The first day of 2009

I used to think that cutting onions had no effect on me, but later I realized there was another reason I never cried. My contacts acted as a shield. No, seriously, I asked my eye doctor about it once. I always forget about it until I’m chopping onions with my glasses on and the burning begins.

As you might guess, I was chopping onions today. I had to make pear relish — Grandma’s recipe — to go with the black-eyed peas and collards we were having for dinner. Now, besides the standard Southern tradition of beans and greens on New Year’s Day, I tend to hold with the belief that the way you conduct yourself on the first day of the year will influence how the rest of the year goes.

So we invited friends over for dinner and I set the table with crisply ironed linens, the china, the crystal, the silver and…. beans and greens.

We also have Ozuni, which is the traditional New Year’s Day soup in Japan and something Rob is very fond of. Then, to further blend cuisine traditions, we also have champagne and caviar. It all works together better than it has any right to.

It was a really, truly lovely evening and the perfect way to start the New Year. I hope the first day of 2009 was as nice for you.

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7 thoughts on “The first day of 2009”

  1. Eh?? My contacts never protect me. I dewed up yesterday making Hoppin’ John for traditional NY Day dinner. Maybe it’s just that I have big eyes, and my contacts protect a relatively small portion of them?

    1. Hm… I might water a little with if it’s a particularly pungent onion, but the full-scale burning, nose-running, crying that happened sans contacts never happens with them. How’s does contact onion cutting compare to non-contact onion cutting compare? As if I expect you to run a scientific experiment for my curiousity…

  2. Carole instructed me about the contacts protection, so I’ve always turned to them. Grated two big Walla Walla onions to mix into the latkes last weekend, and nary a tear.

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