Sunday, January 1, 2012

Black Eyed Peas




There's a lot in life that I prefer to take from my memory and ignore the lure of expanding my knowledge of a particular subject on the Internet. Of course, the Internet can't be trusted for pure fact, which explains my reluctance on most subject, but on Superstitions, you must wonder why I hesitate. The fact is that I love my superstitions, as few of them as I have, that is. My favorite one is that eating Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day is lucky. Just ask my children, who have had to humor me by eating at least one of them. I usually used the bone from the Christmas Ham and made Hopping John, which could be smothered in Salsa. Yum. Living on the West Coast, I had a hard time even finding Black Eyes Peas. I usually bought them dried since that's my preferred form. (Tests have shown that the glycemic index on dried beans after soaking and cooking, is lower than on canned ones. Plus I can control the amount of salt that way, since the salt from the ham has to be compensated for.) So what am I doing with canned Black Eyes Peas? It turns out that in Tulsa, eating Black Eyed Peas on New Year's Day is what everybody does. The stores were out by the time John went out to get them yesterday. Having spent all year seeing them at the stores in at least 3 forms - dried, canned, and frozen, it never occurred to me to buy them ahead of time. Heck, I even saw fresh ones at one point. Oh, and the rest of the stuff in the picture (Tito's is the most fabulous Vodka - made in Texas) is for John's superstition - a Bloody Mary for New Year's Morning breakfast is also lucky. Who Knew?

4 comments:

  1. Bloody Marys are a great way to start the New Year. My folks gave such a "hangover" party for many years on New Year's Day. As for the black eyed peas, they are so tasty that I eat them in a marinated salad all summer long. I had not known about the difference in glycemic index between dried and canned beans!

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  2. That South Beach Diet really changed the world. It gave us an apprecciation of the glycemic index. I know diabetics have always been concerned with it, but now information about it is everywhere.

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  3. Yes, we had black eyed peas for dinner last night - dried ones, soaked and cooked with the Christmas ham - I could have just typed 'ditto' couldn't I? I hated beans when I was a child, but I could only negotiate Mom down to 3! I was about 30 before my tastes changed and I learned to love beans. We eat them a LOT these days - healthier, cheaper, endless variety. For some Oklahomans I suspect NY Day is the only time they eat beans that don't come from Taco Bell... Ones my age, anyhow.

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  4. Oh Shelley, I flashed back to my oldest child consuming his one bean and then shoveling in the rest of his dinner to kill the taste. Good Times!
    I polled the ladies in the pool this morning before class, and a surprising number had eaten their peas yesterday. I think the median age of the group is 55.

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