Monday, June 18, 2012

Sunday Dinner

Our ESN Scavenger Hunt theme this week is Church.  Growing up, my brother and I would go to Sunday school and occasionally, church services.  We lived across the street from a large Presbyterian church, Tabernacle Presbyterian Church.  Located at 34th Street and Central Ave in Indianapolis, In., they had a large recreational ministry.  Four baseball diamonds were active just about everyday and evening during the summer.  Boys and girls of all ages from the north side of Indianapolis came to play softball and baseball at Tab.  I think I really only played softball 2 or 3 years before I realized it was more fun to just watch the older boys play.  There certainly were some cute boys that played baseball.

View of baseball field from our front porch in winter

OK, back to the theme - church. So, while my brother and I might go to Sunday school on Sunday, my grandmother always listened to church services on the radio in her sewing room and my mother had to catch up on laundry and ironing. That was back in the day when we used wringer washers and hung laundry on a clothesline to dry. It wasn't a throw a load in the washer and push the button. No, doing laundry back then took continuous active participation. But the best part of Sunday was Sunday dinner. Our big meal on Sunday was midday. We didn't have counter space for preparing food, so we used the kitchen table for preparing dough or mixing up a cake. My grandmother would roll out the "pot pie" dough (flat dumplings) and let them dry on the table. She would either boil beef or chicken and then let me help drop the pot pie into the boiling broth - not too fast or it will stick together. Sometimes she would boil a beef tongue. Now don't make that ugly face, beef tongue is really good and one of my brother's favorite meals. Or we would have fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. There is nothing better than chicken fried in a cast iron skillet. It was always the best meal of the week and, in my eyes, my grandmother was the best cook in the world.

My sister helping my grandmother with a Sunday dinner 

By the way, I now have my grandmother's kitchen table and chairs in my kitchen. It may show some age, but it reminds me of some of my most treasured memories with my grandmother and Sunday dinners.  I also have that hand beater my grandmother is using.  Make sure you spend time with your grandchildren - cook together and share your memories and stories.  What better way to give them wonderful memories to share in the future.
    
OK, so do you see where I am going with this?  I really don't have any "church" items in my store.  But, you can find some great vintage mixing bowls at CAROLINABLUELADY Vintage Collectibles.  Here is an Anchor Hocking Gay Fad Fruits Large Colonial Mixing Bowl.  I also have one in the medium size and one in the small size.  I just love this pattern - it is so bright and cheerful.  Just makes you want to smile!

I bet these vintage Anchor Hocking mixing bowls could help create some wonderful memories for your kids or grandchildren!  

5 comments:

  1. Love the way you connected to church. And love the old photos... those were the days!

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  2. Fantastic blog CBL. Thanks for sharing part of your family history. It was nice to read about cooking with your grandmother. Cooking is something I do with my grand kids. Hope some day they have good memories too.

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  3. I do remember how wringer washer and put rubber diapers through that wringer diapers and explodes and I ruined a couple of shirts
    Did you ever get anything caught in a wringer?or ruined a couple of shirts?

    Tell me the stories of you have,
    the clothes you have washed with wringer washer

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  4. Great post CBL! Boy, those sure were the days weren't they? I remember cooking with my grandmother. If anyone probably under 30 reads this they'd be asking what's a wringer washer and a clothesline? LOL!

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  5. I very much enjoyed reading your post, CBL. It seems that all of us who have commented here remember the old wringer washers. I certainly do. We must all be antiques ourselves. When I was young, every Sunday I had to go to Sunday school and then to church. Afterward, we would go to my grandmothers for breakfast. She made pancakes and some sort of very thick bacon. There was also a thick porridge made from steel cut oats. I didn’t care much for the Sunday school but breakfast at grandma’s was worth it.

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