Virginian born and bred here, and I hate black eyed peas, LOL! My New Year's day lunch was a hamburger steak, lots of broccoli, wild rice, and 2 little clementines. :)

Jan in VA

We always had black eyed peas on New Years Days for luck. Even when we were stationed away from Texas we always had them. Today I made "Hoppin John Soup". I sauted an onion, bell pepper and some celery together, added some link sausage, (like Hillshire Farms) sliced, 3 cans peas, drained, 1 can ro-tel tomatoes and 3 can chicken broth. It was a little spicy and I served it over rice, with cornbread. Very good.

Being from the "North," (and a butcher's daughter), I never even HEARD of black-eyed peas, that is until I married my wonderful southern husband whose mother cooked black-eyed peas and hog jowl every New Years. Our tradition in the North was Pork and Sauerkraut. Would someone know the background surrounding this meal? My brother and I still carry the tradition forward and we just had ours on Tuesday, using a pork tenderloin which was simply outstanding. It is such an easy meal since I cook the sauerkraut right in with the pork roast, along with cut up apples. Then, just make the mashed potatoes and you have a wonderful meal. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone. Sue

I don't like black-eyed peas, but always have them on New Years day along with my greens. Peas are for luck, is this true? I don't know because I always have them that one day. The greens are for money/wealth. This also I don't know, I do know that I have all I need & I do know I get everything I need from my Lord. Do I get everything I want? No, but that is okay.

I'm a northern girl married to a southern guy who always had black eyed peas on New Year's Day. So I had to learn how to cook them. I make Hoppin John each New Year's with ham, celery, green peppers, onions and lots of paprika! We eat it with baked or fried ham and rice. Yummy!

Ah ha! I wondered how that tradition evolved. Very interesting! Thanks for educating us, Ditter!

Enjoyed all the stories and traditions; we too eat our black eyed peas and greens on New Year Day. It took me awhile to discover how to cook the black eyed peas; I drain them from the can and add chicken broth to warm them up. Then as I cut up the crisp bacon for the greens, I add some to the black eyed peas. May everyone have a good year.

I had a very good friend from Tennesee who served black eyed peas. Wasn't good luck for her, she died 3-15-12.
We cooked black beans, ham and cornbread New Years Day, just by luck we decided to cook them, no matter what day it was. I don't care much for traditions and really don't have any.

Ironically, I am making our New Years Black Eyed Pea fritters even as I read this thread. lol

We eat a lot of BYP soups.....but I have found this simple fritter recipe to be a real hit with my family. Served with a dipping or meat sauce it is yummy!

Black Eyed Pea Fritters

For the Fritters:

1 cup dry black-eye peas (or two cups cooked/canned black-eye peas)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (if using dry beans)
1/2 cup minced onion
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
6-8 tablespoons water
Lard

Step 1: Set the dry beans and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl with enough water to cover them by a 3-4 inches. Let the peas soak for 12 -24 hours. Remove any floating “skins” or debris. Drain the peas and rinse.

Step 2: Put the rinsed black-eye peas, onions and cayenne pepper in a high quality/powerful food processor or a high quality/powerful blender. Add the salt and 6 tablespoons of water and mix until well-blended. The batter should drip slowly off a spoon. If it is too thick — add up to 2 tablespoons more water until the right consistency is achieved.

Fry in lard or other oil of your choice until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels and salt. Serve with sauce of your choice or float in soup or chili.

Like you, I never heard of black-eyed peas and turnip greens being eaten on New Years Day. Having been born and raised in Lancaster County, Pa., I have never celebrated the New Year without having sauerkraut and pork with mashed potatoes. To this day, I continue to make it. I was always told it was "to bring good luck through the new year". As a youngster, I was taught how to make the sauerkraut. We used large crocks, filled them with layers of shredded cabbage and salt, and placed them in the dark cellar. We learned about the fermenting process and looked forward to that wonderful meal.