Quick Prep, Sunday Dinner for Eleven

~ Laura

Helping my kids through the school shutdowns during the pandemic was challenging, but, in some ways, the recovery period, since last September, was even tougher for my family. It’s been an 60-hour per week job for months. But a lot happened last week, and I’m hopeful that I can move on and recover from their recovery.

With that huge weight off my shoulders, Steve and I did a lot of things this weekend that had nothing to do with the kids. We went out a date night dinner at a fancy fish restaurant. We ran our first 5K of 2022. I bought fresh flowers for the dining room.

And we made an easy Sunday meal for 11. We prepped everything two hours before everyone showed up.

It all started with some mushrooms. I sliced them up and later sautéed them butter and sherry. They went along with beef and chicken burgers, roasted broccoli with bread crumbs, spicy kale, mashed potatoes, garden salad, mom’s bean salad, tons of little apps, wine and Defiant beer. 

Sunday dinner, Jersey style!

Published by Laura

12 thoughts on “Quick Prep, Sunday Dinner for Eleven”

  1. Yay for children not in crisis, purple drinks (which?), dinner with spouse, and cheese boards.

    Mushrooms and 5Ks for you but not me.

    Spouse and I ate at a restaurant (New Mexican, excellent) for first time three months and went garden shopping.

    Kid went two 2nd showing of his HS production of Mamma Mia, the first musical since spring 2019, which was a chorus line. He was impressed.

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  2. Our two hour prep, last week, brunch was a fruit board (oranges, sliced in rounds, and peeled, thin cut honey crisp apple, strawberries, blackberries, honey goat cheese, baguette), oven roasted polenta rounds, and chose your own omelettes (kiddo cooked them). Oh and pumpkin caramel cake.

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  3. You could totally turn that into a lifestyle cook book. You can make up pretty menus for the events, then illustrate the recipes with pictures from your photo archives.

    I’ve made up a cookbook of family favorite recipes. It’s just an iBooks author document, (now Pages), but it’s always nice when my grown up children use it. But your archive of photos of dinners past and the practical advice for entertaining at home is priceless.

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      1. Truthfully, there’s no market for a non-influencer, non-celebrity cookbook. I could maybe make one as just for fun as an ebook, but I could never find a publisher.

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      2. Well, never say never. I’d say your pictures are really good. I don’t think people actually use the celebrity versions for, like, cooking.

        Most cookbook authors can’t do their own photography or layout; you could. Unlike many authors, you have years of records and photos.

        You could just do it as a present to your extended family, and see where it leads.

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      3. Yes, it’s frustrating for writers, but also for me, as a reader. I feel like I get a hundred of the same book. And, even when authors start out with authentic voices, making the book that the publisher thinks will sell seems like it crushes the specialness.

        I liked this review of self-publishing by the Financial Samurai: https://www.financialsamurai.com/self-publishing-a-book/

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      4. “Truthfully, there’s no market for a non-influencer, non-celebrity cookbook.” Kenji Lopez-Alt. Just saying.

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