It has been a long time since I prepared a Southern traditional dinner on New Year's Day and decided to do one for 2021.

I remember the Porter family and Grandma Coley doing a dinner (lunch to you younger folks) which consisted of collard greens with ham hocks, black-eyed peas, baked cornbread and some type of pork.

FOLKLORE CONCERNING THE NEW YEAR'S MEAL

I did an internet search of possible reasons for doing a new year's meal and will post here what the consensus revealed.

According to popular folklore, if these foods are eaten on New Year's Day, you're guaranteed good luck throughout the year:

Peas and beans symbolize coins or wealth.  Choose traditional black-eyed peas, lentils, or beans to make a dish seasoned with pork, ham, or sausage.

Greens resemble money, specifically folding money.  Make dishes using green, leafy vegetables to ensure good fortune for the coming year.  Southern favorites include boiled cabbage or sauerkraut, collard greens, kale, chard, mustard greens, and turnip greens. 

Pork is considered a sign of prosperity in some cultures because pigs root forward.  This is probably the reason many Southern New Year's Day dishes contain pork or ham.

Cornbread might symbolize gold because corn kernels represent coins.  Yet, cornbread is also essential with black-eyed peas and greens, so you can triple your luck with these natural complements. 

MY BRIDE'S OPINION

I asked Joyce aka my bride what she thought was the reason for the traditional new year's meal and she said, "Might be because of all the rich foods consumed during the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays prior to New Year and getting back to the basic foods" of which is a very good reason in my humble opinion!

Of course, we serve the traditional foods mentioned earlier except the hog jowls (because of non-availability) many times throughout the year, of which we enjoy the taste and not because of any folklore tradition of bringing good luck.

PORTER'S NEW YEAR TRADITIONAL MENU

I decided to to do collard greens and ham hocks, of which I already had some prepared and frozen from Thanksgiving 2020, black-eyed peas, hog jowls and sour cream cornbread.

I used Luck's black-eye peas and super charged them a little similar to my Hoppin John recipe.

I believe this is the first time I have actually fried hog jowls, however I have fried thick cut side meat which also is a type of bacon with the skin on the edge like fat back.

The hog jowls will remind you of bacon, definitely taste wise and in the referenced hyperlink to the left,  it is a form of bacon with the skin on one edge, just from a different location on Mr. PIG!

My bride and myself enjoyed our New Year's Traditional meal at noon time; just a few minutes early.  I baked five (5) loaves of the sour cream cornbread and that is about as fresh as you can get. 

In closing, my bride and myself hope this year will be less stressful with all the COVID-19 deaths increasing and all the ramifications that go with it.

WAKE UP AMERICA

I believe God is trying to wake up America with this pestilence (COVID-19) and whatever happens, God is still in control;  "Men rule, but God overrules!" 

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior for each and every day that He allows and as long as we keep our Spiritual eyes on Jesus Christ and the Cross, whereby allowing God's Holy Spirit to lead and direct our daily lives, we have His assurance of an eternal home in heaven!  There is no middle ground, you are either saved or lost.

STUPACRATS

If our Lord tarries long enough and the "Stupacrats" in Washington, DC consisting of both Demoncrats and Republicans continue to erode our democracy, America might end up speaking Chinese.

Open this .PDF file if you think China is asleep!

 IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT

Please read this short story hyperlinked here:  IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF IT.

Happy New Year 2021 to all!

Web page created by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-31-2020 and updated on 01-01-2021.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be attained.   

Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Open this link about faith in the King James Bible.