When I was growing up we always had a nice Sunday dinner. For some reason I can only really remember the pot roast with sauteed mushrooms and mashed potatoes, but I'm sure there were lots of other options (like salmon croquettes, for instance). All through church I thought about Sunday dinner because, for some unknown reason, being at church made me unusually hungry. I mean, I went to school everyday...a place where I couldn't graze at the refrigerator at will, but still...those three hours of church were murder. So hungry.
The best was walking in the door and hitting a wall of roast-scented air. We would almost always eat right after church...followed by the Sunday nap. It was a good schedule.
At our house we definitely have Sunday dinner...but it's of a more casual variety. For one thing, Sterling always has to stay after church. So, while we get home around 12:30, he's usually not back until at least 2 or 3. So, the kids usually have something small to eat and we have our sit-down meal at around 5 or 6. For a good long time, Sunday dinner was my job. I planned the menu, and shopped for the ingredients, and did the majority of the cooking -- Sterling was on dish duty. I was okay with this division of responsibilities...but because I don't really enjoy cooking...it was more like a chore, like laundry, or making school lunches, or cleaning the occasional fungus out of the refrigerator's produce drawer. But lately, Sterling and I have planned the meals together (most often trying out new recipes), then we shop together Saturday night (because we are, after all, party animals), and then we make it together Sunday afternoon. This schedule of events is highly preferable to me...it's almost like a date. Well, it is a date, really.
Today Sterling decided on Rachel Ray's Don't-Kiss-Me Garlic Burgers (can't find the recipe to link). Essentially, it is a thick, juicy burger with homemade pesto sauce, brie, and sauteed onions on a toasted kaiser roll. Yum. I whipped up the pesto in the food processor while Sterling sauteed the onions. We had all the kids down to taste the brie to see if they wanted it on their burger...only one taker -- Madison.
We also served sauteed yellow squash and zucchini and COLD watermelon.
And because these thick burgers took longer to cook than we originally planned...I had time to do almost all of the dishes before we sat down to eat. My girls were very happy about this. Because now that the Sunday dish-doer is the co-chef...we're making the kids be the dish slaves. And that makes me happy as well. It's a win-win really.
Three days of school this week and then it's ALL kids ALL the time. Can't wait! Can't wait? Quite frankly...I'm a bit ambivalent about the whole thing. Prepare for the whining (mostly from me).
