I grew up with the tradition that we always ate our black eye peas on New Year’s Day to bring us prosperity for the upcoming year. It never failed, no matter what else was served for New Year’s, black eye peas were a staple on the dinner table that day.

As I’ve grown and moved literally from one end of the country to the other, our family has learned more about this tradition and added to it. I’ve learned the origins of the tradition stem from the Civil War and the time that Sherman burned a path of destruction across the South. He and the troops left little of sustenance for the Southerners’ survival but they left dried black eye peas mistakenly believing they were good only for livestock food and not human consumption. The Southerners knew how to cook them into a stew or what is commonly referred to as Hoppin’ Jack. And thus, was born the tradition that as long as we had our black eye peas, we had prosperity and therefor survival.

Somewhere along the way greens were added to the mix for their resemblance to money. If you eat your greens, it is said that wealth is to come to you in the New Year. Depending on what part of the country you live, the greens take the form of collard or turnip greens, or some eat cabbage either fried or boiled. We do both. Some years it’s fried cabbage at our house but my preference is a good pot of collard greens.

Growing up we always had cornbread because shoot, cornbread’s just plain good with black eye peas but I’ve since learned that the gold color of cornbread is thought to resemble gold coins and therefor brings you good luck. So, of course we eat it on New Year’s at our house for both reasons. Plus, my husband LOVES my homemade cornbread. I swear it has to be one of his favorite things I cook.

Finally, one should always eat some form of pork on New Year’s. This is because pigs are a forward moving animal and eating pork is thought to keep you moving in the right direction throughout the upcoming year. I remember as a child we usually had ham on New Year’s Day but never knew there was a meaning or reason for doing so. This year our pork is taking the form of boneless pork ribs bbq’d in the slow cooker. In the past we’ve had baby back ribs, pork loin, ham and/or pork chops. It all depends on my mood.

Since moving to the Carolinas we’ve added to the tradition and usually enjoy a Low Country Boil on New Year’s Eve with plenty of corn, potatoes, sausage and of course shrimp! And there’s meaning in this meal as well. Fish are known to only swim in one direction thus you’re moving out of the old year directly forward into the new.

One thing is certain. We are a superstitious lot at our house when it comes to eating on New Year’s and even though losing weight is invariably on our list of goals for the new year, we wait to start eating healthy until the second day of the year.