The questions about "dinner vs supper" and desserts got me to thinking. Does anyone do a special meal each week?
When I was a child Sunday was a big food day. We didn't go to church, so we always had a big breakfast on Sunday morning. I guess it was more of a brunch, because we would usually skip lunch and go on a family outing. Sunday supper was always a big meal as well, with the good china and tablecloth, candles, wine and dessert. My older siblings who lived away from home always joined us, along with their spouses/girlfriends/boyfriends.
My family goes to church, so we don't have time for the big Sunday breakfast. I try to make a nice breakfast on the odd Saturday when we are all home, but between all of our activities and the kids going on sleepovers we don't do the big breakfasts much. I guess we make up for it when we go camping because we have big breakfasts when we are camping. We also do a big breakfast on Christmas and New Years.
We do have a special Sunday supper each week, and try our best to make sure we are all home to eat it together. I don't bring out the good china, but we do have candles, wine and dessert. It is usually some kind of roast with all of the fixings.
We just have our household on Sunday suppers. Sometimes we have friends join us. We only get together with my brothers family on holdays, my sister lives out of town and my parents are gone. My husbands family has never been one to have family dinners, even for holidays.
My husband works evenings Monday through Friday so he isn't home for supper, and Saturdays we tend to have a slightly more casual dinner.
I have a friend whose family does a weekly Saturday "standing breakfast" at a restaurant. The whole entire family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc just show up at the same restaurant each Saturday morning. Those who can make it do, those who can't don't, but there is always a big group of them.
I saw lots of answers saying that they used to go to a special dinner at grandmas on Sunday, but I didn't see anyone say that they still do this.
So, does anyone do this anymore? Either go for a special weekly meal at mom's or grandma's or a restaurant or prepare one yourself? What makes your dinner special? The food, location, the company?
Hubby and I do like to make a traditional "roast type" meal, with dessert on the weekend.
I have friends that do family dinner at their parents every week with all the siblings, grand kids, etc.
Our family is pretty far away, so no, we don't have any special meal during the week.
When I don't have to make dinner? THAT is very special! But no set day on that. I wish it was tonight. :(
We always have a really nice dinner on Sunday night. I do not know how it started. We will grill steaks or make up a special favorite meal. Maybe because we have more time to prepare it?
I love the thought of this but it wouldn't fit our schedules right now. When I was a kid, Sunday was a pretty slow day - pancakes for breakfast, church, dinner, my dad reading the paper, going to my grandparents' house, etc.
Our Sundays are: Religious ed classes in two shifts, hockey in two shifts, Mass, and sometime work for me. Sometime grocery shopping or laundry or a birthday party in there as well. Saturdays are pretty similar, with sports and/or activities starting as early as 6 AM or ending as late as 11 PM.
I'm looking forward to being able to slow down a bit when the kids are older and would love for them to come over for a nice Sunday dinner and some football every now and again.
Sunday is Meat Smoking day. My husband got propane smoker for his birthday and each week he will smoke something for us, which is actually a decent amount of time and work (pork shoulder or other large pieces will take 16 hours and he will have to check on it every few hours...he will even set his alarm through the night to go make sure the flame has not gone out!). I will usually bake something on Sunday, either bread or rolls or a treat. We don't set out the fancy plates or have family over but we do look forward to a super yummy meal. So, I would say for us, it is the food that makes it special.
We live about 2 hours away from most of our family, so a weekly extended family meal would not be feasible, but we usually go visit once a month and have a big family meal.
Fun question!
On the second and fourth Sundays of each month, we host a small group bible study. There are about 20 of us total. I usually cook a main dish, and everyone brings foods that compliment. Pot luck style. It's a wonderful time.
We've never done anything like that.
No special weekly meals here, I work two jobs, do community theater, and have a fairly active social life. I cook when I feel like cooking.
I'm a Navy brat, so no, we never had big family dinners. Those were reserved for holidays.
Now, we all get together to celebrate each person's birthday. We also celebrate other things, like my brother coming home from a week in the hospital, when my older sister is in town visiting, etc. During football season, we often get together to watch at least one of the games and do appetizers/munchies. Graduations (or moving up ceremonies), end of season events, after recital, etc.
We really try not to make food a special thing though...so if we can do something else as a family, that's even better :).
My husband is from MIssissippi and his family has a lot of land where they all live. You can walk into any one house on any day of the week and eat as much amazing food as you'd like. The spreads they make are unreal.
No special dinners but I try to make more time consuming meals on weekends that will yield leftovers for the week. As well as bake a special treat on the weekend. Week nights just get so busy that it's nice to just have to re-heat.
Ever since my first child came along, I have hosted Sunday dinner for my family. My parents and whichever of my siblings and their families are in town come over, as well as any other family who might be in the area. We do a big dinner and dessert, typically the types of meals I don't have time to prepare during the week. It's a chance for everyone to get together and enjoy a nice meal and visit. In the winter we often play board games or Wii after dinner.
When I was a kid we ate dinner as a family virtually every night, and had a big Sunday dinner most weeks. Weekends usually meant more exciting breakfasts too, during the week it was cereal or toast.
My 2yo likes a certain restaurant and feels like a big, big boy when we go. Once he started requesting it specifically, we decided to make it a weekly treat for him. It has become our Friday routine.
