Today my family and I went to the big city of Smithville to celebrate my sister-in-law Mary’s birthday. Not that we ever need a reason to get together and graze. We always get together and cook superb meals for our birthdays and today was no exception. I honestly have a fantastic extended family. My in-laws are just “marvelous” people. I could not have asked for better-quality people to have in my life. I am very fortunate. We all have such an entertaining time together. We laugh and eat and eat and eat!!!! Today we had Country fried steak, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, beautiful assorted salads, beach bread and croissants. We had a pound cake as well a chocolate pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  It all was a meal to die for. Not only was the meal marvelous but also the conversation. Banny (my mother in law) and her two sisters were there.  I began to ask them questions about growing up and what their childhood memories were sharing meals together. They recalled that their weekends were always the same. Fridays they would have fried fish and French fries. And not fish sticks or frozen fish. It was fish they caught. Their mother would make homemade French fries and cook them last so that the potatoes would soak up the fish from the grease so she could re-use the grease for a later time. On Saturday’s they would make home made pizzas and Sunday’s were Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes. Then later on during the week they would have stew or soup from leftovers. I truly enjoyed hearing their stories and watching the three sisters reminiscing on their childhood.  It is funny how food can bring back some of our best memories of growing up.

I hope that this weekend you will take a moment and remember all the amazing memories you had of growing up and sharing meals with your family.