Sunday Dinner, August 24, 2008

It's after 9 pm Central time and I've already decided on the menu for my Sunday Dinner this week. I had to put a little more forethought into it this week because Lamar and I went with my sister Cecil and some more of the family to Jonesboro for supper tonight, so I had to do some of my preparations before we left, then pick up where I left off when I got home.

Now, my menu: Homemade chicken and rice, garden fresh purple hull peas, and since I have an abundance of garden fresh okra and homegrown tomatoes, homemade stewed okra and tomatoes. I'll probably make some homemade buttermilk cornbread to round out the meal.

The chicken is stewing as I type this and as soon as I get this published I'll go make my okra and tomatoes. When the chicken gets done I'll take it out of the broth to cool, then pick the meat off the bones when it's cool enough to handle.

I'll refrigerate the broth, chicken and the okra and tomatoes overnight, then when I get home from church tomorrow afternoon I'll heat the broth, then cook my rice in the broth. I'll stir the chicken into the rice about 5 minutes before it's done so that the chicken has time to get hot and the flavors can blend. I'll also simmer the okra and tomatoes for a little while.

The peas are frozen so I'll put them on to cook when I get home from church and they should get done about the same time as the rest of dinner.

What's on the menu at your place for Sunday Dinner? Going out to eat? Goin' to Grandma's house? Share your menu/plans in the comments if you'd like to participate this week.Some of you have asked about purple hull peas when I've mentioned them here on my Sunday Dinner posts. Here's a couple of pictures of them.

On the left is a picture of the fresh peas still in the hulls. As the peas mature the green pods with a purple tinge turn to a deeper purple shade.

I'm not making this up: some people make purple pea hull jelly. I've seen it and it makes a beautiful purple-tinted jelly.

Notice I said, "seen it", not "tasted it". Just sounds icky to me, but it might be good stuff. I'll probably never know.

On the right are some shelled peas in the pot, just about to come to a boil. As they cook they turn sort of a khaki or tan color.

Sometimes I cook them with a bit of bacon, smoked ham hocks or ham, most times I just simmer them about 30 minutes, season them with some salt and bacon grease or oil and call it good.

If you cook the bacon, ham or ham hocks with the peas you have to precook the meat until it's almost tender before you add the peas. Since the peas only take about 30 minutes to cook if you put the peas in with the meat at the beginning, by the time the meat gets done the peas would be mush.
For those who may have missed it on my last post, I finally got MY RECIPE FOR MEXICAN CORNBREAD posted on MY RECIPE BLOG.

CLICK HERE or on the picture or on the bold purple links to go to the recipe.

If you decide to try this recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.Cecil's hubby B. was gracious enough to invite us all out to supper at a local Japanese/Thai steakhouse, the kind where they put on a show with their knives and spatulas and flames, all that jazz.

I took the picture there to the left while the chef was preparing our veggies, salmon, chicken breast, shrimp and scallops. He did the steaks last.

B. is job training in a town about 2 hours away and won't even be able to be with us. He is paying for the whole gang's supper tonight and he won't even be able to be there with us. I'm sad that he can't join us, and we'll toast him with Dr*Pepper and iced tea as we eat our supper, I'm sure.

Emmy was fascinated by the whole show, but she was in awe when the chef flamed the oil. She was hilarious, and so much fun to watch. She put on a better show than the chef, but I could be a just a teeny bit biased.

There were 9 of us in all: Cecil, Jessica, Jason and Emmy, Lamar and I, my sisters Susie and Ducky, and Ducky's granddaughter, Genna.

If you happen to read this, THANK YOU, B. for paying for our supper tonight! I got the steak and shrimp and it was delicious! :o)

Here's some more pictures from various times during our evening out.Jessica was gussied up to go to a wedding as soon as she left the restaurant. I thought she looked really nice tonight.

I didn't notice until I got home and downloaded these pictures that there's a lovely brush pile behind Jessica, me and Emmy in some of these photos. Just more proof that none of us are professional photographers I suppose.As I mentioned earlier in this post, it's nearly 9:30 pm and I still have to make stewed okra and tomatoes for Sunday Dinner, so I'm going to get this posted and get after it.

I pray God will meet all your needs, and may you have enough to share.

Y'all have a blessed Sunday.