Old Traditions...And A New Year

Think about it...We are standing in a New Year of 2014 but yet we hold on to old traditions.  This is not a bad thing. I believe it puts us in touch or keeps us in touch with our past.  I posted on the first day of 2013 about my traditional New Years Day meal.  Hawg Jaw and Black-eyed Peas!  I did some reading about it and have concluded that it most likely has it's roots as a southern tradition.  This makes me proud.  If it was a Yankee tradition I might have some second thoughts and change it to fried taters and meal gravy (or streaky gravy with biscuits).  My friend, Jeff Langley in Phoenix Arizona, posted on Facebook he is departing from his usual collard greens for New Years.  He is fixing a dish called Zuppa Verde instead (which can have collard greens in it).  But...he is having black-eyed peas!  This just proves "You can take the man out of the Ozarks but you can't take the Ozarks out of the man"!  Happy New Year Everybody!!!

We were in Country Mart getting the hawg jaw and some other groceries, including molasses.  The young lady at the checkout picked it up to scan and said "Molasses?  What's that?"  How do you explain in fifteen seconds, while trying not to hold up the line, what Molasses is?  They should teach this stuff in school!  By the way, the molasses is for Mom's Gingersnap Cookies...which is a whole nother story!