Happy Twenty 10!

Black-eyed peas!

The South's single New Year tradition is to eat black-eyed peas as a reminder to be grateful for everything you have by eating a very humble meal of cow feed on the first day of the year.

The tradition goes back to post Civil War South. Black-eyed peas were an import from Africa, used as feed for animals, and not considered suitable for human consumption. They were left behind by Northerners, who to this day are still unaware of this delightful little legume, but I digress. No matter your social or economic status before the war, it was for many Southerners the only thing on their grocery list. Southerns survived on what was not taken and now generations of Southerners keep up this poetic and philosophical tradition of starting the year off humbly by reminding themselves of where they've been and how far they've risen. Most people I talk to eat them and don't know why, just that you're supposed to. :-)

Along with the "humble" tradition is the much more festive, superstitious version that I was only recently made aware of via FoodNetwork: coins and bills. Apparently the little beans represent coins and are served with greens to represent bills. So eating a bowl of black-eyed peas and greens on the first day is supposed to bring you wealth, or something like that. I like this one too, because if you start your year off living a frugal life, you'll probably have reserves by the end of the year.