Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday Family Dinner.....the Food!

2002 was the first year I decided to do Good Friday Family and Friends Dinner. I know this because I journal and I looked back through the years of books to find the entry. In 2002 Good Friday was March 29th. The people began to gather around noon....we ate, played NUTS and Gestures, ate some more and by late afternoon everyone was gone.

As the 'kids' get older celebrations change. When they were young we would have Easter Egg hunts and visits to a zoo, park or playground on Saturday and then of course attend church on Sunday. SO Good Friday seems like a perfect day to gather the family and loved ones and then leave Saturday and Sunday for commitments with other family members. Once a 'child' gets married they are part of more than just ONE family and we must all learn to 'share' our children!

I did not check each journal for the years following 2002 but I am pretty sure I have had a Good Friday Dinner every year since. I am really looking forward to THIS one .....which should begin in another hour or so. ALL four grandchildren will be here. My two oldest children and their families. My Mother. Our dear brother and sister in law (he just lost his father last week...) and their beautiful daughter who happens to be a personal favorite of her Uncle Dean!

The food is ready. The house is clean. The laundry is done. The yard got mowed (at 8:30 last night after it finally dried out and warmed up!)


Louis Dean spent a large part of the day....OK!! nearly ALL day in the kitchen baking!
Hot Cross Buns was a first for him though. I do not bake these EVERY year but often enough.



Now Easter Bread is INDEED every.single.year.
Since 1974.
These are baked and bagged up individually and piled in a basket to be taken home by each one for their Easter morning breakfast!



We always SIGN and date the recipe so Louis Dean did the honors.
He gets the credit for such perfect bread!!



Fluffy Salad with fresh mint sprigs from the garden.



Slaw salad with avocado and grapes in poppy seed dressing.



Potato Salad....done Louis Dean's way!


Garlic Green Beans......another Louis Dean recipe!



And the ham!

Sounds like a perfect dinner to me!!
The only sad part is missing my youngest two children who both live away.
Amber and Benjamin........I miss you both!
 I would like to wish you  ALL a GOOD Friday
and a HAPPY EASTER.





8 comments:

  1. Thanks mom!!! I miss you too! The food looks great... YUM!!!! We are thinking of you guys and I can't wait till we are together again.

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  2. What a wonderful thing to do. Your menu looks delicious!

    Many wonderful Easter blessings!

    XO,
    Jane

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  3. Linda, everything just looked so good I could almost smell the food. I'm sure Mother is really enjoying her dinner with you. For me
    Good Friday or not it's going to be a quick meal! Thank you for the Hot Cross Buns they
    are delicious. Louis Dean thank you for all the good bread you bake! Excellent!
    Happy Easter!

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  4. I SO appreciate you replies. I am not a religious person because of how I was raised, but I still have some strong beliefs. Daddy is gone and mom is a Jehovah's Witness so it makes it very hard for me to embrace any religion into my life right now. But, because of your comments and others like yours, I have been questioning why I am not allowing God into our lives. Thank you for that. And your friendship!

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  5. Wow! Louis Dean does marvelous work!

    And everything will be lovely.

    Wishing you a lovely rest of the weekend. With nice weather too!

    Gentle hugs,
    .♥.

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  6. It looked amazing and making those memories are what truly counts for the get togethers. Yours are always made special and that is indeed one of the many things that sets you apart from the rest of us. Takes a very special person to go to all the trouble to make those few hours memorable for a life time. Love ya Sis!

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  7. Hmmm, it all looks great! I think you're onto something here choosing a day that is probably free and clear. We do need to learn to share our children. It isn't always fun. Did I say that?

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  8. sound like a great tradition...

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