Around the Banks

Johnny Bullard Guest Columnist Many Southern homes were filled with the aromas of well-seasoned mustard or collard greens, black-eyed peas cooked with hog jowls and cornbread for the New Year. No one wants to risk bad luck, so many began soaking those peas on New Year's Eve to fire up the stove on New Year's Day. The traditional Southern New Year's Day meal has its roots in the difficult times that followed General William Tecumseh Sherman's triumphant March through Georgia during the latter part of 1864. General Sherman vowed he would humble Georgia on his March across the state from Atlanta to Savannah so completely that a crow flying across the state would have to carry its own food.