Sunday Dinner



Our new decanter holding a lovely French wine



One thing I really love about being in Ireland with my husband's family is Sunday dinner. Every Sunday, his father, RG cooks all morning for a lovely, big meal. The great grandparents from up the lane always come and any other family that is in town. Usually, it is us, brother K, the in-laws, the greats and uncle L. Sunday dinner reminds me a lot of the Sabbath dinners we would have at friends houses after church. It's a chance for the family to come around the table and spend some quality time together.

There is always some sort of meat, today it's leg of lamb, potatoes (of course), a couple vegetables and depending on the mood of RG, a dessert. All of this is paired with a great wine. Sunday dinner at the family house is not an uncommon practice here. We have had a great dinner every Sunday since we've gotten here. It used to be great granny who did the dinner, but RG has since taken over and dinners are at our house now. The smells from the kitchen on Sunday morning are so yummy. If you aren't a meat eater, you may not be as full as most since every dinner has a meat. And if you are a meat eater and are balking at the thought of eating lamb, it tastes alot like a really good steak and the lambs aren't the cute little babies you are thinking of. They look like dirty big sheep, just like the ones in my previous pictures.

Leg O'Lamb



The Irish have it right, a day with good food and family. I think Americans could take a lesson from the Irish, spend time in the kitchen and have the family come together once a week. Many families don't get a chance to sit down and enjoy a meal and discuss the week. Groups of friends should do this too. We would do this once and a while with our best friends in Portland, A & D. It was great to chat and catch up over good food and wine.  The food doesn't have to be anything fancy, as long as everyone is sitting down and having a good time. So if you have a family try to make a point to have a dinner together without any distractions. If you don't have family, get a bunch of friends together, each making a dish (entree, dessert, starter) and sit down at a table with a good glass of wine (juice) and chat. You'll find it is so much fun and addicting.

The plates are in the oven warming up. RG always makes sure his plates are nice and warm when they serve dinner. Still getting used to this habit.



Vegetable stir-fry