Sunday Dinners

My parents live about 25 minutes from me and my mom comes over on Tuesdays & Fridays to hang out with my kids. Now that my kids are older, my mom & I have started to try to use these days, before we pick the kids up from school, as our time to grab a coffee, go to Costco or run errands together. I am so grateful for her presence in my life. But usually grandpa is working during these times and sometimes, I have appointments with clients on these days or things are just so hectic that we can be like two ships passing with a hug & an I-love-you & a thank-you -for-hanging-with-the-kids.

So I decided to start a new tradition: Sunday dinners. We do it every other Sunday afternoon. Grandma & Grandpa come over around 3:00 and I shoo my mom out of the kitchen to go play with the kids, while grandpa & my son play a game or watch the game on TV, while I whip up a fabulous family meal.

This past Sunday we ate chicken cacciatore, pasta & spinach salad outside in the garden. After dinner we watched the kids goof around around and my mom & I even had a few spare minutes to sit under the arbor & finish our wine in the afternoon sun. I am so grateful to have these times and I am a believer that sometimes you really do have to carve out the schedule & make these times happen.

Sundays aren't just limited to my parents, you know. If your in the neighborhood, please come by and join us for a Sunday dinner!

Quote of the Day:

“The strands of spaghetti were vital, almost alive in my mouth, and the olive oil was singing with flavor. It was hard to imagine that four simple ingredients [olive oil, pasta, garlic and cheese] could marry so perfectly.”

Ruth Reichl, 'Tender at the Bone' (1998)