Sunday Dinner

We had a real live Sunday Dinner today. Maybe for the first time ever in our own home.

Before church this morning I put country ribs, an onion, and a jar of sauerkraut in the slow cooker with a little salt to taste. After cooking on high for four hours the meat was perfectly cooked for our 1:00 pm dinner. I quickly made some instant mashed potatoes (for some reason my family loves these ???) and steamed broccoli in the microwave. Flower Child set the table with our pretty stoneware and I made sure to use the serving bowls that matched.

And it was so easy!

The only thing missing was company.

Growing up, Sunday Dinner was the domain of my grandmother and it usually consisted of donuts bought after church and brought to her house. But it wasn’t about what we ate. It was about my parents, aunt, cousins, and siblings talking, laughing, arguing… just being together.

We’ve lived most of our lives away from our parents, so my children have never had Sunday Dinner on a regular basis. Until recently our Sunday afternoons were spent at a soccer field somewhere, with all of us in a rush to get there on time as soon as church let out. Now that Rooster and Flower Child are no longer playing travel soccer we don’t have this time constraint.

And now I want to start a tradition of Sunday Dinner at our house. And I want to invite people over as often as possible. Older couples and family from our church. Friends from our community and homeschool group. Missionaries and visiting pastors. Young and old, saints and sinners, the popular and the lonely, rich and poor.

I want dinner to be ready in the slow cooker at home, ready for a spontaneous invitation!

Romans 12:10-13
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Best New Recipe of 2008

This recipe gets the award for being beautiful to look at, simple to prepare, and incredibly tasty. It is the entire family’s new favorite on our menu.

Noodles with Broccoli and Meat (Cambodia)
Kuy Tew Cha (goi dieu chah)
Serves 4

Cook according to package directions:

• 8 oz. Chinese noodles or thin spaghetti (250 g) (I use spaghetti.)

Drain. Add 1 T. oil (15 ml) to keep noodles from sticking together, cover, and set aside.

In separate saucepan, cook or steam until tender-crisp:

• 1 1/2 c. broccoli, cut in pieces (375 ml)

Meanwhile, in separate frypan saute 8-10 minutes in 1-2 T. oil (15-30 ml):

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. pork, cut in small pieces (125 ml)
• 6-8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

Add broccoli to meat along with:

• 1-2 T. soy sauce (15-30 ml)
• 1 t. sugar (5 ml)
• 1/2 t. salt (2 ml) (optional)

Toss with noodles and serve with additional soy sauce as desired.

Note: We make substitutions for the meat frequently, with great results. We’ve used pork, chicken, beef, and frozen imitation crab each on and its own or in combination with one of the other meats. I love that I can make it with whatever I have on hand.

— from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, 1991, Herald Press.

Not only is this dish tasty, it’s very easy to make and only dirties one frying pan. Our family eats this at least once a week now!

Breaking Free

Mike Is Being an Artist Again

From a Sonlight buddy’s blog. I love to read about folks my age who are rediscovering their lost passion for art.

(While your visiting listen to the fiddle music. It’s great!)

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY
Monday, December 29, 2008…

Outside my window…
The sun is reflecting on the surface of the pond and the light is blinding. The reflection is shimmery all around the edges and it’s beautiful.

I am thinking…
About my New Year’s Resolutions.

I am thankful for…
Herbal tea and guaifenesin with real pseudoephedrine.

From the learning rooms…
The students are taking a break from bookwork to enjoy their Christmas gifts. I’m preparing new schedules because I had only planned through December.

From the kitchen…
Jars of jam and recently dried basil sit on the counter waiting to be wrapped for Christmas gifts. Evidence of many glasses of herbal tea (for sore throats and coughs) sit on the counter. I want to get motivated and plan menus for January but it’s hard for me to think about food when my stomach is lurchy from sinus drainage. For dinner we’ll have leftovers from this weekend.

I am wearing…
Gray sweats, a black turtleneck, and old birkies without socks. Cleaning day.

I am creating…
Bags for gifting the jam and basil, a candle with my dd(11) for her grandmother’s Christmas present.

I am going…
To stay home all day. This evening we’re going to see the lights at Beech Bend.

I am reading…
My Bible and the latest issue of Sojourners magazine.

I am hoping…
This beautiful weather lasts all week. Later today or tomorrow I’d like to brave the swamp in the front yard and rearrange my bird feeders. It’s much easier to brave the swamp when it’s warm!

I am hearing…
The washing machine, dh working on his computer, a clock ticking. When I was being blinded by the pond there were lots of birds, I wonder where they went.

Around the house…
It still looks like Christmas, but everything is mostly tidy. Here and there is evidence of the fact we’ve been ill for a couple of weeks. Like the dust. Dd(14) and I do most of the dusting but because this virus has triggered our asthma the dusting has gone undone.

