I'm not a big new year's eve fan, and never really have been. Yes there were a few years in my youth where I would have a party, but it was more an excuse than a real celebration. It just isn't a holiday that means that much to me. A new year, a new beginning, but the revelry at the end of the old year somehow doesn't capture my imagination. Birthdays seem more significant. Perhaps I am missing something but I am just as happy to greet the new year after a good night's sleep as I am to stay up.
That doesn't mean that I don't welcome the new year however. New Year's day is a day of promise and reassessment, a day with its own traditions, at least for me, and the main tradition involves the lowly black-eyed pea. Usually I make a big pot from dried black eyes, but I didn't feel like that so much this year, perhaps because there are a few big pots of things still in my refrigerator and freezer from recent family visits.
But I still needed black-eyes. I'm not particularly superstitious but I am a firm believer in rituals. Luckily for me, Lisa, who write the blog Homesick Texan, had just posted a recipe for black-eyed pea and chorizo soup and I thought it would be just perfect for a quiet New Year's Day at home.
I altered the recipe slightly. I reduced the quantity considerably and probably changed the proportion of a few things as well. I also used my own chorizo, which is perhaps not quite as authentic as a good Mexican chorizo, but which suits my taste better than the one currently available at my local Mexican market. As you can see I also didn't use crushed tortilla chips, but fried up a tortilla and cut it in strips, adding them on top of the soup rather than stirring them in. Doing it my way was a tad more work but I would happily do it again.
Now I can rest easy, knowing that another year has gotten off to a good start.
What about you? Do you have rituals, food related or otherwise, associated with the turning of the New Year?
Comments
5 responses to “What I cooked: Black-eyed pea and chorizo soup”
Pork and sauerkraut was always a New Year’s Day food tradition. Although this year, my mother accommodated my lack of meat-eating by making lentil soup. I had mentioned to her that it’s an Italian tradition to make a lentil and sausage soup for the new year, and she was kind enough to forego the sausage.
I hope 2011 brings much joy to you.
I don’t have any food rituals, though I suppose I’m trying to recover from any food/wine hangover from the previous 2 weeks! Therefore it tends to be “clean” food. Some vegetables and meat. No dessert 🙂
We don’t have any real New Year’s food rituals either, other then usually finishing off leftover champagne at some point. Last night I steamed some lovely green beans from Costco and we ate those with leftover canapes from the night before.
That soup looks scrumptious!!! Like it would warm you up from the inside enough to brave a cold winter’s day.
Happy 2011, Mardel!
Whilst surfing the net, I came across your ‘Sew Distracted’ blog entry dated July 6, 2005 – http://www.sewdistracted.com/2005/07/aqua_top.html. You wrote about Vogue pattern 2483. The Asian model on the cover sleeve is my favourite… I’ve searched everywhere for this out-of-print pattern but to no avail.
I am only interested in the cover photograph. Can I buy the sleeve from you? Or, can you please scan and email it to me.
No food rituals, but I do like to choose a category of stuff or a room and somehow get rid of a large %age of it on the 1st or over the weekend nearest to it.
This year, I sold my small desk and chair, which had become merely a horizontal surface on which to accumulate unopened mail and unread magazines. Gone! I also sorted through all my saved holiday cards, older magazines, other desk-related paraphernalia and put about 2/3 of it into the recycling bin. I feel 10 pounds lighter already!