Let me be the first to admit, I have a recipe problem. I have been hoarding, pinning and scribbling recipes for the better part of this decade. Sadly, like most people my age, I suffer from intense “life-got-in-the-way-ness.”
I start with the best of intentions in mind. But I find myself sacrificing my kitchen experiments for a chance to catch up on work or working out (lol, just kidding….but seriously). I can plan an entire week of meals but drop them quicker than the Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Everything is Love album if another offer comes along.
So alas, with my Pinterest board on the throes of overflowing, I’m sad to say I have little cooking experience under my belt.
To make matters worse, I’m immediately drawn to hoarding recipes for elementary food staples. “Here’s 100 ways to make bread.” Pinned. “Don’t trust store bought Ricotta.” Pinned. “HERES HOW YOU CAN MAKE CELIAC FRIENDLY, ALL NATURAL, MAKE-YOU-POOP CRACKERS AT HOME” sigh…PINNED.
Things that generations before us have worked so hard to perfect and mass produce are now no longer cool if they’re not scratch made. Hearing my grandma talk, I catch her boast about things that are so much easier now-a-days. With a shake-a-da-fist and she says: “You can just buy the pizza dough!” Or “this pie filling was straight outta dat box” or “Pillsbury has that covered”.
Well, sorry to poo-poo on all your hard work, baby boomers. Here comes the next generation and if it isn’t natural, organic, celiac friendly, slap you in the face farm fresh it’s just not fetch.
So what is the solution, here? How can I start tackling these food-spirations when I have life, work and (worst of all) FOMO knocking at my door? The answer, my friends, is something we can thank our baby-boomers for, and that is Sunday Dinner.
Sunday Dinner is an idea that can mean so many different things. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be on a Sunday. But the idea is ultimately the act of bringing friends, family and fresh food into one atmosphere.
Growing up Italian, it was a truth, universally acknowledged, that Sunday was spent at Grandmas. After church, the family would gather, gab and goof while we sat down and ate together. It was an evening-long affair where friends and neighbors would pop in an out just to say hi or grab a bite.
In my efforts of trying to relive this magnificent phenomenon, I find myself oftentimes going back to one particular recipe. It proves successful with getting everyone at a table to shut down their phones, drink some wine and completely stuff their faces. I couldn’t believe how refreshing it was to have an evening with friends finally driven by good conversation and good food-not distracted by social media.
For this, I owe my thanks to a version of Sunday Gravy as found in Michelle Tam and Henry Fong’s Paleo cookbook titled Ready or Not. You can find my adaptation of the recipe here: Sunday Gravy (for Sunday Dinner or Whenever).
MEET ME AT THE LONG TABLE 