Friday, January 2, 2015

For New Year's Day Meal... Gary's Cornbread... and Granny's Iron Skillet



New Year's Day Meal
Southern Style


Gary preparing to add some hot sauce
 to his black-eyed peas and turnip greens.


In the South we have a tradition of eating black-eyed peas,
a ham product, greens, and cornbread on New Year's Day.

But do you know why we do it?

According to Wikipedia,
"the tradition dates back to the Civil War, 
when Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman,
 typically stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock,
 and destroyed whatever they could not carry away.
 At that time, Northerners considered "field peas" 
and field corn suitable only for animal fodder,
 and did not steal or destroy these humble foods.

In the Southern United States, the peas are typically cooked 
with a pork product for flavoring 
(such as bacon, ham bones, fatback, or hog jowl), 
diced onion, and served with a hot chili sauce or a pepper-flavored vinegar.

The traditional meal also includes collardturnip, or mustard greens, and ham.
 The peas, since they swell when cooked, symbolize prosperity;
 the greens symbolize money;
 the pork, because pigs root forward when foraging, represents positive motion.
 Cornbread also often accompanies this meal."

Here's our cornbread...
made in Granny's iron skillet,
... and almost ready to take out of the oven...

Granny's skillet makes the best crispy crust!

Then for dessert,
the cornbread can be topped with a little butter
and some wonderfully delicious home-grown and home-made sorghum!
(In case you're unfamiliar with southern style sorghum,
my experience of watching it be made can be found HERE!)

If you think it looks like there is something unusual in the cornbread,
you are right!
That was Gary's idea!
We often add unusual foods to our cornbread...
this time being diced black olives, whole kernel corn, and chopped jalopenos.

Wishing you and yours a 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My verse for this year is from the words of Saint Peter, who said,
"But grow in grace,
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
To Him be glory both now and forever.
Amen."


My most recent Names of God on Rocks 
from Saint Peter can be found HERE!

6 comments:

Tracy B said...

Hello from Central Alabama... I found you blog on Missional Women website. Thank you for a great post. As a southern girl cook, We enjoyed our blackeye peas, turnip greens, pasta salad, and stepped out a little with parmesan chicken. I did not get around to making cornbread. I am so glad that I found your post, I look forward to following you in 2015. I wish you many smiles and blessings for you and your family in the new year.

Leovi said...

Delicious food that rich! Beautiful photos!

a joyful noise said...

We must have been sort of in tradition as we had pinto beans, cornbread and chard and a salad.
You are a near neighbor at Spiritual Sundays.

Joy said...

Wonderful tradition and thanks for sharing the story behind the foods and the word of God!
God bless you more.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Good traditions are wonderful and the food looked delicious. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU and have a lovely weekend.

EG CameraGirl said...

I love cornbread but have never made it in a skillet. This is something I need to try!