One of my favorite things…
Warm liquids on sore throats ~ coffee, tea, or chicken broth

A few plans for the rest of the week:
A trip to Nashville for dh’s follow-up appointment on his shoulder followed by a stop at our favorite Chinese buffet! Basketball practice, finish the candle, tied the lap blankets I’m making for the dc, January menu plan, lots of time at home.

Here is picture thought I am sharing…

Please stop by and visit Peggy at The Simple Woman to peek into the lives of other “Simple Women” and read the guideline for creating your very own daybook. She’s taking a break for the holidays, but I decided to start posting today anyway.

Eat at HomeEvery Day 2009

Like other forms of human affection, cooking delivers its truest and most enduring gifts when it is savored in intimacy — prepared not by a chef but by a cook and with love.

No Chefs in My Kitchen
By MARCELLA HAZAN
Published: November 29, 2008

The food Americans eat that is made fresh at home by someone who is close to them is shrinking compared with food consumed at restaurants or prepared outside. And while eating out or taking in may save us time or bring us enjoyment, I would argue that it deprives us of something important.

I am my family’s cook. It is the food prepared and shared at home that, for more than 50 years, has provided a solid center for our lives. In the context of the values that cement human relations, the clamor of restaurants and the facelessness of takeout are no match for what the well-laid family table has to offer. A restaurant will never strengthen familial bonds.

While I love to cook I am hopelessly lazy and addicted to eating out. I can see how this pulls my own family apart. Still, it was quite shocking to see someone else write about it!

I hereby propose Eat at Home Every Day 2009 for the month of January! I’d like to see families make a pledge to eat at least one meal together every day for a month. Maybe a month is too ambitious?

I am a creative creature!

I was too embarrassed to actually submit my blog name for Art Every Day Month 2008. I much prefer to stay out of the spotlight and just do my thing. I’m in awe when I see the kinds of things the others create and pretty much feel like the poor relative living in the attic.

Just in time I read this bit from The Hidden Art of Homemaking (p 48):

First of all, be satisfied with the fact that although your art or talent may never be accepted by the world as anything ‘great’, and may never be your career, it can be used to enrich your day by day life: enrich it for you, and for the people with whom you live. And secondly, come to a recognition of the fact that it is important for you to be creative in this area to the extent of your talent: important for you as a person who is a creative creature.

AHHH!

Art Every…… so often?…. Month

I’m going to stop joining these once-a-day-for-a-month things! Every time I try crazy things happen. This time Princess (14) fell and twisted her ankle badly at her first basketball game and my sister ended up in the hospital. My dryer went kaput with six loads of laundry waiting and Flower Child has been sick for four weeks.

*sigh*

Art Every Day #9

Yes, I skipped over a few there. What can I say? It’s much easier to remember the date than it is to remember how many posts I’ve made so far this month.

My Sunday project:

Flower Child’s Sunday project:

My Partner in Art

My Flower Child (age 10 years 10 months and 29 days) helped me got into the groove today. She is my artist in residence and general all-around creative kid. She loves to create using whatever she can find. She has lots of cool art supplies, but the key word there is ‘whatever she can find’. What can be found is directly related to how deep the clutter is on the floor of her bedroom!

Today, she made several pieces using finger paint, cardstock, tissue paper, acrylic paint, watercolor markers, red plastic wrap, glue, glitter, and our experimental stuff of the day: Mod Podge. Evidently she has no more red acrylic paint (although she could produce neither the empty tube nor any other tube from her own stash), so she was very excited to see my new (cheap) set. Watching her wheels spin when she’s working does wonders for letting go of my inhibitions.

Here’s a picture of her hard at work:

Cool Stuff, New stuff

Is it cool to mention that I love white glitter? At my age, that might not be politically correct. Maybe it’s some kind of subconscious connection to the snow in Illinois or possibly it just reminds me of Christmas. In any case, I believe that no home should be without at least one, very large shaker.

During my shopping spree at Hobby Lobby this week I just happened to walk down the arts and crafts aisle and spied one of those honkin’ jars of MOD PODGE. My mom was a neat freak. There was never Mod Podge in my house growing up so I’ve always had this secret longing to stick my fingers in this stuff. Being my mother’s child and all, I did NOT go for the honkin’ jar but instead brought home two small jars: gloss and matte. I may have to put it under lock and key… Flower Child has been drooling over it since I got home.

I also bought a big paint brush. Not just for the Mod Podge, but because all of Flower Child’s brushes are small. Good for her, but I like BIG strokes. Come on… I’m an amateur. Big strokes are much easier. Okay, maybe not. But they just feel right to me.

Okay… there are bears singing STAYIN’ ALIVE on the television. My brain just shut off to process….