New Year’s food

For years, I’ve had a standing date with Sue and Albert on New Year’s Day for black-eyed peas and greens. Oh, and cornbread. See, Albert is from east Tennessee, and totally gets the whole traditional food thing. Sue, on the other hand, has a long-standing tradition of champagne and caviar. It is surprising how well these two traditions work together.

In the past, the routine has been that I cook and show up at their house with food. It’s been nice because that way the cleanup doesn’t fall solely to either of us. This year, it was just easier for them to come to us, plus, I wanted to pull out the china and silver. Yeah, I know. It’s crazy that my idea of a good time involves pulling out the good dishes. I also know how silly it is to pull out the good dishes for comfort food, but it looks so pretty.

The only thing that was marring my anticipation of tonight is that I discovered yesterday that I had run out of Grandma’s pear relish. I don’t know anyone else (outside the family) who makes it, but I consider it absolutely essential for black-eyed peas. I had her pear honey, pear preserves and pear butter, but no pear relish and no way to get any in time. So, amidst much sadness, I attempted to find a substitute at the grocery store.

I opened it today and it was completely wrong. Bleah. So. For the first time, I made pear relish. It wasn’t exactly right, but it was less wrong than not having it. The biggest problem, I think, were the pears. Grandma’s pear tree is over sixty years old and was a gift from my grandfather. No one has any idea what variety of pears they are, or if they are even a commercially available type. I’ll have to experiment to see if I can do better next time.

Meanwhile, Mom is sending me a jar of the real thing. Thank heavens.

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