What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Monday, May 03, 2010

A New Tradition



Friday nights have been (homemade) pizza and movie nights for...well, years now. It is the one night we don't sit around the table, but gather in the living room to eat (which is pretty special in and of itself), the one night we watch the big-square-time-waster, and the one night that our dinner plates are not beautifully balanced with fruit, vegetables, starches, grains, etc. It's pizza and carrot sticks most nights, with no fruit in sight, and I don't feel guilty about it.

Last week, I got the notion that we ought to have a SATURDAY night tradition too.

The thoughts of fresh fruit and vegetables gets me positively salivating these days, and knowing fresh is always best means you can ALWAYS add more to your diet.

I was thinking about how very soon, our garden would be abundantly yielding delicious goodness in the form of fruits and veggies and that we need to utilize them to their fullest. Canning is great-but fresh is ALWAYS best.

I got to thinking about how minuscule Matt's fruit intake is "HELLO antioxidants! Fiber! Vitamins and Minerals! I am working on him!"

It also occurred to me that Saturday nights, being in preparation for the Sabbath, ought to be set apart...but I didn't really want the dishes to go with it and hours in the kitchen to go with it.

So, as these thoughts churned in my head, I came up with the notion that on Saturday nights we could eat "simply elegant".

Wine with supper.

Bread, cheese, and wine-how can you go wrong?

Hors d'oeuvre-ish type fare, utilizing as much fresh/raw goodness as possible, preferably straight from our garden.

Healthful food, yet set-apart~ foods that are "treats" (cashews, for example, are great source of protein and plenty of wonderful minerals but not something we have often because they are expensive.)

Simple foods that are given elegance by displaying them in a beautiful way (making fruit platters to look like a flower) or by serving them in a special way (strawberries dipped in chocolate or white sugar, anyone?)

The main stipulations: NO SILVERWEAR ALLOWED!! AND Children ought to be able to make their OWN plates~no hot pans to pass, no food to cut up for them.

Saturday was our first trial run and it was a smashing success! The menu:

Pepperoni cheese bread
Sharp cheddar slices (arranged like a flower, by Corynn)
Cantalope wedges (not chunked, like usual)
Cashews
Dark Chocolate (hey, it's HEALTHY!!)
Strawberries with white sugar for dipping
Roasted Asparagus (unanimously, the favorite of the evening!)
Carrot sticks with dip

(A note: The trick is, to have PLENTY of each item and always some fresh bread. We, like many Americans, are not accustomed to JUST eating fruits, veggies and nuts-so to be satiated, there must be enough available for everyone. Having wedges of bread available helps too, for the stick-to-your-ribs portion of the meal.)

We drank water from a pitcher out of our mongrammed glasses and had wine glasses to boot, we used "nice" plates to eat from AND to serve with and yet: the cleanup was A BREEZE! No silverwear to wash and, because nothing was "cooked" on, the plates and cups were cleaned using a quick dip, swipe & done method~ all in all, it took about 6 minutes.

We ate outside on our patio, on a lace-bedecked patio table, overlooking the blossoming apple tree, enjoying the breeze on our faces and the birdsongs in our ears while nibbling on strawberries, chocolate and wine-and then, after a leisurely meal, an even more leisurely night of NOT slaving away cleaning crusty pots and pans.

Now that is MY kind of evening.

12 comments:

Mrs. Bowen said...

I really like this idea! Might have to give it a try.

Mrs. Bowen

MameyJane said...

You're a genius! My Saturdays seem to be the busiest day for me. We eat lunch at our church every Sunday, so in addition to laying out/ironing everyone's clothes, preparing a lesson for my adorable 3-6 yo SS class, and visiting our bus route kids to make sure they are coming (sorry this is a reallly long run-sentence), I am also preparing a make-ahead dish or two for the next day. Therefore, I try to make Sat night supper as simple as possible. Love this idea!

Anonymous said...

Love it the idea, too. What a great looking time and menu. Thanks for sharing.

Bonnie said...

Great idea! Our Special Meal is Saturday evening, as We get home so late Sunday afternoon, it would be 7 at night before we had a chance to eat. And B.'s parents come over (every. Sunday.) for a few hours, so Saturday works best.

But, boy, this trumps the Sunday night popcorn cheese and fruit while watching Andy Griffith or Lucy fest!
I'll have to remember this one!
Your apple tree is beautiful- ours had about 6 blooms (really), and the crab apple bloomed for about a second. Boo!

Rebekah said...

love it! what a great idea! I think we'll have to try it!!!

Full of Grace said...

I love the idea, but I know that my family wouldn't be keen on it. I would though!!! :) It looked so delicious~ Can I come over some Saturday night? ;)

MamaBirdEmma said...

I love this idea! We have church at 6:00pm on Saturday evenings, and it would be so nice to have this kind of dinner afterwards. Lately, we've been having a huge salad (chicken ceaser has been the favorite). The only thing that makes it longer is the fact that I pan fry the chicken once we get home. I need to cook it earlier!

Terri said...

Actually, this sounds great for our Sunday afternoons. By the time we get home from church I am so zonked out that the thought of cooking a big meal just doesn't appeal to me. I agree, presentation makes it all so appealing. Great idea!

Liana said...

Do you make your pepperoni cheese bread?
If so - could you please share your recipe!
Thanks.

Peggy said...

OH my, what a wonderful idea! I think this may become our Sunday tradition. I've been trying desperately to get more veggies in our diets but it hasn't been a complete success. I can't wait until we have fresh tomatoes... warm from the summer sun!

And yes, we would love, love, love your pepperoni cheese bread recipe.

wdworkman said...

Great idea! Thursdays are our Pizza night - this might be our Friday night dinner.

Janet W
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wdworkman/

Stef said...

another request for the recipe for the bread!! it looks delicious! checked your recipe blog but I didn't see it.