Sunday, Yummy Sunday

The oldest form of theater is the dinner table. It's got five or six people, new show every night, same players. Good ensemble; the people have worked together a lot.
Michael J. Fox

One of the things I look forward to all week long is Sunday Dinner. I plan and plot the menu all week long, with attention to detail. This is a bit obsessive, as there are only two people in my home now~Mr. Man and myself, so why scheme and make lists?

There is something cathartic and soothing about the Sunday Dinner preparations. I love, love, LOVE to cook and eat well-prepared food, and even more than that, I LOVE watching Mr. Man eat until he has a "food baby" in his stomach. His sighs of contentments are music to me. Perhaps it's my need for approval, but he fills the need well....

Honestly, though, one of the more important benefits of Sunday Dinner is the connection that it brings to us. It's the end of the weekend, and we know that Monday brings with it the return to the drudge of work, errands, meetings and such. So sitting at the table over really good food and conversation brings a sort of pleasant closure to the previous week's toils and pleasures, and sets the stage for the week to come.

My mother recently gave me a lovely old book entitled Fifty-Two Sunday Dinners by Elizabeth O. Hiller.  Mrs. Hiller was the founder and principal of the Chicago Domestic Science School in the early 1900's. I got really excited when Mom gave this book to me! I immediately declared that I was going to cook all 52 dinners, much like Julie of "Julie and Julia" blog fame~it'd be FUN and TASTY! Mr. Man would be impressed and validate me EVEN MORE when he ate my delicious vintage cooking!

Then I read the book.

I have now acquired a real high respect for Ladies of that bygone era. The IMMENSE preparation that went into those meals is mind-boggling I tell you. The lack of pre-packaged ANYTHING and the archaic cooking equipment explained to me exactly WHY women wanted equality in the workplace - working outside the home was probably EASIER than getting these dinners to the table! Here is one menu from the book:

• Oysters on the Half Shell
• Consomme' with Rice Balls
• Braised Beef Tongue -Savory Sauce
• Baked Potatoes
• Bermuda Onions in Butter Sauce
• Creamed Celery
• Florida Salad
• Yankee Plum Pudding - Vanilla Sauce
• Coffee

So, you have to shuck the oysters yourself, serve them with small cress or cucumber sandwiches, make the little rice balls, order a fresh tongue, cook that, peel off it's skin and trim off 'roots'(?)-eewie!, then cut all this stuff up to cook with the tongue, make this sauce to go with it, bake the potatoes in a "hot oven" - what actual temperature is "hot" ?, peel the onions and boil them and add stuff to that, cook the celery and make a soup out of it, peel oranges and put them in lettuce heart leaves in a pretty fashion and make some homemade dressing for that, then make the yankee plum pudding which has to be steamed for three hours and you have to pit and prepare the plums yourself because they didn't come in a can ,  make some vanilla sauce, then make the boiled coffee, but don't boil it too long or the tannic acid will be extracted, causing serious gastric trouble, but don't forget to stuff the spout of the pot with soft paper to prevent the escape of aroma, and...and...and.... WHEW!

I wondered how in the world would that industrious housewife of times gone by get 5 SECONDS to bond at the dinner table! Plus, if I had to peel the skin and trim the roots off a boiled tongue, I don't think I'd have the appetite to eat it. blecch. And that was just one Sunday! 

So, I traded in my dream of being the Perfect Vintage Housewife for being the Reasonably-Relaxed Modern Semi-Housewife.  This guarantees that we will never, ever have "Young Pigeons (Stall Fed) Stuffed and Braised" or the dreaded beef tongue upon our Sunday Dinner table....

The National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse did a study determining that family dinners actually help teenagers make better grades and stay away from alcohol and drugs. It's apparent that the Bonding Energy that comes from sharing food at a table is vital and important.  The implementation of Sunday Dinner has started a trend with Mr. Man and I where we now eat every meal at the table, together.  These meals also start with prayer, and there is just something about praying over a meal that makes the food taste so much better! Perhaps it's the awareness of God's Abundance that blessing the food brings. It is a testimony to Abundance and Prosperity to actually SEE and BLESS the food on our plates here in America. We are so fortunate to have so MUCH!

Mr. Man just popped his head in here and asked me if we could eat Sunday Dinner a little early this evening. He had no idea that this is the exact topic of today's blog....too funny.

Therefore, I shall leave you, Dear Reader, and go prepare him some tasty vittles!

As a gift to you, I will share one of my very, very favorite dishes - this particular one has been modified and refined by me over the years, and always gets rave reviews. You will find this goes great with beans and rice when the weather turns cold....

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Jalapeno CornBread~Redneck Feng Shui style

• 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup half and half (I use a little more, it makes it rich and custard-y)
• 8 0z. shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups thawed frozen corn kernels (or fresh, at your discretion)
• bacon grease (a staple in the South!)
• pickled jalapeno slices
• an iron skillet (another Southern must-have)

mix all the ingredients except the bacon grease and jalapenos ~ put a good tablespoon or so of the grease into the skillet and put this into a 375 degree oven till the grease is melted. Take it out, swirl to coat the skillet, and sprinkle just a little sea salt across the bottom of the skillet. This will give the cornbread a wonderful sweet/salty flavor.  Pour the cornbread mix into the skillet, dot with the jalapeno slices all over the top (or not, if you "fear the burn") and bake till done - I've never timed it out, just cooked it till it looked nice and done (30 minutes???? maybe a little more - yes, Virginia, there IS a little vintage cook in me, and she doesn't use a timer)~dot some butter on top and let melt into the cornbread before serving.

The real secret to the great taste is using Jiffy Cornbread mix, and the lightly salted bacon grease. It's just not the same without those. You can substitute with Crisco, or use another mix, but I tell you, it's not the same.....

Namaste, Y'all!!!