what is this tradition of black eye peas on new years. enquiring minds want to know

[Warpy]

12. Grits are actually pretty nice

if they're not made soupy and/or loaded with so much daity that they end up soupy. As a breakfast side, they're actually quite nice, the flavor is fresher than thaty of the northern equivalent of cornmeal mush. I made my peace with those years ago. Just don't make 'em sloppy and runny and let me doctor them up, m'kay?

Hoppin' John, which is the traditional pork/rice/black eyed peas good luck charm for New Year's Day, was an impossible sell. While I like the rice and black eyed peas and like them together, gussying them up with bacon or sausage or both plus greens and other fare doesn't appeal to me. I think the good luck comes from the fact that the original dish was likely just beans and rice, food of the extremely poor, meaning the year was going to have to get better after a start like that one.

My start will be salmon, rice, and green peas. I've had to live on beans and rice enough during my lifetime that I don't need the reminder, thanks very much.