IDEAS ON A TRADITIONAL NEW YEARS DINNER

My friend Eb Pope asked me what I considered to be a traditional New Years dinner. Here is my answer.

If I could go back in time Eb, on New Years day I would be setting at my grandmothers (Mama Joe) table. She considered anything green to mean money or prosperity, so there was always a pot of greens cooked with ham hocks and a pot of boiled cabbage. The greens represented 'folding money'. Spareribs cooked in a pressure pot meant prosperity as well,because pigs root forward, so it's seen as moving forward into the new year. Most people consider pork to mean good luck as well when following this tradition. No chicken because they scratch backwards. Black-eyed peas were thought to bring good luck because they resembled 'coins.' There was always a cake of cornbread cooked in her wood stove, and it symbolized what you might call 'humble pie'. Anything else would have been simply a preference. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, banana pudding, spiced peaches, and sweet tea showed up as 'extras'.
I hope you and your family have the most wonderful New Year Holiday!

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."~Luciano Pavarotti