I am not superstitious

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My family always ate black eyed peas on New Year's Day for "luck". Just a tradition. In reading about this southern habit, I learned that they are considered lucky because this is what the defeated southern plantation owners survived on after the Civil War. Invading Union armies ravaged the land and burnt or destroyed all food crops as the came through. They did not bother with the black eyed peas because they were considered to only be good as food for livestock. Rather than starve the surviving southerners ate the black eyed peas. The actual foods you are to eat are black eyed peas, which represent coins, corn bread which is for gold, greens which represents paper money and pork because when a pig forages it moves forward. For lunch I served sliced ham, corn bread, black eyed peas, and sauteed cabbage which was the only green I had on hand. It is a good winter meal, lots of flavor and nutrition. Leftover cabbage and blackeyed peas will go into a soup later this month. Cornbread is being put away in individual servings to go with soup. Sliced ham will be good for many meals. We are all set. I have chili and ham and beans and other good things all put away in the freezer for easy meals.