I read an article the other day about a couple who decided to start a new tradition of having Spaghetti and Meatballs every Friday night and invite friends or family to join them. They sent out a Facebook message to their friends inviting them to the first dinner and had an overwhelming response! So much that they have to rotate their guests each week! How cool is that? They have since done this every Friday (only missing a couple) and did it from their parent's home when home for the holidays. It reminded me of my own weekly tradition having Sunday dinner at our house.
My favorite day to cook is on Sunday. I will spend 5-6 hours getting a meal ready, from the main course to a yummy dessert. I don't mind it on a day where I'm relaxed, not stressing over getting dinner ready after a full day at work, just a nice day to try a new recipe or two. Over the past few years as my boys have gotten older, our dinner table regularly has a couple extra guests on Sunday. Around 2 o'clock, they start getting text messages from their friends asking "What's your mom making for Sunday dinner?" It is a fun time to catch up with everyone on their week or who's doing what the coming week. I love that these kids want to have dinner with us, it is a great way to get to know your children's friends (or the girlfriend). I have often thought I should start asking them to help me with dinner prep, with busy families today, it is hard to know if these young people are learning essential cooking skills (Wow, did I just sound old right there? I might as well have said "whippersnappers").
On some Sundays I make new recipes, on others, I stick to tried and true, but I really enjoy having the time to make one of my "I'm going to make this" recipes...I have a huge binder full of those - and don't even get me started on my Pinterest boards! I could cook 3 meals every Sunday for a year and not make a dent! But that is a whole other story! Last Sunday we decided on pasta for dinner. We made the
Perfect Marinara Sauce recipe and it was truly perfect! I was fortunate to have it once before at the photo shoot where we took all of the beautiful new photography for our website, it was delicious. So fresh and simple to make! I had been planning on making for a few months now, but this past Sunday was the day! All six of us were glad it was!
We know for many of you preparing the family meal is more than putting food on the table: it's a craft that is rooted in tradition, family and love.
Do you have a meal tradition? What is your favorite day to cook?