat black eyed peas every New Year's Day to ensure that I have luck throughout the New Year.

Now you may be asking, why are these foods part of the New Year's traditions in the South? While, it's uncertain why Southerners started the traditions of eating hog's jowl for health and greens for money, there is an interesting story around why we eat black-eyed peas in the South on New Year's. During the Civil War, Confederate troops were attacked and all of their food was taken, except the black-eyed peas. The Union soldiers thought the black-eyed peas with feed for livestock and left them behind. The Confederate troops felt lucky to have those black-eyed peas to help them get through the war.

Whether you live in the South or not, try these New Year's traditions. You never know. These traditions could help you end up with more money, better luck, and good health all year long.