Hoppin' John

dudes what a lovely new years tradition is making hoppin' john which is basicly rice and beans and supposed to bring you luck and prosperity in the coming year. So does anybody else do this? i am making corn bread and collard greens to go with it, yo.

I combined the black eyed peas with lentils (Italian new years tradition) to make some bean soup. (as seen on Soup! thread, yo)

here's what i did/am doing:
first simmer the black eyed peas with water and a smoked ham hock or two until the peas are just less than tender
then drain the peas and put the hocks back into the pot with water and simmer until falling apart, save this stock
cool and cut hocks into very small pieces
brown some diced smoked sausage then nicely carmelize one yellow and one red onion, season liberally with salt and pepper
add celery, carrots and saute until tender, then garlic and rice until the house smells mad good
add collard greens, red peppers, pork, sausage and stock until it's all nice and swimming around
season with italian seasonings and chile powder
simmer until the rice is cooked and it's time to eat
revel at the moon and wonder about what will happen this year

That sounds awesome

I had black-eyed peas with garlic, onion, bell pepper, jalepeno, tomato, sausage, and brown rice. Tomorrow will be kale and white bean soup.