Flashback Friday

Today's Flashback Friday is about family meals.

I remember we ate supper together just about every night. Mom was a good cook although she told me Dad had to teach her. (I seriously wonder if that is true. Dad does a lot of cooking now so maybe it is.)

Mom and Dad sat at either end of the table. There were four chairs on one side of the table and a bench on the other side. No one really liked to sit next to Dad because if we got out of line, he'd hit the wall above our heads. (I'm surprised there isn't a dent in the wall!)

Being practicing Catholics, we always had fish on Friday nights. Mostly, I remember fish sticks with macaroni and cheese or a tuna casserole. I have on occasion craved the tuna casserole; however, I'm the only one in my house that likes it so I don't fix it.

Another dish I have sometimes craved is what Mom called "hash." It was just left over roast beef cut into bite size pieces warmed up in the gravy with any other meat that was left over. Mom would fix biscuits (made from scratch) to go with it.

I also remember Mom's "fried" chicken was actually baked. She did use a lot of butter and shortening, but she did it in the oven.

Saturday mornings was usually pancakes or maybe waffles. And for Saturday lunch, many times it was hot dogs. Sunday we would usually have brunch, eating between first and second mass. (Mom played the organ at both masses.) Sometimes, the priest would join us. It was usually scrambled eggs, sausage and toast. I remember one Sunday, I was smelling the sausage. I must have been really hungry. My brother smacked me and told me to quit breathing on the sausage!

I don't remember ever going out to eat when I was smaller. Mom cooked just about everything from scratch. On occasion, Dad would work late and not be able to eat with the rest of the family. Being such a daddy's girl, I would eat, again, with Dad because I didn't want him to eat by himself.

When we made our first communion we were allowed to choose the menu. The only thing I remember choosing is lima beans (funny, I don't like them now) and "graham cracker pie" (cheesecake...I didn't know it was called cheesecake until I was a teenager.)

Mom always made us a birthday cake. I think we got to choose the flavor. If we did, mine was probably always chocolate.

As I got older and many of the older siblings had moved out, Dad changed jobs to shift supervisor of security. That meant his schedule changed every week. When he worked the 2nd shift, meaning he wasn't home for supper, we'd have pizza (usually homemade) or something like that that Dad wasn't too keen on having for supper.

Now, Mom and Dad eat out a bit more than we did growing up (I wonder why?). My husband and I have taken our kids out certainly much more than I did growing up. (Let's see--10 kids vs 2 kids...it's a no brainer as to why.) Most of what I fix for supper is easy to fix. When the boys were little we ate a lot of hamburger helper. But one thing was the same: We always ate together. It's amazing to me, now, how L and I will eat in the den in front of the tv but the boys will still eat at the kitchen table when they are home.

Something that is different is that Mom always fixed our lunch for school. I did get to buy my lunch when they were serving chili. However, I maybe fixed school lunches the first week N went to school. Then L found out I was sending pretty much the same thing and didn't like that so the boys pretty much always bought their lunch. (Summer was different. They went to daycare and we had to send their lunch with them. But by that time, they were old enough to help and tell me what they wanted.)

I hope you enjoyed learning about how my family shared our meals. What about your family? Head over to Mocha with Linda and link up to tell us your story.