I'm not at all superstitious, but my grammy was, and she made black eyed peas for good luck on New Years every year. Funny, for all the time we spent together both later in her life and in frequent weekends at her house while growing up, I only learned of this from her describing it to me in the years before her death at age 93. She only reluctantly admitted this, describing in a near whisper how she'd count out 360 peas to make sure every day was covered, and I don't now recall why she even told me about when she did but it was obviously told me in high confidence. It was a secret she kept from God.
And she definitely had some secrets to keep because though a woman of strong faith, she broke with some of the teachings of her Christian Science religion for practical reasons, like undergoing traditional surgery when a tennis ball sized tumor showed up on the back of her neck. She wasn't about to trust faith healing for that--she wanted to see her grandchildren grow up.
I was so touched by her confession that I made it my own tradition in her honor, but I have no idea what her preparation was. So I can't copy that or I would. I just make whatever I feel like--a soup sometimes, and sometimes a marinated bean salad. This year I plan both, so I'm about to go buy some black eyed peas and just hope I'm not too late to find them. Should have bought them weeks ago.
Anyone else have a New Years tradition?
