Family Affair

Grandma's china and silver

I love special occasions and this weekend I had the chance to feed my family on real china and real silver, a first for me! The china belonged to my mother in law.  Her brother was stationed in Japan during the Korean War and he brought her back this beautiful set of Noritake dishes. Our Easter dinner was simple but got rave reviews which is a lesson for all young cooks out there.  Tried and true, traditional dishes are good for family events. (Save the experiments for small affairs, don't ask me how I know this!)

I have lots of memories in my small mind, of family dinners with and without drama.  My three most vivid are these:
1. Broccoli casserole topped with potato chips made by my grandmother back in the 70s, which I  lost later that night calling Ralph on the big white phone.

2. Biting into a piece of buckshot,  eating what must have been deer meat; I'm supposing someone tried to pass this off as beef, but I made the deduction that this might not be true, thanks to my handy-dandy Nancy Drew detective skills.

3. Playing outside with my cousins and running inside for a quick drink from someone's large red Dixie cup. It was not watered down coke or iced tea as I presumed,  but instead was Boone's Farm Strawberry wine. I know this because of the warm feeling I got once I swallowed approximately 4-6 ounces in a single gulp.

Papa, Josh and Amber

Betsy and Adam

Our discussions are lively these days and I have a tendency to change the subject like a crazy lady, whenever I feel the topic has strayed into inappropriate territory.  I got this skill from my mother, and I'm sure she got it from her mother.

My garden is growing very well, in spite of the unusual weather.  Here is lettuce, spinach, kale and Swiss chard.  I also have planted turnips and sweet potatoes, they're doing great too!

spring garden greens

I washed and felted the booties for my future grandchild.  Love them!

wool baby booties

And I'm plugging away with the pink shawl.  No hurry here - the priority is low until next fall.