New Year's in August

Today we got to cook again in class, something that makes everyone else doing EFS jealous. We made standard southern fare: collard greens and black-eyed peas, along with pesto! (Mmmm, I can’t wait for that pizza!)

Collard greens and black-eyed peas are traditional New Year’s Day foods in the south, and since my mom is from south Carolina, all the food we made reminded me of home! My mom makes her black-eyed peas a little bit differently though. She says the most important thing about making black eyed peas is that the peas are fresh, not dried. Besides that, her recipe is very simple. She uses chicken broth instead of water to cook them in, and she adds onions, garlic, celery, and simple spices like salt and pepper. She also makes collard greens, cornbread, and pork. I only eat the cornbread and peas, since I don’t eat meat, but I can’t imagine New Year’s any other way.