Happy New Year!

New Year's Day meal.

This was the Christmas I discovered that many of my "must do" holiday things were not particularly necessary. I probably knew that intellectually but I never wanted to skip any of it. Until the flu made that decision for me. The funniest part is that no one else seemed to notice what didn't get done. Lesson learned.

I am thankful for daughters and sons-in-law and a capable husband who all pitched in to make sure everyone was fed. I was laying low, looking at friends IG posts of their families seated around beautifully set tables and feeling like I had let my folks down a little. I was sad that my Christmas china never made it out of the cabinet. And then yesterday one daughter told me that one of the best parts of her holiday was eating the Christmas night dinner—standing rib roast and the (fewer) trimmings—on the holiday Corelle dishes, in her pajamas. Nothing fancy required. But we were all around the table. That's what mattered.

Yesterday, it was the traditional Southern New Year's Day meal of peas and collards meal that promises good fortune in the coming year. And I cooked most of it. So good to be back in the kitchen. As we feasted yesterday everyone said this was their most favorite meal. Maybe because it's the opposite of rich holiday foods. And we all wondered why we don't make this menu more often.  

Here are the links to the foods that are on our plate each year. And the recipe to an old, old recipe that hasn't been on the blog in this version. (Before you cringe at the amount of butter you should know I cut it in half from Aunt Bibby's original version.) I often have macaroni and cheese with this meal but this year I subbed "brown rice." It is easier to put together. It isn't really brown rice...the brown color comes from beef consommé. I was completely grown before I knew that real brown rice was rice that retains the bran layer. In my family brown rice was white rice baked in the oven with beef consommé. And butter. This dish still shows up on every church covered dish dinner table.

NEW YEAR'S DAY MENU:

Bourbon Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Collard Greens

Black-Eyed Peas (cook a bag of frozen peas)

Sweet Potato Soufflé

Brown Rice

Pickled Beets (from a jar)

Corny Cornbread

BROWN RICE 

1 cup white rice

1/2 stick butter

2 cans Campbell's beef consommé

1 can of mushrooms, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º.

Melt butter in a 2-qt baking dish (I put the butter in the dish and slide it into the oven while it heats.) Stir in the rice, consommé and mushrooms. Cover dish (I use foil tightly wrapped over the top) and bake for 1 hour.

You may now return to your clean eating plan for the rest of the year.