Our local H.E.B. was sold out of the magic peas when I went late this afternoon so I scurried a few miles across the neighborhood to Randall’s and lo and behold they had several cans left. “I’ll be damned,” I said aloud I was so surprised to find any. A woman in the aisle beside me said, “Thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot.”
The peas were ordered up by Mrs. Charm who said we didn’t eat them on New Year’s Day last year and “Look what happened.” She was diagnosed with cancer. So this time she didn’t want to take any chances.
The magic is an old Southern tradition meticulously observed in our (Central) part of Texas. Eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day and you’ll have a lucky year. Don’t and you won’t. Like I say the mrs is in no mood to tempt fate again. So I didn’t give up when I found the shelves bare of them at H.E.B. And I’m sure glad I didn’t. Eat your peas, America!
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 
Make sure she eats a second helping.
I doubt she’ll need any prompting. Don’t forget your own now.
Mm… I am scratching my head trying to imagine a vegetable that might bring me luck. Dunno. If it ain’t bleeding… But don’t tell Mrs. Charm on me, please 😉
Never heard of that “custom” till i moved to Texas. But we ate peas every meal except breakfast in my mom’s and grandmom’s houses. So we kinda didn’t have to worry about it.
I don’t bother with it, now. I am cooking some beans, though.
My people have always had the tradition (I was raised around the Corpus Christi area), and I’ve found people throughout the South that do it or have variations on it. It’s not limited to there though – other cultures have variations as well. In Italy, we had to have lentils.
We used to flay alive a Moabite (early performance art) to start the New Year, always a lot of music and much happiness.