Sunday dinner...it's about to go down....

Yesterday was a very busy day for me so I opted to not write in my blog but today I am sharing with you a much loved tradition in my family big Sunday dinner.  Sunday dinners are definitely the times when soul food is most commonly seen on tables. Sunday dinners were and often continue to be a time for African-American families to get together to prepare and partake in a large meal. There are so many memories with Sunday dinners whether dinner after church or just enjoying a meal on a Sunday with the entire family. Sunday dinners typically take up the entire day. For many people Sunday dinners took place in the form of potlucks, also, where various family members contribute a dish or two and form a big, fine meal.

I know that a lot of us Southerners have a tradition of cooking a big Sunday dinner. I personally enjoyed them when I was growing up in San Angelo, Texas.  I continued this tradition as I became an adult. A Southern style traditional dinner would often consist of golden fried chicken, extra gooey and cheesy baked macaroni and cheese, warm potato salad, collard greens cooked with smoked meat, and cornbread sweet enough to almost be cake like. (Thank you Aunt Doretha for the white corn bread we often use to save until the end of dinner because we thought it was cake)!  Does that sound familiar to you? Now the same thing is not made every single Sunday some of the items change and some don't. Sometimes we would have BBQ ribs, fresh corn on cob, homemade mashed potatoes, with gravy and melt in your mouth buttermilk biscuits. Other times we may have a whole lot of different foods. My family was very blended and the palate we possess allowed us to try all different types of food from various backgrounds.

The long-standing tradition of Sunday Dinner has fallen prey to a changing society. Families often lives miles apart. Sunday is a regular work day for some. People are mobile and don’t lite in one place long enough to form a connection with people around them. You don't have to be anywhere near the Mason-Dixon Line to enjoy the heavenly, soulful food of the South. My dinner today consists of baked teriyaki chicken legs, chicken fried steaks with white gravy(two meats since I only had 6 steaks), homemade garlic mashed potatoes, spinach, pan fried okra with green onions and yeast rolls, Blue bell’s Snicker doodle ice cream, homemade sugar and chocolate chip with pecan cookies for dessert.

So what's on the menu for your family dinner? Any foreign traditions? Do you have a different type of tradition outside of Sunday? Next Sunday, try this recipe for basic fried chicken that I have posted. Let me know how it works out for you. As always in parting I say "Let's Eat"!

Basic Fried Chicken
Yield: 4 servings
2 cups cold water
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 chicken, cut into serving pieces
fat for frying (vegetable oil, lard, shortening
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

In a shallow baking dish, combine water and salt. Place chicken pieces in dish and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, place enough fat (vegetable oil, shortening or lard) to come to a depth of about two inches. Heat the fat until it shimmers but does not smoke, about 350 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Whisk remaining ingredients together in a shallow baking dish. Remove chicken pieces one at a time from water, drain them and dip into the flour mixture, then carefully place them into the hot fat. Cook for five minutes, then gently lift with tongs to see if chicken is cooking evenly; rearrange pieces if necessary. Continue cooking until chicken is evenly browned, about five more minutes. Turn chicken with tongs and continue cooking until brown all over, about 10 to 12 minutes longer.