New Year’s Day Gratitude List (recipe: Blackeye Peas)
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There’s something about making New Year’s resolutions that just doesn’t work out for me. I know about setting goals. My training in Corporate America and experience as a business owner taught all about that. I can set short-term and long-term goals, measure and quantify them. But, when it comes to keeping New Year’s resolutions, I fall short. Maybe the term “New Year’s resolution” isn’t recognized by my brain. So, I’m taking a different approach for 2012. I’m not thinking about resolutions. At all. Ever. My brain doesn’t know what to do with them anyway. Oh, I certainly have goals for the year, but we’re not using the “r” word.
My first goal for the New Year is to develop a list of things for which I’m grateful because I firmly believe that happiness starts with a grateful heart. Expressing gratitude lifts your spirits and improves your mood. It’s relatively easy to express gratitude when you’re feeling good, happy and upbeat. Try doing it when you’re miserable and sad. In fact, I urge you to do it when you’re miserable and sad. You’ll be amazed how quickly your mood changes.
My list is in no particular order. When it popped in my head, I typed it. All my thoughts are random. Don’t read too much into that. Some of them will be obvious, some you may not understand. If you have questions about them, I’ll be happy to elaborate. I stopped at 100.
- a good night’s sleep
- citrus trees in my backyard yard
- my husband
- my children
- my son-in-law
- my grandchildren
- lavender-scented Epsom salts
- a big ice-cold glass of water
- quilts
- cast iron skillets
- my home
- heritage recipes
- books
- sunshine
- home-grown tomatoes
- long walk/runs (see #17)
- a good pair of athletic shoes (see #16)
- my dog
- gospel choirs
- the first cup of coffee in the morning
- cooling rains in the summer
- bees
- Geneva, AL
- answering the phone and hearing one of my children on the other end
- answering the phone and hearing one of my grandchildren on the other end
- being called “Nana”
- old friends
- new friends
- pedicures
- music
- grace
- everyday blessings
- Syrup and Biscuits friends
- comments left by Syrup and Biscuits friends
- guests in our home
- red barns
- basset hounds (see #18)
- reliable transportation
- clean sheets
- toothpaste/toothbrushes
- good skin care products
- worn shoes
- roasted chicken
- okra
- vegetables/herbs/flowers in my kitchen garden
- Spanish moss draped on oak trees
- morning
- sunsets
- cool breezes
- hot showers
- fragrant blooms
- butterflies
- hummingbirds
- family celebrations
- front porches
- candles
- pretty new dishes
- pretty vintage dishes
- aprons
- the window over my kitchen sink
- the Great Smoky Mountains
- the smell of bacon frying
- Colonial Williamsburg
- wood fires (controlled, of course)
- fireplaces
- my birth certificate (proud to be an American)
- my voter registration card (made possible by #66)
- ripe peaches
- active duty and retired military personnel and their families (refer to #66 and #67)
- blackberries
- Southern peas
- my gift of cooking
- my gift of writing
- teachers
- good health
- chap stick
- extended family
- bowls of hot soup
- words of encouragement from my mother (“You can do anything you set your mind to do.”)
- lessons of humility from my grandmother (“It ain’t all about you, Shug.”)
- good manners
- hugs
- farmers
- Tupelo honey
- azaleas
- camellias
- hydrangeas
- ice-cold milk
- ibuprofen (see #16)
- conversations with my husband when I have his undivided attention
- Christmas
- Thanksgiving
- pecans
- homemade vanilla ice cream
- my hammock under the oak trees
- soft green grass
- historical sites
- Mobile, AL
- a nap
- vanilla extract
As you can see, I’m thankful for lots and lots of things. I’m blessed.
I wish you the best that 2012 has to offer. May we all have plenty of good tomatoes. Happy New Year!
Y’all come see us.
Blackeye Peas
If you’re around a Southerner on New Year’s Day, chances are you’ll find a pot of blackeye peas nearby. The folklore surrounding blackeye peas is believed to date back to the Civil War. As General Sherman’s troups marched through the South and destroyed much of it, they would burn or steal a lot of the food but ignored blackeye peas which were originally planted as a food source for livestock. The Southerners were left with a delicious, nutritious and plentiful food source. They felt plum lucky about that. Since that time, eating blackeye peas on the first day of the New Year is considered good luck. Some accounts of the folklore state that you should eat 365 peas to solidify your luck. I don’t count my blackeye peas. I just make sure I eat plenty.
1 pound dried blackeye peas
2 smoked ham hocks
1 medium sweet onion, diced
salt and black pepper to taste
Soak dried peas in water overnight. You’ll need at least 3 times as much water as peas. The next morning, drain peas and discard water.
Place ham hocks in a large pot and cover with water. Cook for at least 30 minutes or until they’re tender. Add drained peas and diced onion to the pot.
