Day 87 Dinner Table

When I was a child, my mother built a table that was 24 feet long of ply board and cinderblocks. She covered it with a bright yellow strip of cloth with a beautiful centerpiece in the center. We used it for Thanksgiving dinner a couple of times. It was perfect for gathering a crowd. My cousin, mother of nine children, was given a gift of an extra long table that her son created in woods at school. She noted that with adult children, extra curricular activities, and work demands, the only time the whole family really gets to be all together is around the Dining Room Table. When my Grandmother would call everyone to dinner around her table, I remember it was the smallest children's responsibility to turn the chairs facing out before people came. This preparation allowed everyone to kneel and pray before eating. My mother often read aloud a Family novel or history as we were gathered round the table. Conversation, exchange of information, education and just companionship fed the soul as much as the body at Dinner. I add my conviction that the Dinning Room Table may be the single most important place in our homes that families gather. It is time to make our Tables one of the most inviting spots in our homes that nourishes our souls and well as our bodies.

Breakfast: Toast with peanut butter; Mush with fruit and dried milk

Lunch: Fresh bread and peanut butter; cinnamon rolls

Dinner: Tuna empanada - recipe from Epicurious.com Onions, garlic, diced tomatoes and tuna filled this empanada made from frozen pie dough. I am so tickled to learn to defrost the pie dough in a hot water bath on the counter top. Thawing takes minutes before one can roll it out. This was a new dish for us. Everyone liked it but the three year old. He said it almost made him throw up.