Black-Eyed Peas at the New Year!

I have never been one to make New Years resolutions. But I am a person who is bound by tradition. According to southern folklore, the first food to be eaten on New Year's Day for luck and prosperity for the year ahead are black-eyed peas. From grand gourmet dinners to small casual gatherings with friends and family, these legumes are traditionally offered.

The practice of eating black-eyed peas for luck is believed to date back to the Civil War. They were first planted as food for livestock, and later as a food staple for slaves in the South. The fields of black-eyed peas were ignored as Sherman's troops destroyed or stole other crops, giving the humble, black-eyed pea an important role as a major food source for surviving Confederates.

However it got started, traditions change and morph over the years. But there is no doubt that eating black-eyed peas is a truth held sacred by many southerners who may never touch a black-eyed pea at any other time of the year. But a little luck never hurt anyone, right? So here’s to 2011!! (And it’s still not too late to go get your black-eyed peas!)

Excuses and Nap-Time!

I hope everyone is doing well as 2011 approaches. Work the last couple of weeks has been busier than usual because of the holidays and kids home from college. It led me to come home exhausted, especially this week with 3 of my coworkers on vacation. This week was also one in which patients gave some interesting 'excuses' about why they haven't been flossing. These excuses ranged from feeling that 'it was just to spooky to have pieces of food come out when flossing,' to another patient saying, 'I don't like to floss because my fingers get really sore when I wrap the floss around them.' And the gold metal winner was the 16 year old boy who is convinced that his chewed-off fingernails do a better job of cleaning in between his teeth than floss does.  You can't make this up...
Put all that together, and you can see why I'm glad that I won't have to return to work until Tuesday. I'm looking forward to catching up on things around the house, e-mails and blogs. I'll maybe even sneak in a nap or two.

The Reality of a Christmas Myth

Christmas was a quiet day for us. Carl worked and I worked in the kitchen. I started the day by making cinnamon rolls in a cast-iron frying pan. The pan belonged to my Grandfather, and my Mom gave it to me more than 20 years ago. I'm starting to see more recipes using cast-iron, (the one for the rolls called for one) and I've even seen pans for sale at Macys. I'm wondering if like everything else, they are bringing back the old ideas and calling them new ones--They do that with everything else, so why not with cookware?   

I'm sure most of you have heard of the Christmas myth known as "The Night the Animals Talk". Supposedly, on Christmas Eve, for a time, the animals can speak. My Mom told me about this many years ago and about how her numerous attempts to sneak down to the barn to find out if this was true was foiled by her parents.

This time of the year always brings this back to mind.  I have thought that it would be interesting to hear what our dogs and the cat would say if they could speak to us.  Yesterday I think I was given this chance.  The mornings for Hamlet seem to be the time that he is the most playful.  Christmas morning was no exception. He seemed to have a bit more of a spark as he pranced around me for attention. As I was talking to him and giving him pats and scratches, Hamlet quickly turned around and with a wagging tail, he looked at me and barked.  It was just a single bark and because I've never heard him do this before, of course I was a little surprised.  But just as the myth had said, I understood what he said perfectly.

Our Christmas Card Photo

Our first Golden Retriever that we named Tod came to us in 1996, and that was the first year we featured him on our Christmas card.  It became a tradition with us.  This year I was going to change that.  I really liked the picture I posted yesterday, and considered using it instead of one with all the dogs.  But being a traditionalist I felt pulled back to what I've done for so long--So, in my mind I created that 'perfect' holiday card. But the dogs had something else in mind.  And despite my best efforts to make a reality of the picture I had imagined for this year, it soon gave way to something else, and the picture below was taken.  I posted something similar to it a couple of weeks ago which was a contender as well.  But even though Rudi and Wendy have their heads down, (it's practically impossible to get all the dogs to look in the same direction at once!) it was in my opinion, the best one to use as our 'family' Christmas card.  What do you think?