Tuesday Four ~ All About Food!

Welcome to Tuesday 4 in honor of  Toni Taddeo. Thank you to Annie over at Cottage by the Sea for putting this together each week. I may not always participate, but I look forward to seeing what others are sharing.  You can check HERE to see what others are sharing.

Food!

1.  What do you have at breakfast? What can you recommend?

Breakfast at our house is pretty simple. Depends on our mood for the day. Some days we have eggs, grits, and toast. Other days we have waffles (toaster!!), sausage and eggs. At least once a week I am baking some variety of Bran Muffins, depending upon what fruit I have available. I add blueberries, or diced apples, or even canned pears or peaches to the mixture to add moisture and goodness. I've shared the recipe HERE BEFORE. They are very good and keep well for a few days until all eaten up!

Other mornings we may just have toast with peanut butter and jelly on it. I prefer cinnamon raisin toast with peanut butter and apple butter on mine.  Once in a while I bake biscuits and make home-made applesauce to put over the biscuits. That is usually a fall treat that we enjoy when the weather gets a little cooler and especially if someone brings us some fresh apples from up north when they travel! Click HERE for a story about that!  

2. What is your favorite meal of the day and why?

Hmm, that is hard to tell. My favorite meal is when we have someone to share it with! Sundays we have been meeting friends from our church at our local restaurant after church for brunch. Some eat breakfast, some eat lunch. No matter...it's the company that makes it good!  Also we usually try to have our "kids" over one night a week for pizza or whatever else is easy or fun to do.  Again, it's the company that makes it good no matter what the food is. Before the pandemic we would have family gatherings of the extended family at our house for birthday celebrations and holidays. We haven't been able to do much of that these past several months, and I truly miss it.  We didn't get to have our annual 4th of July picnic with homemade ice-cream either! 

HERE is a link to a story about those special memories.  

3.  Tell us about your typical lunch or dinner.

Lunch for me is usually a salad. I like to make a spinach and lettuce salad, with shredded cheese, craisins, and sometimes walnuts or pecans, or slices of apple. I use Marie's Cole Slaw Dressing on top. It is a creamy dressing with celery seed in it, and is my favorite.  If I have any hard boiled eggs or cucumber or bacon, I add that too. 

Dinner seems to run a cycle each week, depending on the season and what's on special at the store. I normally cook a hot meal as there are three of us for "supper" usually. Our youngest adult son lives here with us and so we eat when he gets home from work. Sometimes he grills chicken or hamburgers for us. He's also a great quesadilla cook, and manages to use up leftovers in creative ways for himself. (He used to work as a cook in restaurants for many years, so he can pretty well cook anything).  Anyway, some of our routine meals are:

Boneless Chicken breasts or thighs, or whole chicken cooked the "spatchcock chicken" method in an iron skillet in the oven.  (you can find recipes online).  Meatloaf, salisbury steaks with gravy and mashed potatoes, pork loin roast, burritos or tacos and refried beans, taco salad made with chili...I like mine as a salad, and hubby prefers the chili, so it is a win-win. Of course, good old spaghetti and a salad.  These are just a few favorites.

If we go out to eat, I like to get seafood, as I do not cook it at home. During winter months we do a lot of "one-pot meals", like hobo stew (recipe can be found HERE)... and cornbread.

4.  Were meals different growing up or do you continue much as your mother did? 

My mother was an excellent cook, and even though she worked full time and often had to pick up something to cook at the grocery store on her way home from work, she managed to always cook a nutritious and delicious meal.  I learned a lot watching her cook.  Once when she went up north to visit her mother who was ill, I was left in charge of cooking for my dad and myself. (everyone else had already left home).  I remember especially making him pork chops, and he bragged and bragged on my cooking to mom when she came home. So I guess I did okay. LOL.  My mother was also a wonderful pie baker. I've shared that before HERE, in  "The Pie Legacy".  I don't claim to bake or cook as well as she did, but she definitely set a good example...and set a good table.  She was a stickler for using real dishes, glasses, and setting the table correctly for all meals. (and we didn't have a dishwasher...well, except for my sister and me.)   I do the same thing, unless we have a huge crowd and then we use paper products, but I still decorate the table somehow with a centerpiece and candles. And we light the candles when we have guests, and sometimes when we don't have guests. Especially in winter when it is darker earlier.

Christmas Dinner 2019

So that pretty well sums up meals at our house. And most importantly, we always give thanks before every meal. Even with the one family gathering we had for Memorial Day, since we weren't supposed hold hands due to "social distancing", we bumped elbows when asking the blessing. And we thank the Lord for His blessings upon our home and family and friends. We are very thankful indeed.

I hope you enjoyed this rendition of "Tuesday Four" questions and answers. Be sure to go to the Tuesday Four LINKUP to see what others have shared. Thank you, Annie, for making this possible today.