Recipes From Louise
By Louise McClain Special to The True Citizen

In the olden days, blackeyed peas were used strictly for feeding cattle. During the Civil War battle of Vicksburg, the town was under siege for 40 days. No supplies went in and none came out of the town. To keep from starving, people ate the peas. This started the southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas for food. Nowadays people eat blackeyed peas on New Year's, supposedly, to bring good luck for the coming year.

Take time this New Year's Day to cherish the events of years past, anticipate the year to come, and prepare a traditional southern meal for your family of black-eyed peas, collard greens, and baked corn bread.

Black-Eyed Peas with Rice (Hoppin John)

1 lb. black-eyed peas
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. lean salt pork
2 quarts boiling water
1 cup raw rice, cooked separately

Wash the black-eyed peas and soak overnight in cold water. Drain well, put peas in a large pot, and add boiling water, onion, salt pork and seasoning. Simmer, covered for 2 hours or until peas are tender but not mushy, adding water as needed. Cook rice until dry and fluffy. Serve peas over rice or add rice to cooked peas in pot. Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Collard Greens

1 ham hock
8 cups water
1 large bunch collards, cleaned
and cut up

In a large pot, boil ham hock in water on medium heat until tender. Add collards to pot and cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove collards from pot, drain and chop.

Grandma's Baked Cornbread

4 TBSP vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cup white cornmeal
1 1/3 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put shortening into a 9" castiron skillet and heat in oven until skillet is hot and shortening melts, 6-8 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly beat egg in a large bowl, add baking soda and salt, and beat well. Add cornmeal and buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Remove skillet from oven, port half the hot shortening into batter, and stir until just combined. Pour batter into hot skillet, then return skillet to oven. Bake until corn bread is golden and toothpick comes out clean from center, about 15 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve with butter. Serves 6.