it's hard to believe its been 10 years now since the new millennium. i actually remember being a little disappointed nothing happened at midnight after all the y2k hype. well, tonight we are having a low key evening at home with some friends.
instead of a full dinner, we decided to have some soup homemade beef vegetable (L's specialty), sausage and feta stuffed mushrooms, pizza rolls, assorted cheeses with crackers,
drinks offered will be dos equis, yuenging, tartinis, lemon drops martinis, and prosecco.
and, for dessert, mini strawberry tarts and flourless chocolate torte.
stay tuned for recipes and pictures of the spread.
And for New Ywar's day we are planning with friends for ...."Hoppin' John" (from wikipedia)It is the Southern United States' version of the rice and beans dish traditional throughout the Caribbean. It consists of black-eyed peas (or field peas) and rice, with chopped onion and sliced bacon, seasoned with a bit of salt.[1] Some people substitute ham hock or fatback for the conventional bacon; a few use green peppers or vinegar and spices. Smaller than black-eyed peas, field peas are used in the Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia; black-eyed peas are the norm elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the coastal South, eating Hoppin' John on New Year's Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck,[2].[3] The peas are symbolic of pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the pot or left under the dinner bowls.[4] Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale etc. along with this dish are supposed to also add to the wealth since they are the color of money. [5] On the day after New Year's Day, leftover "Hoppin' John" is called "Skippin' Jenny," and further demonstrates one's frugality, bringing a hope for a even better chance of prosperity in the New Year. [6][7] During the late middle ages, there was a tradition of eating beans on New Year's Day for good luck in parts of France and Spain. The European tradition mixed with an African food item to become an early that food item belongs to the New World.
One tradition common in the Southern USA is that each person at the meal should leave three peas on their plate to assure that the New Year will be filled with Luck, Fortune and Romance. Another tradtion holds that counting the number of peas in a serving predicts the amount of luck (or wealth) that the diner will have in the coming year.
UB & AC.... happy New year!!!