I Resolve to Start the New Year Slowly

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

As the holiday season winds to an end, we start to think about how we will usher in the New Year. In the past, I have had some pretty memorable New Year’s Eve experiences, everything from walking into my house to catch my childhood friends playing a live version of “Wheel of Fortune” on my parent’s (at the time spinning) round breakfast table, to my first “adult” trip to New York City, racing to see the ball drop in Times Square, to throwing a wild bash in my apartment, complete with my friend Dan’s band playing in full Baby New Year’s costumes. I am still hoping to make a trip to Europe one year, where I have heard that some people literally reenact the phrase “out with the old and in with the new” by throwing all their old possessions out the window at the stroke of midnight.

But as time progresses faster each year, and these memories and the good times go by, I realize that while we savor the recollections of the past year and look forward to the coming year, the most important thing is the people around us. It is for this reason that I am looking forward to what lies ahead in the new year. But in the meantime, I must make some resolutions:

1. This year, I resolve to eat healthier.

2. This year, I resolve not to get any (unnecessary) parking tickets.

3. This year, I resolve not to crash the computer by downloading any updated software or programs.

4. This year, I resolve to slow down.

As far as #1, lately I have fallen off of the healthy eating wagon. Holidays at the end of the year and the transition to cold weather clothes completely turn off my normal nutritional sensibilities. Although I am not quite ready yet, I will explore healthy crockpot cooking further in a later article.

For my second resolution, as a fairly recent New York City car owner, the dangers (and fines) of the NYC Department of Finance do not scare me!

Regarding, my third resolution, I have no comment except that I was misled that a newer and better version of Internet Explorer exists.

Of course, my last and most important resolution is noticeable because I write a slow cooking column. Over the last year, and especially lately, it feels like I have been racing from one thing to the next, with barely a moment in for breathing room. I would like to get started with this one by planning a simple but great New Year’s Day dinner that can be cooked overnight in the crockpot.

Traditionally, humble dishes such as peas and rice or pork and sauerkraut are eaten to bring good luck in the New Year. Variations of this exist in other cultures as well. For example, lentils, which symbolize money in Italy, are thought to bring prosperity and good fortune in the coming year. Hoppin’ John is the quintessential southern dish of crowder peas and rice slow cooked with ham hock and usually served with greens and cornbread. Before you head to bed (or even before you head out for the evening), you can put your dinner in the crockpot the night before, and let the slow cooker help you welcome in the new year.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful and slow new year!

Serves/Makes: 8

• 1 pound dried black-eyed peas
• 2 quarts water
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (7 ounce size) diced green chiles
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 dried or canned chipotle chile, left whole
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup short-grain brown rice
• 3 large tomatoes, peeled & chopped
• salt, to taste