New Year's Eve For Us...

Growing up, I always stayed up to see the new year come in. It was such a big deal to watch (and hear!) my brother rattle the neighborhood with his shotgun when the clock stuck midnight. At the time, my parents' house was not zoned inside the city limits. Things have changed since then, and we'd probably get hauled off to jail if we did that at their house now.

Then there came the highschool years where I thought life just wouldn't go on if I wasn't at the happening party on new year's eve. Those parties included crazy kids, somebody's house whose parents were off at their own party, loud music, maybe some fireworks, and depending on if the party was inside or outside of the city limits...my brother's shotgun.

I chuckle a little these days when people ask us what our new year's eve plans are. Um, does nothing count? Not nothing as in we are in bed by 10 o'clock...but nothing as in we don't do parties or anything involving leaving our kids with a babysitter. We like to be at home with the girls. They get a kick out of watching the ball in New York drop...Macy realized this year that it wasn't OUR new year's when the ball dropped. The countdown continues for us for another hour. And by george she kept us informed during that hour...minute by minute by minute...

I bought some cans of black-eyed peas at the grocery store a couple of days ago...because everyone (or at least every Southerner) knows that if you want to have good fortune in a year, you MUST eat black-eyed peas on January 1st. I decided today though that I wanted to try to make "real" black-eyed peas...you know, the dried kind. We made a quick trip to the store this evening to get some dried peas and whatever else I might need to cook them with. Keep in mind, I have never attempted this before....and I am a recipe girl. I also know, though, that "real" cooking doesn't call for recipes...so I found me a very nice fellow and a sweet lady in the store to pester about how I need to cook these peas. I am sure I was the topic of conversation at somebody's dinner table tonight. I can just hear it..."Ya'll. I ran into this little gal in the store tonight...never cooked black-eyed peas before in her life." The fellow led me over to these little bags of stuff called "hog jawl" and said that is what I needed to cook with the peas. Dried peas. Check. Hog jawl. Check. I am fully prepared (at least I think I am) to make a big pot of black-eyed peas for tomorrow. Maybe they'll be edible, maybe they won't. We'll just have to see about that.

Jason and Macy stayed in the car while Lucy and I ran into the store. As we were about to check out, sweet little Lucy said, "Mama, let's make Daddy that pie that he asks you for all the time and you never make it."

She would be talking about a cream cheese pie.

"Oh sister, let's do that." So along with our dried peas and hog jawl, we got the ingredients for the pie. When Jason and I first got married, this was the only thing I could fix for dessert. It is virtually impossible to burn them...as they do not have to be baked...although it would have come as NO surprise if the mixer I used caught on fire and burned the batter...I had THAT sort of luck in the kitchen during our first few years of marriage. Remind me to tell you about the time where my oven door fell off...literally...before the repair man came, I would have to stand there and HOLD it on if I needed to use the oven. Because they required no baking, we had cream cheese pies quite frequently. And Jason still likes them, if that tells you anything.
Lucy and I made the pie tonight. She really enjoys helping in the kitchen. And she REALLY enjoys taste testing...

So our new year's eve this year consisted of a trip to the grocery store, me learning how to make real black-eyed peas, and making a pie. The 4 of us were all together just hanging out...perfect night to me *Ü*

*I posted the pie recipe almost a year ago here.*

**And just for the record, my brother no longer shoots his shotgun at midnight on new year's anymore. He's now a daddy and spends new year's eve at home with his wife and 2 boys...and if I know my brother...asleep long before the clock strikes midnight.**

Hope you all have a happy new year!!