When I think of my experience of New Year’s Day as a kid, I think of Grandpa Finley, black-eyed peas and football games. The day typically began for me by sleeping in, then going over to our grandparents’ house to watch the Rose Parade (they had a color TV) and the bowl games. The main event, of course, was the Oklahoma game. More often than not, the Sooners played in the Orange Bowl, and on a few occasions against Nebraska , for the National title.

Anyway, the meal was informal. We ate in the breakfast room. Popo[1] had a way of making everything at a meal seem like it was the best he had ever eaten: “Boy, these black-eyes sure are good, Johnny. Take some more. You know, if you eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, you’ll have money all year long!” And again: “I think this cornbread turned out to be the best I ever made. Here’s some butter. You’d better butter it up while it’s hot.”

Black-Eyed Peas

2lb dried black-eyed peas

1 ham bone from Christmas Day (or 2 ham hocks)

2 medium onions, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

dried oregano to taste

3 or 4 bay leaves

1 small can whole jalapeños, seeded and diced (optional)

Soak peas in a large pot or Dutch oven overnight in water. Be sure to add water to cover two inches above the peas. They will soak up a lot of water overnight. In the morning, dump the water and peas into a strainer. Put the ham bone into the Dutch oven, then add the peas and cover with water. Add chopped onions, peppers, oregano and bay leaves.

Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer for 2-3 hours. If necessary, add water periodically to keep the water line just above the ingredients. Peas should be tender. Remove ham bone from the pot and de-bone meat. Return meat to peas and discard bone (or give a dog a bone). Serve with coleslaw, cornbread (See index) and chess pie for dessert.

Coleslaw

1 head cabbage, finely chopped or shredded

½ carrot, grated

3 green onions, finely chopped

2Tbl sugar

3Tbl apple cider vinegar

salt to taste

mayonnaise (you be the judge)

Combine cabbage, carrot and green onions in a large mixing bowl. Combine sugar and vinegar. Pour over ingredients, add salt and toss. Let it set for at least an hour. Toss it occasionally. The vinegar and salt will slightly wilt the cabbage. As a result, you will not need to add as much mayonnaise when the time comes. Add mayonnaise and toss the slaw just before serving. This should produce a light, creamy consistency.

Aunt Christine’s[2]

Chess Pie

This is a single recipe. You might want to make a double recipe and bake two pies.

1-1/2c sugar

3Tbl white cornmeal (yellow will do)

1Tbl white vinegar

1tsp lemon extract[3]

1/2c butter (1 stick)

4 eggs, beaten

These were Aunt Christine's instructions:

Mix all ingredients except butter. Then add butter and simmer on low heat until butter melts. Pour into piecrust and bake at 300F for one hour.

These are my instructions:

Mix sugar with cornmeal by hand. Add white vinegar, lemon extract, melted butter and mix thoroughly by hand again. A blender or even an electric beater may add too much air to the mixture, creating an air pocket during baking and causing the crust to separate from the filling. Finally fold in beaten eggs and blend thoroughly. Pour into piecrust and bake at 300F for one hour.