SUNDAY DINNER EVERY DAY

When my children were growing up, I noticed that many of their friends had take-out for dinner before their parents came home from work during the week. My family of four always ate together even if it meant waiting until my husband came home from work as late as 8:00 pm. I felt it was important to eat together with good food and conversation.

Sunday dinner was special. It was a three or four course event and there was often extended family and friends present. In addition, all birthdays were celebrated on Sundays with the birthday person selecting the menu.

This book will show you how to make a Sunday dinner every day of the week by reducing the number of courses, using recipes that don't require a lot of preparation and downsizing the number of portions. However, this book will also contain first course recipes and desserts and some main course recipes that fall out of the range of everyday meals (I couldn't help myself). And some Sunday recipes will yield leftovers for during the week.

A word about salt. There are two major kosher salts: Diamond Crystal and Morton's. When a recipe uses a precise measurement of kosher salt, I use Diamond Crystal. When the recipe doesn't specify the exact amount, I just call for kosher salt - either Morton's or Diamond Crystal will work. But stick with one kind. Diamond Crystal is flakier than Morton's; Morton's is denser. So a tablespoon of Morton's will weigh more than a tablespoon of Diamond Crystal; they are not interchangeable by volume. I also use a fine grey sea salt from France when the recipe requires a fine salt. Any brand will work.

On measuring flour. Flour and other similiar dry ingredients can become compacted during storage. Use dry measuring cups for measuring flour. Stir the flour to aerate it slightly and spoon it into the cup until it's overflowing. Then level it off with the straight edge of a metal spatula. Do the same procedure when using measuring spoons.

I think a picture is worth a thousand words, which is why almost every recipe is accompanied by a photo of the final dish. It's been fun working on this site and I hope you (my visitors) will find it useful. I designed and implemented this website myself and all photos were taken by me with my iPhone.