Sunday Supper vs. Sunday Dinner
When I was a kid we always had Sunday dinner after church. It was generally meat in a pan – roast chicken, roast beef, roast pork and the occasional leg of lamb. We ate at 2pm and my grandparents often joined us. It was the only day of the week that my brothers and I were allowed to sit in the living room. My parents had cheese and crackers (and cocktails, often too many) before dinner and we weren’t allowed to play in there but we were allowed to bring a book or to just talk quietly with the grownups.
Sunday supper was a whole different thing. It was often pizza, sometimes waffles or my mom’s fantastic homemade fried dough, or even scrambled eggs. It was something light because we’d had a big dinner but we had to have something to eat. And it was pretty much the only time all week that we were allowed to eat in front of the TV, often while watching The Wonderful World of Disney.
Lifestyles have changed, though, and there’s no such thing as Sunday dinner at our house now. We usually have a big-ish breakfast and often skip lunch and just have late afternoon snacks and supper. It is sometimes pizza, occasionally Chinese food, and frequently grilled cheese sandwiches. This varies with the seasons – summer is usually something grilled and eaten outside on the deck. Fall and early winter food revolves around the timing of the football game.
As for today, we are having friends over to watch the game and it starts at 1pm. I’ll be making deviled eggs and Buffalo chicken dip and I’m sure our friends will bring something delicious, too. We may eat so many snacks that Sunday supper won’t even happen.
Whatever happens on any given Sunday, whatever we wind up cooking and eating, it is always shared with love and smiles and conversation, sometimes with friends and sometimes family but more often just Dale and I. I think it’s why Sundays are my favorite day of the week.
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I remember Sunday nights watching the Wonderful World of Disney. That’s a nice memory, so thanks for making me think of it.
Hmmmmm, this sounds familiar! We will be watching football today also, and my husband will fix us something yummy for dinner around 6:00. Happy Sunday.
Both your dinners and suppers sound great. We were also allowed to eat in front of the TV while watching The Wonderful World of Disney. I still remember the excitement of hearing the theme music and seeing Tinkerbell splash fireworks on the screen with her wand; thanks for reminding me of some great memories!
Ed Sullivan and WWoDisney are great memories from my childhood, as is Sunday dinner. Our lives are very different today, but Sunday’s are still a special day.
Amen to that, and to Margene, too. I’m verging on ancient, so I remember the original opening of the WWofD which was that creepy, foggy face in the mirror from Snow White…..wasn’t it? (Now I’m not sure.)
Growing up ours was the same. We always would have Church in the morning, and a big dinner at 1 or 2:00. Same thing too, roast beef, or lamb, or chicken. And Sunday night it was “snacks” which if we were lucky were little “pizzas” tomato and cheese on English Muffins in the oven 🙂 They were so good!
WW of D…Tomasina was my all time favorite. And yes, Sunday’s are the best day of the week! Have fun today!
I love deviled eggs, but as we usually have an egg course for lunch, we don’t tend to eat them in other forms. Football is something I’ve never been able to wrap my mind around, but I love the snacks.
Sunday dinner has always been important to me, but now that my daughter is working the early shift on weekends at a fancy restaurant, she eats the staff meal at 5pm. So tomorrow will be the big family (pre Thanksgiving) meal. Rack of lamb from Trader Joe’s, roasted butternut squash plus whatever else.
Early Sunday evening, lying on the living room rug, watching Wonderful World of Color (later WWoDisney). Great times.
Oh yes, Disney! Sometimes dinner was before that, but when I was young, I sometimes got to eat in front of that one show. I remember we had a wide step stool with a seat on the stop. Mom would wipe down the seat and then I sat on the step and my dinner was on the seat. When I was very young, I would be on my knees half the time trying to see better over the top of the stool. Great memories, thanks!
I love deviled eggs! But here is the big debate with my friends…. are they an appetizer or part of the meal?
Did you eat on TV trays? We had some, though they were rarely used. Man, I loved the Wonderful World of Disney!!
I must get the oldest commenter award. I remember watching The Ed Sullivan Show as well as the Wonderful World of Disney. Sunday dinner was almost always fried chicken or pot roast (depending on whether we were at grammas or at home). Sunday dinner was casual and light, mostly either leftovers or snacks. We eith you on the football watching!
We have Sunday dinner (evening meal) at the table with all the family. All the rest of the week we are inclined to eat in the living room in front of the TV. I hate it, but it’s what we do. And I’d love to know more about how your mom made fried dough. My mother-in-law made fried dough and I sadly never learned how before she died.
I love that Sundays are your favorite day of the week! so many people spend too much time dreading Monday to enjoy Sunday… but I’m with you – I love the slower pace and a quiet, early evening with Marc. (and we nearly always have leftovers 😉
Sundays, when I was a kid, were fried chicken with all the fixings at noon and everyone was on their own for supper. My dad often made himself an onion sandwich. And Lassie was the TV show all those years ago.
Thanks for making me remember. 🙂
When I was really young we would often go to my grandparents house for Sunday dinner, but as I got older my parents tended to drive around visiting family and friends on Sunday afternoons, and I can’t honestly remember much about the mealtimes. I do remember watching WWoD lying on the rug in the living room, though!
Sundays were similar in our house: church in the am, big dinner with a roast of some type, then the in evening my mother announced she was off duty. We had “Sunday night slop” where we foraged for food and ate whatever we could fix ourselves. Peanut butter crackers were a favorite of mine.