Peas, please....

I was in Nawlins' for New Years and was fairly certain {within a shadow of a doubt} that the restaurant we ate at would have a special New Years menu that included black-eyed peas. Good menu, but no luck. I could not believe that....in the Deep south on New Years and there were no peas or greens to be had.

I can remember for the longest time traipsing across the driveway to my grandmother's house for a New Year's Day lunch and always having peas for luck. As a youngster I ate what my mom placed in front of me for the most part, but the older I got the more I grew to hate peas and beans and anything near their resemblance. It came to a point that I ate twelve peas--one for luck for each of the twelve months, and if I thought it was going to be a particularly bad year I might throw in a couple more for good measure. Really it was more humorous than superstitious....last year I was in AL and mom cooked and if memory serves me correctly I had my brother be my proxy pea eater {is there really such a thing?!}.


But this year as I entered the supermarket yesterday I felt a strong desire to buy some peas for myself...but before I made it to the shelf I realized that I could not stomach the thought of a spoonful of peas staring at me, much less a whole jar, bag or can....there was no way in heck I was going to cook a mountain of peas for myself to eat one ounce. No thank you. But now as I type this I am craving the peas and greens....maybe I'll settle for spinach. I don't think I can feed the office-nites my left over pea concoction.

At this point you have to be thinking WHY PEAS? Well there are a myriad of pea tales one of which is that eating "poor" on the first day of the year brings good fortune and prosperity throughout the rest of the year. The greens represent paper money, and the black-eyed peas coins. Whatever the reason I need my peas. Good luck and best wishes for the new year!