“If you are planning to celebrate the New Year in the Southeast, it is most likely that you will be offered black-eyed peas in some form, either just after midnight or on New Year’s Day. From grand gala gourmet dinners to small casual gatherings with friends and family, these flavorful legumes are traditionally, according to Southern folklore, the first food to be eaten on New Year’s Day for luck and prosperity throughout the year ahead.  ~~  (For the best chance of luck every day in the year ahead, one must eat at least 365 black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.)”   ~~  Click here to read the entire article. ~~ Just for fun, I am going to prepare these three items (no pork).  Just for fun!!  I don’t subscribe to items like rabbit’s foot, four-leaf clover, and “good luck” omens.  ~~  (I’ve jumped on the “fix it from scratch” bandwagon and prepared a big kettle of thick vegetable soup and put small servings in the freezer.  Also a big kettle of kidney beans [in small servings, in the freezer] to be served with brown rice [cooked from “scratch”].)

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While the black-eye peas are soaking, I searched my many vegetarian cook books for a unique recipe. In Country Beans (1998) by Rita Bingham, I found the following… and will adapt it to my ingredients (most of which I already have in my kitchen).  Looks good to me!!
POTATO BEAN SOUP
20 cup boiling water
2 cup chopped celery
1 cup diced or shredded carrots
2 quart diced or shredded potatoes
2 cup chopped onions
1 cup soaked black-eyes
1 tablespoon dried parsley
5 tablespoon chicken or vegetable soup base {Lorraine uses Vegetarian Better Than Bouillon)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (optional)
Bring all ingredients to a boil…. Makes seven quarts.

Postscript, 12/31/11, 2:00 PM: This soup is so extremely delicious!! I modified around the ingredients that I had and this is my recipe:
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After soaking a 1 pound package of black-eye peas, I had 6 cups.
I put 2 cups soaked black-eye peas aside to cook separately on Jan. 1st.
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LORRAINE’S  BLACK-EYE SOUP
4 cups soaked black-eye peas
2 onions equal 2 cups
5 carrots equal 2 cups
5 ribs celery equal 2 cups
4 potatoes equal 2 cups
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons Vegetarian Better Than Bouillon
First, I brought the black-eye peas to a boil in adequate amount of filtered water. Later I added more filtered, boiling water as needed. I was scrubbing, chopping, and adding in this order: Onions, carrots, celery, potatoes. I wish I could send the delicious smell with this message!! In total, I think it is less than two hours preparation and cooking time. It tastes divine!!  ~~  I have a very large kettle full… and will put into single-serving containers and freeze for later enjoyment!!