Black Eyed Peas for New Year's: Let's Get It Started...

SAN ANGELO – Are you eating your black eyed peas this New Year's Day?  9 out of 10 pandemic survivors would recommend them for you especially this year.  

But where did the tradition of eating black eyed peas for New Year's come from? 

According to legendary Southern food researcher John Egerton's Southern Food: At Home, On the Road, In History, black-eyed peas are associated with a "mystical and mythical power to bring good luck." As for collard greens, they're green like money and will ensure you a financially prosperous new year.

This tradition is so pervasive throughout the Southeast that black-eyed peas appear in recipes as varied as Cowboy Caviar in Texas to Hoppin' John in Alabama to Peas with Ham up in North Carolina.

After two years of the Covid pandemic and the snow storm and power outage of 2021, perhaps we need all the luck we can get.  

Happy New Year!