Traditional Southern New Year's Day Meal

Dear friends,
              It has been TOO long! I owe you multiple posts. Cole and I are now back in Charleston after an  amazing two weeks with our family. It was a much needed and relaxing vacation. I hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too! Stay tuned for updates on our Christmas decorations, homemade Christmas gifts, scarves for sale, and New Year's Resolutions!

Can you believe the photo quality of the iPhone?!

Every year our family enjoys the traditional Southern New Year's Day meal. Our meal consists of pork, turnips, black-eyed peas, rice, and cornbread. If you aren't familiar with this, each food corresponds to an element of good luck in the coming year. Pork supposedly a pig represents prosperity and heath. Our meat of choice is usually ham. Collards (or other greens) look like folded paper money, so they symbolize financial prosperity throughout the year. Black-Eyed Peas resemble coins and also represent financial prosperity. Some people even believe you should eat one pea for every day of the new year!! I didn't count mine this year, but I love them so much I probably did eat 365 of them! Cole's grandmother always places a coin in the beans as she is cooking them. Whoever finds the coin in their portion has the best luck for the year! I am not sure what rice represents. Does anyone know?! Cornbread is included just because it is a Southern classic. Some say the dessert of choice should be an upside-down peach cobbler although we have never followed this tradition. We roasted oversized marshmallows on the fire outside instead!

For the past 2 years, Cole and I have always made Southern Living's Hoppin' John Stew with Cheddar Cheese Grits  with Kale (cooked in chicken broth, water, and garlic) during the first week of the new year. It has become our Sims family tradition!

Hoppin' John

Do you enjoy a Traditional New Year's Day meal? What foods do you choose to eat?