Family Dinner Series Week Sixteen

Remember when I planned that whole homemade Italian feast for Family Dinner Series Week Fifteen, only to suddenly remember it was Mardi Gras?

Well, I certainly wasn't going to waste all of my planning efforts!

Instead, I moved the project to Family Dinner Series Week Sixteen, wherein my house, clothes, and hair, all smelled of onion and garlic for a week and a half.

Preparation for the Tuesday night feast started Monday evening around 5:20 when I hit Hannaford on my way home from the office. One of the harder parts of Family Dinner is that before its existence, Uncle Bud and I didn't cook. Like... at all. That means that each week, not only do I have to shop for the meal's main ingredients, but also the supplementary ingredients that most households keep on stock in their cupboards. Things like sage, and thyme, and even tomato paste!

I really can't wait for the day that all this early investment pays off and I find myself with a full spice rack. Because according to everyone's favorite budget watch at mint.com, the Hannaford "slice" is overpowering my "pie."

By the time Uncle Bud rolled in I had ingredients spread over the better part of the kitchen counter AND table. I even had my rubber gloves in place, ready to tackle the ever-intimidating ground meat. With an RSVP list of six, I had bought two packages, not realizing that the amount would yield me approximately 745 turkey meatballs.

"When I'm done, do you want to grab a drink at the Restaurant?" I asked Bud. He agreed, before shuffling off into his room for a post-work nap.

FIVE HOURS LATER I FINISHED.

And despite the absurd hour, and the delicious aroma of simmering sauce, I really needed to get out of the kitchen. I woke Bud up from his "nap", and downtown we went. Where I provided the few lingering Restaurant go-ers with wafts of Italian cooking, seeping out of my every pore.

Luckily the hard work paid off, and the next night's meal was a success, despite the few stems cooked into the meatballs.

Hey! I never learned how to chop fresh spices!

Our guests were all good friends making repeat visits to the meal, and very forgiving of my red-rimmed tired eyes. Adam and Frazz arrived with a bottle of wine, and Fitzy brought his new lady friend, and a German chocolate cake, which spurred a lively discussion of combating pasteries.

And there were enough extra meatballs for both leftovers... and frozen leftovers.

Conclusion? When new to the kitchen, ignore both the "prep time" and "number served" in any recipe. Instead, round up. To the nearest 10.

Family Dinner Series Week Fifteen

It wasn't until I had already planned a complete menu of pasta, turkey meatballs, and homemade marinara sauce that I realized Family Dinner Series Week Fifteen was set to fall on Mardi Gras. Never one to turn down a theme, I scrapped the Italian and logged online in search of some Cajun inspiration.

My own Mardi Gras experiences have all been set in Burlington, Vermont... where Church Street takes the place of the famous French Quarter, and authentic Louisiana cuisine is replaced with company sponsored Jell-O shots. Luckily I was able to find a jambalaya recipe that I could handle. Luckier still, I already had the most delicious white bean salad recipe on hand, and according to Google, white beans are part of Mardi Gras!

Our guests for the evening were two of Uncle Bud and Gilbert Hoss's buddies home from college for Spring break. Spring break! That brought the median age of our event down to about 22.

With those two contributing "holiday" factors, you would think the evening would have been a little more wild.

"I've got the food, you bring the bourbon," I had told the boys. Instead they brought beers, and waited until I retreated to our town's Trivia Night to have their real fun.

Luckily, we did have beads.

And... as previously mentioned, the best white bean salad ever!

1 can white beans
1 avocado, chunked
red onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
fresh basil, chopped

Dressing: 2 parts lemon juice, 1 part olive oil seasoned with salt and pepper

You may need to double the recipe, or even triple it depending on the number of strapping young men you are feeding, and the amount of spice you need to counteract in your main dish jambalaya.

Especially if you are Irish, and not really accustomed to spicing jambalaya.

Conclusion? Sometimes a little spice is nice, but not every Mardi has to party.

Family Dinner Series Week Fourteen

After taking several weeks off from Family Dinner, Uncle Bud, Gilbert Hoss and I were more than ready to get back in the game. We decided to invite Dalton, a favorite restaurant coworker of the boys. Since everyone at the Restaurant is well aware of Family Dinner, we figured Dalton would be honored at the invite. And so I decided to ask him myself.

The next time Uncle Bud and I found ourselves at the Restaurant, Dalton found me in a booth, dancing to Ke$ha.

"Hey! Do you want to come to Family Dinner sometime?" I asked between his eye rolls and my own dramatic dance moves.

