ann it was fun to read of the foods you like and the ones you just cannot stand--i like most foods but life is too short to force yourself to eat what you don't like! i am trying to think of a food i just will not eat and i can't think of any but veal and that not because of the taste--i guess really rare meat doesn't appeal to me anymore--don't like the way it looks-
What is your New Year's meal "must have" tradition?
Just to be sure everyone caught the correction, I should have said Swiss Chard, not Kale.
Thanks,
Christi
Well, there is hardly anything that I won't eat because I don't like it, but a lot of things I try to avoid because they are not good for my health.
But then there are Oysters, I just can't stand the slimy look when they are raw, and don't care for their taste when they are cooked, so I just don't eat those.
I do eat escargo or snails, but only the ones I prepare, which I haven't done in ages.
We used to gather them when I was a kid, and put them on a one week fast so as to eliminate all internal waste, then we washed them with salt vinegar and water many times until all the slime was gone.
Then we cooked them in the shell with garlic and bay leaf salt pepper, and a little olive oil, they are delicious, but hardly worth the effort.
Josephine.
I buy my snails either canned or in a restaurant. I think that what I really like about them is the butter and garlic. LOL
Ann
Christi....sounds like kale and chard are both good.
Charlene.... Good for you trying to get healthy in the New Year. Sounds like you will have some challenges, but I bet as you get control of it, some health issues will improve. Hang in there.
I am not a big seafood eater makes no difference who prepares it. I like spinach but the collard greens I used for New Years was 'Glory' brand canned and they were delish; they are already seasoned.
Charlene ~ I will offer my encouragement on the walking. I also get "down" during the short dark days of winter and suffer early stages of osteoarthritis. For me walking is the answer. Just being outdoors in the sun or fresh air offers to perk me up and give me more energy. Walking and stretching excercise serves to keep me more flexible and mobile. Years ago I had over half my thyroid removed and am fortunate to have successfully regulated the meds. Sending moral support your way on your challenge!!! Hang in there...
Thanks to all for the encouragement.
The outdoors is what makes my days go great!! Getting my hands in the dirt seems like medicine for my depression. Frostweed, the keyword on the depression issue is that I battle it. I seldom let it win! I take medicine for it and wouldn't miss a pill. I also really focus on things that I can do to lift myself up and gardening is the absolute top of the list.
The walking I love, but have to push to make myself do enough of it. Walking is hard to do when you are this much overweight.
Food is really the easy part of dieting because I love just about anything that is good for you! Never tasted a snail and never want to taste one LOL! That is one thing from my garden I will not be eating!
I have blooms on my tomatoes in the greenhouse!! This is a first for me so I don't know if they will really take or not.
I am not heating the greenhouse unless it falls into the teens or stays in the low twenties for more than one night at the time. I have a large greenhouse and then I have a smaller one inside and that is where I put the fragile things and my tomato plants. I have never had a greenhouse before and I am loving the results so far.
Friends on Dave's are so wonderful! I love you all!
Charlene
This message was edited Jan 4, 2009 11:00 PM
East texas tradition I was always raised with (and everyone I know cooks it too)...The black eyed peas are for good luck, cabbage for money, and rice for love.......
I make hoppin' john, (rice, hot sauce, chopped onions and garlic sauteed in butter, canned BE peas with crumbled bacon and a little grease and chicken broth)...to die for, and fried cabbage sauteed in bacon grease...Covers all my bases, LOL
It is pretty early in the morning now, but that sounds delish!! I love fried cabbage. I remember having hoppin john when I lived in southern LA but didn't know the rice was for love. Thanks!
Great thread you all. We traditionally had pork roast and saurkraut when I was small. ( born in Pennsylvania) My kids do not like saurkraut so I do not have it to often now. Our traditional foods are either menudo, posole, mole for the New year.
I have never tried black eyed peas. Athough I do remember them being on the menu at various places when I lived in N.C.
I found this interesting article on Black-Eyed Peas.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - April 9, 2008
Mark R. Vogel - Epicure1@optonline.net - Mark’s Article Archive
Black-Eyed Peas
Of the many achievements that George Washington Carver is known for, one of them is somewhat obscured by his other, higher profile accomplishments, namely the promotion of the black-eyed pea. Carver encouraged the propagation of black-eyed peas not only for their auspicious effects on the soil, but also for their nutritional benefits for mankind. Black-eyes peas are a good sources of calcium, folate, iron, potassium and fiber. Their namesake derives from the black spot which conspicuously rests on the one end of their beige colored body. They are available fresh, dried and frozen.
