Hello 2012!!  What were your New Year’s Resolutions?  I do not have any problem making mine because they are usually repeats!  I always have the traditional New Year meal, for good luck:  black eyed peas for LUCK, collard greens for MONEY, and corn bread for GOLD.  Of course you have to season the greens with hog jowl.  Collins and Carson gagged when I told them what the jowl was. Cannot figure the gold out, but whatever, the tradition is to have these dishes on the table January 1 of every year.

We went to California for Kiran’s first Birthday.  He is just precious.  Collins and Carson wanted to bring him home and I must admit that I was in complete agreement with them.  Nothing like watching a baby laugh and entertain a group of people.  Needless to say, when we got home on the 31st the pots were rattling for the next day.

The Candy Cottage will now become the LOVE SHACK for Valentine’s Day.  This new addition to my STUFF collection, as Phil calls it, will appear many times during the year at our house.  Goodbye Gingerbread House and hello LOVE SHACK.  Yes, the red and pink candy is already in the grocery stores.  YUK!  Why do we rush everything?

Grocery list in hand and here I go for the GOOD LUCK FOOD!

The recipes below are all keepers.  Some of which I had never tried or seen, but when I saw where they came from (Yep, you guessed it Paula Deen herself) I knew that I could not go wrong.

HOG JOWL

Buy the sliced Jowl.  Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and bake the Jowl until it is crisp.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and just watch it so that it will not burn.  The meat is VERY salty and a little goes a long way.

Be sure to save some for the greens.

WHOLE PORK LOIN WITH BONE- IN

This will look like a long slab of thick pork chops.  Phil cooks this on the grill and does an excellent job!  Recipe???  I do not put anything on the loin before I cook it.  After it has been taken off of the grill, I pour some of Cleo’s BBQ sauce over the meat.  This BBQ sauce is knock-your-socks-off fabulous!  It is made in Gray, Georgia by some of Phil’s realtives.  It is truly an old family SECRET.  It can be special ordered from Jimmy and Frances Roberts.  Thank goodness they still make it and have that SECRET recipe.  Insert thermometer and off it goes to the grill.  With a careful eye, Phil watches to see when the temperature reaches just the right degree.  Perfect every time!

TURNIPS

I cheated this year and bought the turnips in a BAG.  Therefore, I had no roots to cook with them, bad Bubbles!  Usually, I wash and wash and wash until the silt is off before I cook them.  But I took the short cut and just zipped open the bag!  Boil the Jowl and then add the turnips.  You cannot over cook these.  Boil until tender.  Season to your taste.

COLLARDS

Wash the collards until they are free of silt.  Strip the veins out of the leaves and discard.  Chop the collards into relatively small pieces.  Drop the chopped collards into the boiling water that has been seasoned with jowl.  Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar and a generous splash of vinegar to the pot.  This also helps with the smell.  The odor of cooking collards is offensive to some people but I do not object.

** Aunt Peggy always harvests her peppers for hot sauce and this is a must for the table to serve with the greens.  You can purchase Pepper Sauce at the grocery store.

SPOON BREAD

SCRATCH THE DIET HERE!!

1 cup stone ground cornmeal
1 ½  teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into small bits
1 cup cold whole milk
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.  In a small saucepan, combine the cornmeal, salt and l ½ cups water.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes,  Whisk in the butter until melted.  Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the milk.  Slowly whisk in the eggs. 
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake until golden and almost firm about 45-50 minutes.  SPOON onto plates while hot.

SLOW COOKER HOPPIN’ JOHN

This recipe will certainly usher in the NEW YEAR with good luck!! I will definitely prepare this during the year with a backyard BBQ!

1 pound dried black-eyed peas soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
3 cups collards chopped
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped onion
½  cup chopped green bell pepper
½ cup chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (32 ounce) cartons vegetable stock
1 smoked turkey leg
2 cups instant rice
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons hot sauce

In a 4-6 quart slow cooker, combine peas, collards and diced tomatoes and green chiles, onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.  Stir in vegetable stock.  Dunk the turkey leg into the mixture.  Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or until peas are tender.

Add rice, cover, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until rice is tender.  Stir in salt and hot sauce.

** Adjust the seasonings to your taste buds.  Don’t like garlic – leave it out, and so goes for the other seasonings.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT DESSERT

Your guests will beg for this recipe and it is so easy that I hate to give it away!

1 small jar of Nutella
1 8 ounce carton of Cool Whip (you can use any of the varieties:  lite, sugar free, original, fat free)

Remove the ALL of the foil from the top of the Nutella jar.  Microwave for 25 seconds.  Stir warm Nutella into the Cool Whip. 

**You can add a handful of slivered almonds or chopped hazelnuts to the mixture just to give the mixture a crunch.  Collins and Carson like it plain right out of the bowl!!
There are 2 ways to serve this dessert.  Pour all of the mixture into a graham cracker crust or pipe the mixture into champagne flutes.  Garnish with a raspberry and a mint leaf.  If you choose the champagne flute serving idea, do not add nuts to the mixture.  Simply sprinkle them on top of each serving.

Of course, you must have SWEET TEA with every meal as Southern as this.  Tea is better sweetened while hot rather than cold. 

Happy New Year to all of you!!!  These recipes are not just for January 1st!  Use them all year.  String out that wealth and luck as long as you can!!
Love and Hugs to all of you!!!!

Bubbles