This and that: Happy New Years and Black-eyed Peas

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Years and Black-eyed Peas

Happy New Years!

Did you see the New Years in? 
I had a very hard time as I have been working nights 
and yesterday was my body's day to sleep.
So does sleeping on the couch until the strike of midnight comes,
opening ones eyes and saying Happy New Years to your loved one 
and promptly falling back to sleep count as seeing the New Year in?
Because that is what I did..

Did you know that Black-eyed Peas are eaten on New Years?

Black-eyed peas probably first started in West Africa but also grows in many countries in Asia.  It was first introduced to the United States in the 1700.  The Southerners feel that black-eyed peas show good luck and prosperity. During the Civil War it was considered a lucky dish.  Union Soldiers burnt all the crops except the peas as they thought they were only used for cattle feed near Vicksburg, VA. The people of Vicksburg, found the peas and adapted to diet to include them.

In our household we eat black-eyed peas often.  We use them when we make rice and beans  and I also make a vegetable dish with them and eat this dish with plantains and gari.  I think I will make this tonight with our New Years meal, although I don't have any plantains to go with it.


Vegetable Black-eyed Peas
I don't have any measurements for this recipes as I just throw things in.

cooked black-eyed peas - a cup or so
corn -either fresh or frozen - maybe about 1/2 cup
green beans - either fresh or frozen- also about 1/2 cup
onions to taste
2 tbsp on oil

In frying pan, add oil and then add cooked black-eyed peas, corn, beans and onions.  Cook until warm~ about 5 -8 minutes.  Serve with gari and plantains if you have. It also can be eaten as cooked, drizzled with a little oil.

* Gari is made from cassava tubers

So will you be eating Black-eyed Peas this year
 for good fortune and prosperity throughout the next year.




Enhanced by Zemanta

6 comments :

  1. Hi Marlys, we also eat black eyed peas but with ham hock, and usually a sweet cobbler, like peach, but this year I'm gonna make something with the abundance of blueberries from our yard from last June. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had never eaten then until I met my husband... they are cooking as I write.

      Delete
  2. It's not really a tradition here, but I like what they represent. Have a wonderful new year, Marlys.
    -Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is the first year I will make them with my New Year's dinner but we do eat them all year around.

      Delete
  3. You Rock!! Thanks for joining Lets Get Social Sunday!! We called and you answered:) And we appreciate it.

    Hope you are having a Very Happy New Years!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have eaten black eyed peas for many years, but never knew the history of them! Thanks for sharing that with us.
    The recipe looks great and I will have to give it a try.

    ReplyDelete

Please stop for a moment and leave a comment to let me know you have been here. I love reading all your comments.

I am sorry but I cannot accept Anonymous comments anymore as I am getting too many spam. I hope that you will comment with an ID user. Thanks for understanding.

I will not be accepting comments that have links on them. I will not delete them but because of google's stance on links I do not want to have any problems with my blog. Thank you for your understanding.