"Not if you're going to play THIS music!" He said, and promptly walked away.

Apparently he didn't realize I was serious.

Luckily, Kennebunkport is a small town, and word of my post-Ke$ha sulk-fest soon reached Dalton. The next week at the Restaurant he approached my booth with a changed tune.

"Bridget, can you ask me to Family Dinner again?" he asked.

"Dalton, it would make me and Uncle Bud so happy if you, your wife, and your lovely son would join us for Family Dinner," I told him.

"Well now that you've included my family, how can I refuse?"

And so we had three people, including our third Family Dinner guest under the age of four.

Of course we all know that the best Family Dinners usually border on having too many guests. So, we figured one more couldn't hurt. I had been meaning to invite my friend Sean over for the event for a while, and a night as epic as Week Fourteen seemed as good a time as any. Plus, he and Dalton are already friends. He's even referred to as "Uncle Sean" at the Dalton household.

So with a full guest list, I set to preparing.

I had the day off from work, which should have meant I started cooking early, but instead meant I had extra time to try and polish the barn. The meal got started on the late side as usual, but luckily, Gilbert Hoss had made a garlicky spinach artichoke dip to tide us all over.

Dalton had mentioned that his wife does not eat red meat but was quick to assure that she would be happy eating side dishes. I was quick to jump in that my favorite task is to serve Bud and Hoss meals they love that are red-meat free, and as a former vegetarian, I was more than up for the task. I prepared chicken baked with stuffing, roasted asparagus, and a cheesy corn casserole, with some chicken nuggets and carrot sticks for our table's junior member.

As for our guests, when Sean had asked what he and Dalton's family could contribute to the meal, I texted back, "Beer or wine would be great!"

"Who does she think I am, Nappi Distributors?" Dalton asked Sean.

Well, Dalton. I didn't before... but now I do.

Dalton showed up with his wife, son, a twelve pack of Bud Light, a bottle of wine, and a goody bag selection of five different 24 ounce beers. Sean also brought a bottle of wine. And I got trigger happy and of course opened both bottles, despite the plethora of beer, causing all the wine to eventually turn to vinegar before my little ol' self could finish it.

I still have so much to learn.

Dinner was full of home cooked goodness and fun conversation peppered by the certain wisdom only a three year old can bring. Uncle Bud shared his rule of no hats, no cell phones, and no bum shaking, and Dalton's son obliged by merely showing his bum, but not shaking it, in true rebel fashion.

When our pint-sized guest got frustrated a little later on in the meal, Dalton asked him if there was a problem.

"No problem!" he said. "No problems, no nothings!"

Then, after sucking down a quick dessert of chocolate milk, Dalton's kid was ready to hit the road. And the rest of us? Well, the abundant food and beverage left us without any room for dessert. Which was probably a good thing, as my sweet-avoiding self did not prepare one. As per usual.

Conclusion? No matter how many guests, only open one bottle of wine at a time.

Conclusion #2? Sometimes you can sneak some Ke$ha onto your Family Dinner mix CD and not only will Dalton not leave, he won't even notice.

Family Dinner Series Week Thirteen

Family Dinner Series Week Thirteen happened so many weeks ago that I'm honestly having a hard time remembering it. The thing is, mine and Uncle Bud's sister had another baby girl. And as awesome and amazing as this newest little addition is, her birth and the resulting scheduling conflicts pretty much put family dinners at a stand still.

Until this past Tuesday. But... that's a whole other story.

Back when our weekly dinners were still regularly scheduled programming, our friend Fitzy presented us with a ham. A ham from a pig he raised himself. A pig that was raised on slop from buckets left in the kitchen of the restaurant where Uncle Bud, Gilbert Hoss, and Fitzy all work together. Slop likely produced from meals all four of us have enjoyed while sitting at the wooden bar of said restaurant.

When I prepared Fitzy's ham, with a little OJ and a little brown sugar, and we all sat down to eat it together, we finally realized the full circle that brought that ham to our table. And we all took a minute to glow in the wonder of our sustainable meal.

Just that one minute though. Think on that food cycle too hard and you can easily get grossed out by the many meals we somehow re-consumed.

I also served scalloped potatoes which were neither local, nor sustainable, but delicious just the same in all of their chain super market glory.

And of course we had salad. Also not local. But you know, it's Maine. In the winter. Locally grown salad supplies are hard to come by.

The gathering was pretty small and the meal was full of comfort food. The perfect note on which to start our month-plus break from family dinner time.

