Ah, the family Sunday dinner. I am rather a traditionalist when it comes to Sunday dinner- for that matter, taking care of my family in general. I am not always the tough career chick - I actually love cooking for and caring for my girls. In fact, nothing brings me more joy. Avery told me tonight - " I am so glad you got to be my mom...want to know why? Because I love you, you love me and you are a good cooker. You should have a baking shop." Now how did my child know of my secret desire to be a pastry chef? Of course, this was right after she ate dinner and devoured a baked from scratch yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting. Yes, I do love to cook - not always great for the waistline, but surely good for the heart.
Sundays, in particular, have special meaning. I remember going to my grandparents on Sunday for dinner. I don't have any idea how often we went, but it seems like alot. The four kids would pile in my parents station wagon and trek from West Toledo to South Toledo. Probably a 20 minute drive, but it felt longer as a kid. My grandmother usually made roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy rutabagas (for my sister and dad), veggies, rolls - a big spread.
My grandpa always had golf on the TV and when we got there, would take us into the kitchen for a soda. My older siblings tell me that he put a nip of whiskey in our 7-Up- kind of a mini highball. Probably so his grandkids were quiet so he could watch the game. After dinner, we watched Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and marveled at how the old guy would always send in Jim to do the really scary stuff. After Wild Kingdom, came Lawrence Welk and maybe the start of Mitch Miller and then we had to head home. My Grandpa always washed the dishes. He was a "manly" guy - a union man and an electrician. And there he would be over the sink, wearing an apron with a cigar sticking out of the corner of his mouth- quite a sight.
I want my girls to have wonderful Sunday memories. Our family may be smaller, but we can still make it special. Our new tradition is that each person gets to pick the Sunday dinner menu one week and the rotate. Lily has next week and no surprise wants angel hair pasta, garlic bread and broccoli. The week after is Avery's turn and she wants Chinese. So I am going to pull out the cookbooks and find some recipes for us to try. Sunday dinner needs to be special.
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Because of the way my parents worked opposite schedules when my sister and I were young (Dad worked days and went to school evenings, Mom worked nights and weekends), my non-holiday food memories are all about long stretches of batch cooking -- saucing tomatoes, canning vegetables, making pots as large as I was with enormous batches of stock and soup, and making brownies and bar cookies and candies. Interesting how we've both pulled on the influential food traditions as adults; you to share with your children, me to cope with a busy life. :)
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