This is a picture of last year’s pot of black-eyed peas. It is a traditional dish we make every year in my family and one of the few dishes I have any real expertise at making. My father originated this recipe and I pretty much copy his approach, which is sort of a spicy black-eyed pea stew. Here is the basic recipe if anyone is game. I also recommend having some sweet corn bread and butter to go with.

1) If you can get fresh black-eyed peas, great, but that’s pretty rare, so for dried peas, soak them over night.

2) Early the next morning, rinse the peas well, and put them in a crock pot.

3) Add a ham hock in the pot, or if you are like my husband and insist on having some real meat to eat with it, you can put pieces of pre-cooked ham in there. Just make sure they are large enough for your wife, who doesn’t like ham, to pick out!

4) Add the following to the pot per taste: tomato paste, oregano, basil, cyan pepper, a few cherry peppers, chopped Vidalia onion (is there any other kind?), water, 1 bay leaf, chopped garlic, and some generous dashes of Tabasco sauce. DO NOT add any salt. You can salt it to taste after they are cooked.

5. Turn it on medium/high, and let it cook for the rest of the day. To check if they are done, take out a few peas and eat them. They should be soft.

If you want to be able to eat an earlier meal of black-eyed peas, set up your crock pot to cook on low over night, and they will be ready to eat the next morning.

I believe eating black-eyed peas as a way to bring you good luck is a southern tradition, but I’m not 100% on that. I was raised in the South and my folks are from the West, and they are the ones who started this tradition in our family, so who knows how that all really started? Either way, these are super yummy, especially if you enjoy spicy food. If you can’t handle the spice, obviously, you can tone it down a little and maybe add some items like Tabasco and peppers on the side to add for those who do like it so they can “doctor up” their own bowls.