Which may be why we went oh-so-hard when we finally came back to play...

Conclusion? Thank you, residents of the Kennebunks, for all y'alls slop.

Family Dinner Series Week Twelve

Family Dinner Series Week Twelve was another epic night with multiple guests.

I mean, sure, Gilbert Hoss boycotted the event for reasons not worth discussing. And sure, I did have to leave him a voicemail explaining that messages left with Uncle Bud never make it to me, and if he plans to boycott again, please call me directly. Preferably before I pick up the "Family Size" package of chicken.

But even without him, our table was full.

My friend Jesse joined us again... again bringing a new wine to try. Also in attendance were Dan, Katherine, and lovely baby girl Hailey, for one last visit as a family of three before becoming a family of four.

Apparently I've only ever made eleven dinners successfully in my life because by Family Dinner Series Week Twelve I was completely out of ideas. So I did what anyone would do. I went to allrecipes.com and I looked up "chicken".

Yeah. That results in about a million recipes. But I managed to choose one.

For appetizers we had hot pepper and cream cheese dip with crackers. For dinner, I made honey mustard chicken with bacon, roasted vegetables, and more clearance priced Stovetop stuffing.

The meal was a success. And Jesse bonded up right with Dan's adorable little family.

But with no one "Hoss-ing" me from across the table, something was missing.

Conclusion? Gilbert Hoss's absence may not have left a real hole in our menu, but it did leave a real hole in our Family Dinner shaped hearts.

Family Dinner Series Week Eleven

For Family Dinner Series Week Eleven, Uncle Bud and Gilbert Hoss invited one of their favorite coworkers, Fitzy, over for a feast. Though we all know Fitzy is a great guy, he still surprised us when he arrived with a ham steak as a hostess gift, the most important detail being that the ham steak came from one of his own pigs.


Kids, pay attention. THIS is how you get invited back to a second Family Dinner.

Uncle Bud had decided that he wanted to cook for the evening, a chicken recipe he learned from our older sister while paying a visit to her house. The rest of us watched in wonder as Bud expertly laid the chicken in the dish and coated it in catalina dressing and cranberry sauce.

But then things derailed when we realized no one had told Bud he was supposed to preheat the oven. How was he supposed to know? He had never used the oven before! Just the grill.

Luckily Family Dinner is anything but strict with a schedule.

As the oven preheated, and the chicken baked, I threw together some Stove Top stuffing and a side salad. Then we all snacked on Gilbert Hoss' most excellent focaccia with garlicky olive oil dip, while Fitzy regaled us with stories of raising livestock and shoeing horses.

How appropriate that we were already in a barn!

After dinner, we finally got around to doing our stocking gift exchange, which included puzzles, a fishing knife, and a bottle of pinot grigio. The best gift, however, was the one the boys bought for Kathy Lee, our feline in residence.


She played with it for the rest of the night.

Conclusion? Invite more people who raise livestock to acquire more meat.

Family Dinner Series Week Ten

Family Dinner Series Week Ten got off to an interesting start when Uncle Bud sent me a text message ten minutes before the end of my work day that read, "Call me ASAP".

WHAT?

Text messages like that make my heart race. Since I had just started my new job, I didn't really feel that I could excuse myself to call him right near closing time. I waited at my computer in a cold sweat until the clock struck 5, and then raced outside to find out if Bud had burned down the barn.

"What's up? What's going on?" I asked, panicked.

"Oh, Hoss and I are getting some french onion soup going," Bud said. "Are any of these pots OK to use?"

SERIOUSLY?

With the anxiety attack safely behind me, I drove home to get dinner started. While I had wanted to make bowtie pasta with sweet peas, salmon, and cream sauce, I knew the salmon wouldn't fly. Gilbert Hoss doesn't like seafood, Uncle Bud periodically chooses different fish to cop attitude about, and I didn't want to risk missing the protein mark with my new friend Jesse, our guest for the evening.

So I nixed the salmon and picked up some sausage.

The cream sauce was a little... stickier than I intended... but the boys convinced me to use it without additional doctoring (that's where I get in trouble) and sure enough, the dish panned out.

Thank you, Three Tomatoes restaurant of Burlington, Vermont for the recipe inspiration. Thank you, Gilbert Hoss, for again raising the appetizer bar with the aforementioned french onion soup. And thank you, Jesse, for furthering our wine education with the addition of Root: 1.

One of these days we'll get Uncle Bud to turn in his root beer for a wine glass.

