The Southern Lady Cooks Hoppin John Recipe
ActiveRain blogger Rocky Dickerson has been writing about southern traditions. I am sure he would recommend a serving of Hoppin John to assure good luck this year.
A major New Year's food tradition in the American South, Hoppin' John is a dish of pork-flavored field peas or black-eyed peas (symbolizing coins) and rice, frequently served with collards or other cooked greens (as they're the color of money) and cornbread (the color of gold). The dish is said to bring good luck in the new year.
Different folklore traces the history and the name of this meal, but the current dish has its roots in African and West Indian traditions and was most likely brought over by slaves to North America. A recipe for Hoppin' John appears as early as 1847 in Sarah Rutledge's "The Carolina Housewife" and has been reinterpreted over the centuries by home and professional chefs.
The dish reportedly got its name in Charleston, South Carolina, and it is a veritable staple of Lowcountry cooking.
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Chef Dolores used the stove top version of The Southern Lady Cooks Hoppin John Recipe. Click on the link to view the recipe and to print a copy. You may wish to create your own custom version for your family.

Dahlia, Kentlands Photowalk, Gaithersburg, Maryland USA IMG 2783
Canon PowerShot G11 Camera
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
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