Sunday dinner

Sundays have always been a favorite day of mine, ever since I was a little girl.  I have great memories of Sundays: growing up, and being grown. Of the more pleasant memories is the smell of a big beef roast cooking along with Comet rice and homemade gravy, in my mama's kitchen.  Weather cooperating, we kept the windows open at our house. I might be halfway down the block playing with friends, but on a breezy Sunday afternoon, I could catch a whiff of her roast cooking.  To this day, when I smell roast, rice and gravy cooking, my mind (and my stomach) drift to Sunday dinner.

After becoming this family's chief cook and bottle-washer, we had the same basic meal on Sundays: roast, rice, gravy and a side.  Fortunately for my family, there was something in this meal for the vegetarian and the carnivore.  What a perk to cook a delicious meal everyone appreciates and enjoys.

Cooks eventually learn that you have to change-up the menu.   Perhaps I shouldn't have, but in order (and at the advice of my pediatrician) to insure that Sarah and Mikey eat something every day, I often asked them what they wanted for dinner, rather than cooking something they didn't like. From my perspective, better that they eat, and not waste food.  Choice made that possible.

As our lives evolved, Sunday dinner has evolved. We ate dinner together at our breakfast room table until Sarah was in high school.  That was important to me.  My family indulged me far longer than most families would.  We won't have many opportunities anymore to eat together so when I see a chance to cook for my family, I cook.  As it happened, today was going to be that day.  I set-to to cook one of our family favorites: Black Bean Casserole, a recipe which John cooked for me many years ago on one of my trips to San Francisco.  It's incredibly easy to fix, but truly tasty and impressive.  Like many casseroles, it ages well.  Here, however, it doesn't last long enough to age.  That's says something right there!

Sarah didn't make it by this evening; we will see her Monday evening, as is our regular schedule. I'm going to have to set some aside for her or there won't be any left!