Black Eyed Peas

My friends and I like to cook so recipes often come up in our conversations. Therefore, it would not surprise anyone who knows me to discover that a few days before New Years we found ourselves deep in a conversation over traditional New Years Day food.   One of my friends said that her family has a tradition of eating Black Eyed Peas on New Years for good luck.  I enjoy trying a new cuisine or a new recipe but I haven't had black eyed peas since I was living at home many years ago.   I  do remember that I didn't particularly care for black eyed peas but I couldn't recall what they actually tasted like.   I decided to make some.

 I collect old cook books that have outdated recipes to experiment with and decided to  go through my old cook books to find a black eyed pea recipe. Between recipes in my cook books and the Internet,  I was able to create a recipe that I felt I would enjoy eating. New Years Day found me having fun in the kitchen preparing my Black Eyed Peas with smoked turkey, carrots, celery, whole tomatoes, chicken, rice, Black Eyed Peas (of course) and seasonings. The result was good but something just wasn't quite as perfect as I would have liked it to be.  It took me a while to wrap my taste buds around what was off until I realized that everything about the dish was delicious.... except the black eyed peas.  I know I will be making will be making this dish again soon .... but  I will substitute the Black Eyed Peas for something I actually like.

Personally, I think traditions should be like my black eyed pea experience.  Give the old tradition a try but adjust the recipe to fit what works for you.  Too often, especially at holiday time, people are in conflict as they try to twist their lives into something uncomfortable in a vain attempt to make their lifestyle fit a tradition while they should be adjusting the tradition to compliment their lives.  

When I was first married,  I spent the first Thanksgiving and Christmas running from one dinner to another.   Instead of enjoying the holidays, we ended up exhausted and overstuffed with food. Every holiday after that first year I hosted the holiday dinners. I wasn't offended if someone declined the invite but I refused to rush from house to house in a futile attempt to make everyone else happy.  Now that my children are grown, I will not put them in that position and I am more than willing to compromise as needed.   These last few years my kids they have travelled from one side of town to the other in an attempt to keep both  my ex-husband's family and the significant other's family happy. I usually host an open house or a lunch around whatever schedule works for them. In doing this,  they only need to show up, have a drink, and something to much on while we open gifts.  The tradition was adjusted to accommodate our lives instead of the other way around and by remaining open to adjustments in our routine  we are able to keep the focus on enjoying the time we spend together during the holidays.    Holidays should be like a good recipe.  We should be preparing for a wonderful experience by keeping what works and making adjustments to what doesn't.