Conclusion? If you can't get your boys to eat their vegetables, glue them to sausage with a cheesy cream sauce. Works like a charm.

Family Dinner Series Week Nine

Last night I came out into the living room to find out what was causing the banging sound I kept hearing. Uncle Bud, thinking I was clearly insane, made me high five him to prove that I was not sleepwalking.

The irony is that Uncle Bud's own sleep walking, sleep talking and worst, sleep texting, is a constant hurdle in our life as roommates.

Such was the case with Family Dinner Series Week Nine.

The Sunday before the dinner, Bud texted me to verify that we were on as usual. He then asked if I wanted to invite anyone, or if he should invite his coworker who had previously joined us for Week Two. I told him I would like to invite Adam and Frazz, so we could also include our mutual friend Gold who would be flying to his winter gig in Utah the following morning. Bud texted back that my plan sounded good. He would invite his coworker and his coworker's new girlfriend to the following week's dinner, Family Dinner Series Week Ten.

But throughout this whole conversation... Uncle Bud was asleep.

Which is how, Boys and Girls, Family Dinner Series Week Nine turned out to be the most EPIC FAMILY DINNER EVER serving me, Bud, Gilbert Hoss, Bud's Coworker, Bud's coworker's girlfriend, Adam, Frazz and Gold.

Nothing warms a winter night like a full house!

Well... a full house, and some party toasts.

I could only be grateful that I had already made a massive chicken cider stew the night prior. Supplemented with bread, salad, and the most amazingly garlicky spinach artichoke dip ever, the meal was more than hearty enough to satisfy the entire table's appetites.

Conclusion? Any family dinner that starts with champagne and ends with a jigsaw puzzle is a success.

Conclusion #2? Somebody take Bud's phone away while he's sleeping.

Family Dinner Series Weeks Seven and Eight

Family Dinner Series Week Seven was another week of just us three. Me, Uncle Bud and Alias, who from this point forward would prefer to be referred to as Gilbert Hoss.

What up, Hoss?

We had invited one of Gilbert Hoss's friends, but she bailed at the last minute. In fact, she also bailed the week prior. I guess she didn't understand that an invitation to the barn's Family Dinner Series was a highly sought after item, not to be jeopardized with naps and sickness.

You're a very nice girl, Blondie, and I genuinely enjoy spending time with you. But... you are officially off the Tuesday night invite list.

I had a craving for pizza. Not wanting to make my own, and also not wanting to order in, I came up with a Pizza Casserole on the fly. Layers of tortilla, cheese, pepperoni, and grilled veggies. As usual, the boys loved it but honestly, it reminded me of something you eat as a snack in front of football... not a real dinner. Luckily I had some salad and bread on hand to balance things out a bit.

Conclusion? Anything with pepperoni and cheese makes for yummy late-night leftovers!

For Family Dinner Series Week Eight the boys and I went all out in preparation for our most special dinner guests yet. My sister, brother-in-law and two-year old niece Hopper.

Instead of our usual crackers and humus, we snacked on baked brie. Instead of root beers and waters, we indulged in some wine. And in ultimate contrast to the previous week's meal, we had bourbon marinated beef and chicken kabobs, salad, spicy rice, and garlic rolls.

The meal was delicious but most entertaining was little Hopper, who rejected her sassy seat in favor of a grownup chair and spent most of the meal dancing in a crouched position.

"Hey! We have three rules at family dinner," Bud told her. "No hats, cell phones off, and no shaking your bum at the dinner table!"

Usually Uncle Bud has the ability to scare Hopper silly, but the fact that his cell phone rang a minute later, followed quickly by Gilbert Hoss's, must have convinced her that his threat was empty. The bum shaking continued.

Conclusion? The best family dinners often include real family.

Family Dinner Series Week Six

Family Dinner Series Week Six reinforced two lessons.

One, childhood meals make the best family dinners.

And two, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.

After Uncle Bud requested I make "Pasta and Veg", a staple from our younger years, I called Mom.

"I don't think I even have a recipe for that," she said. "I think I modeled it after something from Bertucci's. It was a fake!"

She told me to get some pasta, parmesan, chicken broth and garlic, and run with it.

I instead found a recipe that included all of those ingredients, and ran with THAT.

The recipe called for one pound of pasta, and because my Tuesday schedule was a little unpredictable (do we all have jobs that are affected by Election Day?) I decided to cook it off the night before. I cooked it, drained it, and tossed it in a bowl with a small amount of olive oil to keep it from sticking. As I wrapped it up, in walked Uncle Bud.

