Happy New Year!

New Year's is always a nice time...time to make resolutions and try to transform your life. Sometimes the resolutions stick...more often they don't. It is also a time for a good, traditional Southern meal. I grew up having the traditional meal on New Year's Day and now when we are in town for New Years, I always cook up the usual New Year's menu, with a little help from my "friends". This year I got a ham from Honeybaked and collards and biscuits from a local restaurant that specializes in Southern cooking. This is the only time of year I really eat collards, so I've never learned how to cook them. Therefore I outsource. Also, I'd normally do cornbread but I had a New Year's hankering for a biscuit. I did however do my own black eye peas, green beans, and macaroni and cheese. You must eat foods that swell so you can swell your fortune for the year and greens, like collards, are to be eaten so you will be prosperous. I served it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream on homemade poundcake. It was yummy and really hit the spot. I got my macaroni and cheese recipe from Beth Anne, who has some other great recipes in her blog, The Domestic Diva. The key to it is definitely real cheese...I found that using the pre-shredded 2% cheese gave it a kind of grainy consistency. Skim milk works OK but I generally use low fat half and half. The pound cake recipe is from a famous local restaurant, The Angus Barn. I winged the rest!

So we've started the new year with some not so healthy food but hey, who really starts their resolutions on January 1st anyway!