Matt+ has brought up the subject of black-eyed peas and New Year's.....for those of you still with time to shop, and who weren't on the list last year, I submit my annual offering: FWIW: NW Florida's Hopping John recipe, with pepper pear relish:

Hog jowl is hard to find up north, though you can get ham hocks still. The combination of field peas and rice is a pretty 'nuff common dish year round, though native Floridians feel that for good luck it should be the first bite of the new year. The normal condiments (chopped on-yohn, pepper vinegar, and pepper relish) are an integral and necessary part of the liturgy.

Peas with Hog Jowl:
Printer version of this recipe

1/2 lb (about a cup and some) black-eyed peas (dry)
1/2 lb smoked hog jowl (or a hock, cracked)
1 onion studded with 3 or 5 or 6 whole cloves
1 chile pepper
salt to taste
3 cups hot cooked rice (about a cup before cooking)

Soak peas overnight.
Cut hog jowl in thick slices and place it (or the hock)
in a large sauce pan with onion studded with cloves,
chile pepper and water about 2 inches deep.

simmer, covered for 30-40 minutes.

Drain the peas and add to the ham with enought hot water to cover the whole mess by an inch (2.54 cm.) or so.

cover and boil for an hour, more or less. Add water as needed to keep the peas from turning into some sort of wall board paste. You want to keep them juicy.

If you've got a salty enough hog jowl, you won't need salt. If not, salt to taste. When the peas are tender clear through, it's done.

Remove the onion. For fancy, Grandmother used to put the rice in a ring and spoon the peas into the middle. I just mix the whole mess in a bowl and serve it with the Pepper-Pear Relish relish and any other condiments I can grab.

Hot spoon bread and greens are required by the liturgical conventions of the Dio. of Central Gulf Coast....