Paper Salad

I’ve been playing with my food again! If you’re a fan of food network, you know that presentation is important. Have you ever looked at your food? I mean really looked at it. Don’t think about how it tastes or smells but how it looks? I have. Some foods are just pretty and some plain disgusting. It has nothing to do with smell or taste, but beauty.

Stop and go to your pantry and look at the foods there. Take a peek in the chill chest. (Altin Brown’s name for refrigerator.) Look at all the colors you see on a mango or how a peeled banana looks nice and soft. Today’s offering is black-eyed peas. I found them on like as black eye peas, black-eye peas, black-eyed peas as well as their other name, cow peas.

I wasn’t a fan of black-eyed peas as a child. I ate a spoonful once a year. I had to or move. At seven I knew I couldn’t make it on my own, so I ate the black-eyed peas. Swallowed them whole to keep from tasting them. What day? New Year’s day of course. Perhaps I should have saved this entry until then.

The tradition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s day is a must in the south and in many African-American homes. Prior to the Civil War black-eyed peas were grown to feed livestock and slaves. When Sherman marched through the south destroying or stealing crops, supposedly he didn’t burn the fields of black eyed peas. The humble little black eyed pea became the major food source for many surviving Confederates. So now we eat black eyed peas on New Years for good luck and prosperity.

Now that I’m older I don’t swallow a spoonful without chewing; I actually like them. One of my favorite new recipes is black-eyed pea gumbo. I think the recipe might have been in the weekly offering by Allrecipes.com. I didn’t have all the right ingredients, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. It was good, but much better when I made it with the correct ingredients.

Here is an ATC I made for an altered photo swap. I made ten different cards from my picture of black-eyed peas!