Hoppin' John, (and when my mother fractured my leg).

I am getting ready to make "Hoppin' John" for  1st January 2015.

(I'll be using ham hocks).

Some readers (especially those outside the U.S.A.) may be asking "what is "Hoppin' John".  (Other readers will merely yawn!).

Here is an article from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoppin'_John

But be warned, there are as many theories about the origin of Hoppin' John as there will be black eyed peas in my dish.

My guess is that it was no more than a mid-winter dish for poor people in the southern United States, with dried peas and smoked ham hock being more or less available.

There are scores and scores of on-line recipes for Hoppin' John.

Here is the one which I will (more or less) use:


http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/hoppin_john/

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My full name is John Michael Povey.  I am known to my family as John (or Uncle John). Others know me as Michael.  I like both names.

When I was six or seven I was walking with my Mum alongside the old Brooks  Laundry in the St, Werburgh's area of Bristol.

Mum tripped on an uneven pavement (sidewalk) and knocked me to the ground, as a result of which I suffered a leg fracture.

I do not remember any pain, or the ambulance ride to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

I cannot remember if it was my left leg, or my right leg  (it was one of the two).

I do remember having  a huge and heavy "plaster of paris"  cast.  I also remember that our Milkman (Pete Bedford) used to call me "peg-leg", which annoyed me greatly.

Mum could not take me to the B.R.I. the day the cast was to be  removed, so my dear Nanny Povey took my by 'bus.  As we left the hospital, the cast having been removed, I limped a bit.

Nanny said  "now don't you limp or you'll do it for the rest of your life".

Was I the original hoppin' John?