Did you have your black-eyed peas on New Year's Day? We did. At least 2/3 of us did! The Pony decided to be recalcitrant. If anybody needs good luck for the coming year, it's THE PONY! I really thought I had him roped into ingesting a few. You know how many a few is, don't you? THREE!
I cooked up my saucepan of black-eyed peas and FREE bacon from the Ponytail Guy on Friday afternoon. I set them in FRIG II until suppertime, to marry the flavors. Common-lawly, not holy-matrimonially. I was planning to have ham sandwiches on biscuits, with the black-eyed peas on the side.
Of course The Pony decided he was having corn dogs at 4:00, rather than supper with us at 6:30. Then Farmer H declared that he'd just as soon have the bacon that I didn't use in the black-eyed peas, along with some FREE eggs-in-a-carton from the Ponytail Guy. You may say, "HM, of course they are eggs in a carton. Have you taken leave of your senses?" I assure you, I have not. This is a quart carton, waxed cardboard, like milk comes in. Or used to. They are labeled as WHOLE EGGS. But they are liquid, orange like orange juice. I guess they have been taken out of their shells and blended together, whites and yolks. Anyhoo... They're easy to cook, and Farmer H volunteered to make them himself!
All I had to do was put biscuits from the can into the oven. Because, you know, that's TOO COMPLICATED for Farmer H. He would have gone without the biscuits. Which would have been a travesty, since the expiration date on them was NOVEMBER 17! Don't worry. They were fine. And at least we found them in time, before they exploded, as in the Original FRIG, cracking a plastic door-shelf.
Anyhoo... by the time I got upstairs to start the biscuits, I could hear The Pony above my head in the humming jets of the big triangle tub. That rascal had escaped without the black-eyed peas in his feed! I went to the bathroom door. Pounded on it so he could hear me.
"PONY! You forgot to have your black-eyed peas! Remember? I said you only have to eat 3 of them. I'm going to leave them in a ramekin by the stove. With some bacon. You can warm it in the microwave."
"I won't eat them."
"WHAT???"
"I won't eat them! Don't leave them out!"
Well! That was definitely an uncharacteristic balk by The Pony. I truly wished I could strap on his feedbag and cover his nostrils until he swallowed them! How dare he! It was like when Jerry's girlfriend (Poppie's daughter) told him to eat Poppie's pizza, and he REFUSED, mouth clamped shut, shaking his head, because he'd seen Poppie leave the toilet without washing his hands! Except I WASHED MY HANDS before making the black-eyed peas and bacon.
Anyhoo... I ate a few extra black-eyed peas, just for The Pony. Although I will certainly consider it MY GOOD LUCK if The Pony lands a job this year!
Black eyes peas for good luck? I've never eaten black eyes peas in my life. No wonder I'm unlucky. Are these the sort of peas that you soak overnight then simmer? What else goes into the pot?
ReplyDeleteOf course, that's the same Poppi that peed. On the couch.
ReplyDeletePoor Pony. Perhaps he's hoping that he never has to leave his stable stable. It's unlikely he'd find an apartment equipped with a triangle tub. Maybe that's why he's avoiding the blackeyed peas. He doesn't want the kind of luck that would allow him to move away from home.
River,
ReplyDeleteI am lazy, so I use the canned version. Otherwise, yes, you would soak them and cook them like the little beans they are. I think they're more bean than pea. They remind me of Great Northern beans, which I cook with ham. I put FREE bacon in these black-eyed peas, though.
Cabbage is another good luck food for New Year's Day. Oops! You missed it for this year! Maybe next!
***
Sioux,
Poppie got sent away to a rehab place, too! Where Jerry and Elaine tried to kill him (unknowingly) with kindness, by bringing him a treat that was not good for his "condition." I need to stop bringing The Pony treats from town.
The Pony is not exactly chomping at the bit to escape his home paddock. I can't wait for spring, when I will drive him around after a storm, looking for rainbows, and spend a couple hours a day in the front yard-field, searching for 4-leaf clovers!
I admit, I don't recall that episode. I know he went to the hospital, but other than that, my mind's a blank.
ReplyDeletePickled herring is also good for "good luck," but that's disgusting (in my opinion).
Did you know what actor from Hill Street Blues was involved with the Poppie actor for quite a long time?
Sioux,
ReplyDeleteIt also involved George inviting himself to watch "Breakfast at Tiffany's" with a family who had rented the movie, which he needed because he didn't read the book for his book club. He got into a shoving match with the teenage daughter over "his" seat on their white couch, and spilled grape juice on the cushion. I think he took Jerry's peed-on Poppie couch, and gave it to that family.
I do not know the Hill Street Blues actor. I DO know that the Poppie actor was in "28 Days" with Sandra Bullock going to alcohol rehab, as a doctor who had done surgery on his own throat. Still, it was a comedy!
They are peas, dried, like green peas for split pea soup. I am not sure why they are considered good luck, but the "greens" (cabbage, collards, mustard, etc) is supposed to represent money. Carrots are supposed to represent coins. I plant the peas that would be dried peas if I left them on the bushes long enough and we like to eat them in their green form in the south. You know how you prune back plants to promote more growth? I figure a farmer would harvest the "green" peas to make the bushes produce more of the dried beans for the last picking. Some very frugal wife decided to see if she could cook the unripe peas to see if they were palatable and discovered they were quite delicious. Especially if you toss a ham bone or FREE bacon in. I concentrate on the greens of the new year dinner, preferring my lucky money to come in paper form. I do dice some carrots and add them to the black-eyed peas to get my fair share of coins, as well. I thought about you and your pennies while I was dicing this year!
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI've never seen one in its natural habitat, nor in a version that must be cooked. Only the canned black-eyed peas, which could be eaten right out of the can, after pouring out the salty juice that packs them.
I hope you haven't brewed up your own luck, and left me bereft of pennies this year!!! I did not know about the carrots and the coins. Some years I make cabbage with potatoes and smoked sausage, but the good-luck black-eyes peas are standard here at the Mansion on New Year's Day.