Black-eyed peas are a sub-species of cowpeas, which they’re sometimes referred to as. In a word, they’re legumes; plants with pods containing edible seeds. They originated in either Africa or Asia, depending on the source you consult. But, given that there are many sub-varieties of the cowpea, who could possibly keep an accurate track of which ones started where and which ones were transported there?
Africa however, whether the source of their provenance or not, certainly seems to be the location from which they were introduced to America, for it was the slave trade that prompted the black-eyed peas’ transatlantic journey. Black-eyed peas subsequently became popular throughout the West Indies and the American south and thus became a regular fixture in southern cuisine and soul food.
Black-eyed peas can be utilized much like any other legume. A simple and popular approach to enjoying them is to sauté them with onion, some kind of pork product, and seasonings. But if you add rice to that you will produce the quintessential black-eyed pea dish: Hoppin John. Hoppin John is especially popular on New Year’s Day since according to tradition, consuming it then bodes well for the future. Interestingly, the belief that black-eyed peas are a symbol of good luck in the New Year originates in the Babylonian Talmud from the early centuries AD. A Talmud is a compilation of rabbinical discussions outlining Jewish law. There is evidence that Jewish immigrants to the American south were another source of proliferation of the black-eyed pea. And while everyone’s jumping on the black-eyed pea credit bandwagon, let’s acknowledge the Union soldiers too, though not out of benevolent intentions. It was not uncommon for Union soldiers, after conquering an area of land, to destroy or steal the crops. The Yanks however, considered common beans, peas and corn inferior products, suitable only for animal fodder. Subsequently, these items were often sparred depredation. This oversight, in addition to helping sustain the southern population, allowed for the continued popularity of black-eyed peas.
So there you have it: centuries old Jewish tradition, the evils of slavery, the genius of George Washington Carver, and the ignorance of the Union army. Who could have possibly conceived that such a bizarre and discordant compilation of forces could foster something as simple as the black-eyed pea? How humbling that something so simple, so easy to take for granted, can embody such a magnitude of history’s cultures, icons, and tragedies.
Food for thought indeed, thanks for sharing that Josephine.
Marie...I had forgotten about menudo! I had that a lot when I lived in Houston and had a friend that made it and brought it to work. Very warm comfort food on cold days.
stinks
? what does?
menudo
Hmmm I love the smell of a pot of menudo. But I also love the smell of pork and saurkraut cooking.
What's menudo?
Don't think you really want to know. The very word should be banned on Dave's. LOL
Ann
Well, menudo is cooked tripe, here is a definition and explanation, it is eaten in many parts of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripe
Josephine.
Love Bavarian style sauerkraut. It is a sweeter version with caraway seed. Good stuff!
thank you frostweed.
You are welcome, it is all very interesting, isn't it?
Yes it is. I have a friend in France and I have visited her many times. They eat everything over there. Every part of an animal. Many cultures can't believe we throw away so much of a chicken.
Ah... but it is not wasted. All the byproducts both good and bad are put into pet food. We have both Tyson & Pilgrims Pride plants in this area and customers that work for both. Some of what is "not wasted" by us should NOT be fed to our pets either. I have pets and try to be more selective on their food as a result.
Believe it or not Marie, but I make a mean Menudo! I dont put a hoof in it though. LOL I use to make on New Years eve at my party ... kept everyone sober so they would get home safely!
Sheila " Slap Ya Mama" is a cajun seasoning. A friend from New Orleans told me about it. I did use Konriko, but the SYM dont have as much salt.
I thought only people from the north eat Kale and Swiss Chard and Rhubarb all they did was boil it and serve it with butter ... never got a liking to it.
... you guys dont use your left over chicken to make stock? I cook my rice in it.
The menudo my co-worked used to make had tripe and ox-tail too.
Sylvia I have had it both ways. My sil makes a what I call a posole menudo combo . It has both tripe and beef in it along with the hominy (sp) and a red broth. It is my favorite!!
Oxtails Sheila? I love myself some Oxtails! But they have gotten so expensive I can hardly afford them. but that combo sound wonderful!
Marie Posole? sound familiar.