I love my husband.......

[Marilie]

With all of my heart, but after 19 years of marriage this will be my last time cooking Chitterlings for him for New Years or any other time.

Why do I have to cook cabbage and black eyed peas also? I asked my mother and she doesn't know why either. My mother in law says I am supposed to put coins in the cabbage when I cook it and whoever gets the coins will have $ all year long. (That can't be sanitary) Also I am supposed to take the top leaf off of a the cabbage and wrap a dollar in it, hang it over my front door so I will have money in my home all year long. Yeah, the stinky cabbage dollar. I've never done either but we've survived for going on 20 years.

Happy New Years All..................

[cc5k]

Have you considered informing them that the key to $ all year will be from things like a good education, planning, and hard work?

[angeladc]

I'm with cc5k and Happy New Year to you too.

[BISHOP]

The practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is generally believed to date back to the Civil War. At first planted as food for livestock, and later a food staple for slaves in the South, the fields of black-eyed peas were ignored as Sherman's troops destroyed or stole other crops, thereby giving the humble, but nourishing, black-eyed pea an important role as a major food source for surviving Confederates.

Today, the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for the New Year has evolved into a number of variations and embellishments of the luck and prosperity theme including:

Served with greens (collards, mustard or turnip greens, which varies regionally), the peas represent coins and the greens represent paper money. In some areas cabbage is used in place of the greens.

Cornbread, often served with black-eyed peas and greens, represents gold.

For the best chance of luck every day in the year ahead, one must eat at least 365 black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.

Black-eyed peas eaten with stewed tomatoes represent wealth and health.

In some areas, actual values are assigned with the black-eyed peas representing pennies or up to a dollar each and the greens representing anywhere from one to a thousand dollars.

Adding a shiny penny or dime to the pot just before serving is another tradition practiced by some. When served, the person whose bowl contains the penny or dime receives the best luck for the New Year, unless of course, the recipient swallows the coin, which would be a rather unlucky way to start off the year.