"That's it? Seriously?"

I tried to tell him that a pound of pasta was all the recipe called for but to no avail.

"Bridge. I could eat that by myself."

Alright, fine.

I doubled the recipe.

Well kids, if anyone wants any delicious pasta with grilled veggies, chicken, and a garlicy cream sauce, come on over. Uncle Bud and I both brought it for lunch every day this week, I froze a big container of it, and I still have some left. Oy vey.

Conclusion? One pound of pasta will feed three people. Especially when appetizers include kielbasa. (Thanks, Alias.)

Family Dinner Series Weeks Three, Four, and Five

Family Dinner Week Three snuck right up on me, which lead to me falling back on my all-time favorite food. Mexican. We invited my good friend Dan, who is awesome and builds awesome guitars (follow that link!). With him came the two loves of his life, Katherine and Baby Hailey.

I sent a quick text to Alias informing him of the Mexican theme. He brought over some chips, salsa and taquitos for appetizers while I cooked a Mexican Lasagna and mixed up a Taco Salad.

When I realized I had chosen Mexican for the night that our guest roll included a one-year old, I became skeptical, but man oh man did Hailey hold her own. That girl is not afraid of spice! And luckily, as godparents to a one-year old of our own, Uncle Bud and I had a sassy-seat already set up at the dining room table.

Conclusion? No one, not even a one-year old, can say no to a salad with Doritos in it.

By the time Family Dinner Week Four arrived I had fallen into a financial hole so deep I almost boycotted our weekly tradition. Instead, Bud and Alias went shopping and cooked a delicious meal of grilled chicken and steak, spicy rice, and a side salad to rival all that came before it. Then, while I sat on the couch and felt sorry for myself, the boys even set the table!

Conclusion? Whining will, every once in a long while, produce results.

Luckily I got my motivation... and some of my funding... back for Family Dinner Week Five. Uncle Bud had requested an old family favorite from our childhood called Seven Layer Casserole. He even promised to put aside his OCD tendencies that require him to only eat one type of food at a time. Casserole, he wanted! And a Seven Layer one at that.

Conclusion? Do all childhood memories come coated in cream of mushroom soup? YUM.

Stay tuned for more Family Dinners! Perhaps featuring some new guest stars? Alias is already here every night... we're quickly becoming that family with nothing left to talk about...

Family Dinner Series Weeks One and Two

Uncle Bud and I, along with Bud's best friend, have started a new tradition over here at the barn where we gather together on Tuesday nights for Family Dinner. Bud gives me twenty bucks and mans the grill. Bud's best friend brings over a kielbasa, triscuits, and humus. I plan a menu, grocery shop, cook the meal, clean the house in preparation for guests, and take care of the general cleanup afterwards.

The definition of "Family" is "an even distribution of responsibility" after all......

For Family Dinner Week One, we invited Frazz and Adam for a delicious feast of Thai Peanut Noodle Salad and a mix of Beef and Chicken Kabobs, marinated in a Soy Ginger Sauce.

Conclusion? Delicious!

For Family Dinner Week Two, we invited one of Bud's coworkers who shall, for public school working reasons, remain nameless.

[Side note: Bud's Best Friend has also chosen to remain nameless (some people are not as keen as I on having their lives published on the Interwebs), but he has yet to choose his alias. And so, Bud's Best Friend, you are from this point forward to be called "Alias". Until you put down that Xbox controller and think of something more creative.]

Anyway, for Family Dinner Week Two, I prepared a Red Bliss Potato Salad with Peas, Green Peppers, Red Onion, and a Honey Dijon Vinaigrette, along with Turkey Burgers Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Bacon, topped with Spinach and Tomato. FROM SCRATCH.

Conclusion? I made three red-meat eating boys LOVE turkey burgers!

Not, bad, kids. Not bad at all.

The Family Dinner Series fits in with two of the goals on my Mission: Life List, which I will share more about soon. Those goals?

1. Cook more adventurously.

2. Eat more adventurously.

Care for some photographic evidence?



Week Two's ingrediants! I went shopping with a $40 budget, and spent $49. Not terrible.



Turkey burgers in progress! My first time working with ground meat, and I stuffed it! High five, me!


Cooked to perfection on the grill. Way to rule your role, Uncle Bud. Nice work to you too, Alias.



Hey! Boys! Want to be on the blog!?

Guess not.

Stay tuned as the Family Dinner Series continues!