Make sure peas are covered with water. Cover and cook for one hour or until tender. Taste for seasoning before the peas are completely done and make adjustments as needed. Depending on the saltiness of the ham hocks, you may only need a little salt if any at all. Add black pepper to your taste.
Serve over rice. We prefer Basmati rice.
You might also enjoy this post:
Traditional Southern New Year’s Day Menu
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Jackie..that’s an impressive list. I just happened to be at the computer when your email came flying by. It’s the little things in life that make it all worth living. Now to the black eyed peas. Nothing can keep me from liking purple hull peas the best. It takes a lot of stuff to make black eyed one taste like anything. I can see why the yankees passed on them! Tradition is tradition and we add cabbage and hogs jowl to it all!
Jean,
I happen to love blackeye peas. They have sort of a sweet taste that appeals to me.
Happy New Year, Jean!
What a wonderful gratitute list! Every time I get all out of sorts about something, I make myself make a gratitute list, it will not be 100 things, but by the time I’m to 15 I’m feeling better.
I think I ate way more than 365 black-eyed peas today. It’s going to be a good year.
Beverly,
You’re going to be one lucky person this year. Happy New Year!
Lovely list, Jackie… we could easily be “southern sisters” & I could make your list my own in a heartbeat~! May 2012 richly bless you with a double portion of love, peace, prosperity, and all things that bring a smile to your heart~!
Thanks so much, Kim! We can be “southern sisters” just by saying so. Happy New Year, southern sister!
I love the list, mine is similar but different (I’m Nana too! I live in SoCa, my dog is a bulldog…) but I am so grateful for the life I have and my family and friends. Happy New Year Jackie!
Happy New Year, Nana Mary Ann!
Jackie this e-mail could not have come at a better time. I am going through a breakup right now, and have got the sad and miserble part down pat. I am going to make my list of things I am greatful for right now. I know that how I am feeling right now will pass, but the list of things to be greatful for will grow. Thanks again, Carol
Dear Carolyn,
I’m so sorry for the difficult time you’re facing. Life certainly has some big bumps in the road. Please keep in touch with me and let me know how you’re doing. I care.
Jackie
I’m definitely with you on the black-eyes peas, Jackie! No purple hulls, no crowder peas for me!
As for you gratitude list, dare I say it? Once again you have brought tears to my eyes! We are sooooooooo on the same wave length about so many things that it’s slap dab eerie… really! I love, Love, LOVE your gratitude list! You have inspired my to put mine in writing once again this year (like I used to do when I first read ‘Simple Abundance). Just to keep the inspiration readily available, I’m going to print yours out, start with it, and see where I wind up.
I don’t recall how long ago I first came across the Gratitude quote I posted on FB recently. What I do know for certain is that it made such a tremendous impact on my life that I’ve done my best to live by it ever since. I’m going to pass it on now in hopes that someone who reads it here will have an “ahah!” experience just as I did those many years ago. There is POWER in gratitude!
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a
home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie
I hope and pary that everyone reading your post will take what you wrote to heart and follow your marvelous example, Jackie. My Gratitude List for 2012 will start with your friendship and Syrup and Biscuits! And yes! May 2012 bring us all excellent fresh tomatoes! And health, and peace, and warm hugs, and more new friends… And grateful hearts! (((hugs)))
Michele,
You are such a dear, sweet person! You inspire and motivate me more than you will ever know. Although we’ve never met, I’ve know you all my life.
I wish you health, happiness and lots of good tomatoes in 2012. MWAH!
Happy New Year! Looking forward to reading another year of Syrup & Biscuits.I love the memories your recipes bring back to me of our families.Can’t wait to make the Blackeye peas.I got one more month and I’ll be a Nana too! :>)
Janice,
I knew Nana time must be approaching soon. I pray for a healthy Mama and baby. Happy New Years to you and the family.
Jackie, it is refreshing to see the effort put into the “Thankful” list creation and even more thankful for your sharing it with us. It is a list that we all can pick from and apply to our own lives and that is what I’m doing! We all have so very much to be thankful for!
Love them blackeye’s and hamhocks….but I have a hard time finding good hamhocks up this way. Kind of puts a damper on the experience but none the less, it’s a southern tradition that I am bond to!
Have a happy, prosperous and fun filled New Year!!
Danny,
It’s unfortunate that you have a tough time finding good ham hocks. Maybe you can find a good online source. Lawd, chile…you gotta have some ham hocks.
I wish you a happy and healthy New Year filled with love, joy and lots of good tomatoes.
I found this to be very uplifting. I am truly thankful for so much that God has graced me with. I’m one of those annoying people who is perpetually happy and see the good in most things but I still need to be reminded to be TRULY thankful I have been forcing my mid western hubby to eat a traditional meal for 20 years and I’m planning to do it to him again this year. Glad I found your site. Happy New Year!
We love having you visit, Starla! I wish you the warmest and most peaceful of New Years. Please let your husband know that he owes every bit of prosperity and good luck to the meal he eats with you on New Year’s Day.