Ringing in the New Year...cabbage anyone?

As 2009 draws to a close and we prepare to usher in 2010, I've been thinking about the many different things we do to assure good fortune in the new year. I know that true southerners believe in the power of black-eyed peas. And though I consider myself to be southern at heart, I was raised by parents who insisted I eat at least one bite of cabbage on New Year's Day. Didn't matter if it was boiled, pickled or simply grated and mixed into cole slaw, I had to eat a bite.

That's a tall order when you're a kid who finds no appeal to cabbage... in any form.

(Yeah, I know that's not cabbage...I also know that's not what I looked like as a child. Still, best I could do...)

Fortunately for me, my tastes matured along with the rest of me and now I'll eat cabbage just about any way you can prepare it. LOVE the stuff! It's a shame I'm not superstitious enough to believe in 'luck'.

However, if you are one of those folks who hates cabbage but really doesn't want to tempt Lady Luck into turning her attention elsewhere, I have just the recipe for you. This is some good stuff, I tell ya.

Once upon a time there was a restaurant here in WV that served this wonderfully delicious soup. The restaurant, The River's Edge, closed its doors a few years ago. Shortly afterward, the recipe for their famous soup appeared in our local newspaper and since it contains cabbage, I thought I'd share it with you now. It might just be the dish that makes a cabbage lover of you!

River’s Edge Soup
1 small head of cabbage
1 bunch of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 yellow onions, chopped
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 large cans V8 Juice + 2 cans water
Salt and pepper to taste
Bottled hot sauce to taste

Cover cabbage, celery, onions, and garlic with water in soup pot on low and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dry soup mix, juice and water. Cover and cook 2 hours. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot sauce.

While this soup isn't filling enough to be a main dish, it makes a wonderful appetizer or first course.

And I'm sure it contains just enough cabbage to ensure your good fortune for the coming year.

~~~On a more serious note, I want to thank each of you who have taken the time to stop by and read my ramblings. I am having such a good time with this blog! I love reading your comments, receiving your emails and even the comments left on my Facebook regarding my posts here. I sincerely hope you will continue to visit in 2010 and I promise to do my best to make it worth your while. :)

May each of you have a happy, prosperous and blessed 2010! ~~~