The Southern New Year Celebration is a worldwide celebration for the beginning of the New Year. These festivals are among the oldest and the most universally observed.  This book takes you on a journey of the Southeastern part of America, honoring two southern states called North and South Carolina and sharing its rich history of southern superstition, tradition, culture, and lore.

Many believe, including myself, that what you do on News Years Day, you will do all year-While most of these superstitions and traditions are meant to usher in good luck and keeping bad luck at bay, what you do can reflect how you’ll live in the coming year.

My 6th generation great-great-great grandfather James Dawkins emigrated to the U.S. 10 years before the Irish Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, which began in 1845.

There is a story that has been passed down through the generations that James Dawkins was in The Battle of Churubusco.

 During the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846, 200 plus Irish immigrants from the U.S. formed the Saint Patrick’s battalion and joined the Mexican side. From mistreatments, the catholic Irish saw parallels between the mistreatment of catholic Mexicans with their own mistreatment buy the British.  Although it consisted of mostly Irish immigrants, it also included black Americans who escaped slavery. Their flag read “Erin go Bragh ” which means Ireland Forever.”  Many were eventually captured in the battle of Churubusco.

In their final act of defiance, 30 men cheered The Mexican flag before they were hung. This isn’t typically taught in a U.S. history book lesson.

 However, Irish descendants still sing songs to uphold the legacy. Mexico holds joint commemorations with Ireland every year to celebrate this history, and there are statues of John Riley around Mexico.

My great-great-great grandfather James Dawkins survived that battle and escaped to North Carolina where he was already the father of George W. Dawkins of Robeson, NC born in 1840, who later married Martha Dawkins (Butler) of Laurel Hill, NC born 1860. They were the grandparents of my grandmother Martha Eva Shoemake of Gibson, NC born in Scotland County 1921.

I am the living link to my family history. I will tell my children the stories of all the struggles waged at home and in foreign parts from generations past. Of the sacrifices made for our freedoms, the struggles, the lessons learned and will tell them my own story as well because everybody has a story to tell.  

 I was born and raised in the southern eastern part of South Carolina, in a county called Marlboro.

When I eat the food that my grandma used to make, instantly I feel transported back to a simpler time and families meant something to each other.  

The memories and sweet smells from my childhood are the ultimate reason why I keep my southern traditions. I remember visiting my grandmother on many humid and hot Sunday’s afternoon after church; all the windows were open. There was no sneaking up on my grandmother no matter how fast or slow I entered; the rusty hinges from that old wooden screen door squealed like fingernails scrapping across a dusty old school chalkboard. As the old wooden door would snap shut.

My grandmother would be in the kitchen, humming an old gospel song, rolling out piecrust with a wooden rolling pin, and crimping the edges of the pastry with the tips from her arthritic fingers.

Depending on which part of the south you are from, the cooking style and the ingredients can vary.

There is a rich history in southern superstition, tradition, and culture. Southerners have a strong sense of regional heritage, and this is why I believe southern food belongs to a region, not a race or ethnicity. Never forgetting our ancestry but started creating new methods, with minimal equipment and scarce resources; using every portion of edible scraps in the home—nothing ever went to waste. Southern style food is not only about how we nurture people with every mouthful, but it tells a story of survival from each ingredient. 

I love trying out new recipes and experimenting with different flavors. Cooking is not just about nourishment for me, but also a fun and creative outlet. There’s something so satisfying about seeing a dish come together and enjoying the result. Whether it’s trying out a new fusion cuisine or simply recreating a childhood favorite, food always makes for a fun activity.

I hope you all enjoy this book along with cooking a few recipes and sharing them generously with friends and family while keeping the Southern News Year’s Day superstition, tradition, culture and lore to be never forgotten.