The pork roast is in the oven and the black-eyed peas are soaking. I think New Year's Day dinner is my favorite holiday meal of all. I'll also make greens, rice, and corn bread. Oh I love turkey and dressing, ham, soup night, all those other holiday dishes. But I just love soul food. Give me some black-eyed peas and turnip greens or collards with hot corn bread, and I'm a happy camper.
***
A quick count shows 18 winners in the "It Was Dark and Stormy Night" contest. If you're on the list of winners (below), please e-mail me your mailing address so I can send you your prize. On the subject line of your e-mail, please type "adddress," and also include the screen name in the e-mail so I'll know who you are. If you're not on the list but you got the right answer, please let me know right away. My e-mail address is suscleve@aol.com. Here's the winner list by screen name.
topinsales
pnichols
lavenderdreams
peggyb
bamamomdeb
lauriejackson
Delprice
inesewoodburn
romaine
pattyruth
quilt
billandtina
jocage
ramey
caednkat
McCrthyJ
nicolesreed
cshortprudhomme
There was a little confusion about who was actually the first to pen this phrase. The answer I was thinking of was Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1830 novel Paul Clifford, which I have never read, btw. But Wikipedia goes on to claim that Washington Irving actually used the phrase in his satire The History of New York 1809, which I have read. I did a little more research and found that Irving's phrase is actually "One dark and stormy night...", while Bulwer-Lytton's line was "It was a dark and stormy night," as was Snoopy's.
***
I'm really looking forward to 2010. This year is going to be the year that my house gets decluttered and organized. I already have a good start, thanks to some good help from my daughter Andy and to my son Phillip for his work in the basement. By this time next year, I plan to be the poster child for "a place for everything, and everything in its place." Well, nearly everything.
I wanted Sophie to be able to start the year out right too, so I decided to give her a good bath, blow dry, and brushing this morning. I have had increasing trouble bathing her in the bathtub. My back does not cooperate when I get down in the floor and bend over the tub long enough to give Soph a bath. So I had an idea.
The hospice people left a shower chair here when they removed all their equipment. They told me it was mine. So I decided that if I put that chair in the bathtub and put Soph on the chair, using the spray attachment, a doggie bath would be a piece of cake for my back. Sophie was a little confused, but the arrangement worked out pretty well for the back problem. But I and the bathroom got soaking wet. I guess I just need a little practice in this new arrangement.
So I have a clean dog, soul food in the making, and a good plan for the new year. Life is good.
This post was migrated from the old blog. To see the comments on the original post, CLICK HERE. To add a new comment, click "Post a Comment", below.
On 01/01/2010, Kelly Ann said ...
Black-eyed peas and a mess of greens...now that's the way to start off the new year! Happy New Year to you and Sophie...wishing you many blessings this year.
On 01/01/2010, Cindy said ...
Wishing you a very Blessed New Year.
Cindy
On 01/01/2010, Barbara Anne said ...
Oh, yes! Love that soul food, too. We'll have ham, black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread for dinner as Southerners do! Serious yum!
I share many of your new year's goals about organization and simplifying so hope we both do well working toward that goal.
Am organizing my wall hangings today so I know what will be for what season, where it will be hung, and the size of each. Perhaps I'll get a photo of each, too.
Hugs!
On 01/01/2010, Debbie said ...
Black-eyed peas, greens, meatloaf, fried potatoes and a peanut butter cake are for supper as requested by my son! He's a very picky eater...don't know why he eats this! Sounds like you got things lined up for the new year!
On 01/01/2010, Wendy said ...
We washed our 22-lb cocker spaniel in the kitchen sink, but don't tell my Mom...she'd have had a fit. The height was perfect for my back and we put some sort of spray attachment on the spigot. Worked great and cleaned the kitchen as well. Miss our Diggity tremendously, but don't miss the 3-hour grooming episodes! Happy New Year. You're inspiring me to clean out clutter; box for hospice thrift store is filling fast.
On 01/01/2010, Kai said ...
A lot of Southern readers here, huh? I made greens, black-eyed peas, very spicy sausages, cornbread, and apple crumb pie with a caramel drizzle. The sausage & pie were strictly for my housemate, but I DID eat some greens & peas and I crumbled a small piece of cornbread in it. YUM! My tummy is smiling! And not only are many of us on the same MENU page, we are also on the same organizing page. I bought some inexpensive sterilite shelves yesterday where I can store my ridiculous amount of yarn, and will also find a way to better organize my ever-growing fabric supply. I admit, I LOVE organizing ALMOST as much as I love having things ORGANIZED! Love your impromptu doggy beauty salon idea! Also love YOU!
On 01/01/2010, Peggy said ...
No greens and black-eyed peas up here in northern Indiana. We had a small pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and a salad. For our dog, Shaggy - Frosty Paws doggy ice cream.
Happy New Year to you and Sophie!
On 01/01/2010, Donna said ...
Sounds like you are beginning the New Year off to a good start. Eating the "right" foods, giving Sophie a bath and getting organized. I hope to get motivated.
Blessings and Hugs,
Donna
On 01/01/2010, Deb said ...
Hi Susan ~ I only got the right answer because it intrigued me enough to look it up on Wikipedia. Very interesting; congrats to those who knew already! Glad you are organizing things....me, too! I have more to go, but I'm giving myself January to get completely finished. As far as food, I stayed up way too late last night to feel up to making a good meal; we ate out tonight. Tomorrow we'll have the black-eyed peas that were frozen from our garden this summer! Wishing you a wonderful New Year.
On 01/01/2010, Pat said ...
Wow! I hardly ever win anything! Thanks, will be sending the address info. Your chair idea sounds great - I may have to resort to this kind of bathing arrangement. Now I sit on the little foot stool and even that's getting harder on my back, so I may put Oscar on a chair of some kind!
On 01/01/2010, Lavender Dreamer said ...
Happy New Year! That was a fun contest! I hope we can do more things like that in the year to come! Enjoy the weekend!
On 01/01/2010, Kelly@CharmingChatter said ...
Your dish looks wonderful -- and the greens sound good,too! I'd love it if you could share your recipes some day -- I've never had black-eyed peas or collard greens, but would love to give them a try! I'm so excited for you about getting organized -- I wish I had such gumption! Glad to see that you and Sophie are off to a great start in the New Year!
On 01/02/2010, Debra said ...
A woman with a plan is a very good idea!
Happy New Year!
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