It's a southern tradition - therefore, via my father's side of the family - that we have black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. We didn't go shopping in time, so had them today, on the second, cooked with a recipe based on one in a cookbook given to us by double0hilly. The oak-smoked ham they were cooked with (on sale post-Christmas) gave them wonderful richness and depth. We ate it with roasted squash, given to us by haggisthesecond and naxos, sprinkled with herb salt made by my grandmother. C. drank Innis & Gunn, an oak-aged beer first recommended to him by his father, and drunk in a tankard from his parents. The plates were given to us by my mother. For dessert, we're planning on truffles made by wibblepot.

Even when they're not here, my life is connected with those of so many others. I like being a part of that network.

Happy 2009!

P.S. Email from a French hotel whose mailing list I'm on tells me "We’ll be happy to welcome you, all year long, for a distressing moment of happiness."