New Years with Aunt Doris and Uncle Harold, Jean and Donna

Alane called yesterday and we started talking about New Years and our wonderful memories of spending it with Aunt Doris (mother’s oldest sister), and Uncle Harold Haines in Wichita. We talked of the similar things we remembered, and with Alane being older than me she was able to more clearly remember how we spent our time after those delicious meals. This will no doubt be the first of many blogs to include our Aunt Doris and Uncle Harold. Their influence in our lives was enormous, and as we write about them you will understand why. Jean and Donna, their two daughters are our “other” sisters. Times at their house were always “the best”, or as my kids say “good times, good, good times.”…………



I woke up New Years Day I started thinking about our New Years Days we spent with the Haines family. We would get up early enough to get to Wichita in time to watch the Rose parade on TV (in black and white no less). Of course we didn't know the difference and the announcers did a really good job of describing the floats. After the parade we always had a wonderful meal. This included black-eyed peas with ham. That is always a necessity for good luck.

We would play pinochle with Uncle Harold and Daddy and I think Mother and Aunt Doris were in the kitchen visiting & and I’m sure cleaning up the kitchen. When Daddy and Uncle Harold would decide to watch football or take a nap, all the girls went downstairs. We would sharpen our skills at ping-pong and then listen to records and dance. Jean and Donna had a great Connie Frances record collection and we would sing along. (I'm sure that is why we were in the basement) :)
Andrea remembers Aunt Doris' house (ALWAYS) smelling like ham and coffee. I remember the coffee. I always thought it smelled sooo good and I couldn't wait until I was old enough to drink coffee. What a disappointment!! Oh well, it is an acquired taste.
I'm not sure when or why the New Years tradition started, but I'm sure glad it did. It makes it easy to understand why Jean and Donna are just like our sisters. I think our Mothers were hoping for that and I am sure they were very happy with the outcome.
Jean, Anita, Donna, Alane, and Uncle Harold
Donna, Jean, Anita, Amy
We still have black-eyed peas on New Years Day. This year Steve found a recipe for Black-Eyed Pea chili. We tried it and it is really good.
You will find the recipe below if you would like to try it. We will be having it more than once a year. I double the sausage but the rest is the same. It makes it extra thick and meaty, the way Steve likes it.

Black-Eyed Pea Chili

1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 (15 ounce) cans black-eyed peas, un-drained
1 (14 ounce) can diced unsalted tomatoes, un-drained
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, un-drained
2 tablespoons chili powder

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until
no longer pink, stirring constantly. Drain sausage on paper towels;
discard all but 1 tablespoon pan drippings. Add onion and celery to
pan; cook until onion is translucent, stirring constantly.

Add black-eyed peas, tomatoes, tomatoes with green chilies, and chili powder.
Stir in sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
Serves 10. This makes a large amount and I froze the leftovers in zip-lock bags.

Hope you like it.

(just an interjection at this point--Andrea isn't in the picture above, cuz ahem.....she wasn't here yet ;)