No one in my house likes cooked greens of any ilk except me, and even so, just the wimpy ones like barely sautéed spinach. Black-eyed peas are also off the picky eater menu. To give lip service to the southern New Year’s Day food tradition, because I need all the good luck I can get this year, tonight’s menu goes for the spirit if not the letter of the traditional:

• glazed ham (bought, not from scratch, but at least I got the pork part covered)
• green salad (sub for the greens)
• hummus (sub for the black-eyed peas, chick peas are close enough, right?)
• frozen corn (sub for cornbread because I simply cannot even come close to making it as well as my mother-in-law, and hers is the only one I really like. Also, my daughter really likes corn)
• “If I gave you the recipe, I’d have to kill you” baked mac-n-cheese (sub for the rest of the starches, and because my husband loves it)
• and assuming the mac-n-cheese doesn’t bloat us completely, apple cake with a lightly sweet yeast dough based on this one, with vanilla ice cream (sub for nothing, it’s just so good)

I considered making Bahamian peas and rice as a substitute for hoppin’ John, but since the picky eater peanut gallery won’t eat it, I didn’t see the point. Besides, no shortage of starch going on, and it’s freezing, so running the oven is a good thing. German red cabbage would have been nice too, but that’s relegated to dinners when it’s just my daughter and me. My convoluted background makes for odd menu ideas.

So, with wishes for unfrozen pipes, let 2018 begin. Please be better than 2017.