January Sunday Dinner - Family Favorite theme

Last night was the first of the 2023 themed Sunday dinners. It was a smashing success, as all of them were in 2022. 

Let me back up. In December of 2021 I decided to spice things up with Sunday dinner. I had my December Sunday dinner guests put their suggested themes in bowl and then each guest got to pick one out of the bowl and those ended up being our 2022 themes.

I had so much fun with the themes last year, and everyone played along splendidly, that I decided to do it again this year. The rule this year was we couldn't use any themes from 2022. My "plan" is a theme can return after a year. Otherwise, we'll run out of themes quickly. 

There are a couple on this list that will get tricky for some guests. Many haven't cooked Peruvian food or German food much. Myself included. But in true Jenn insanity, I've already started researching. 

Sunday we kicked off 2023 with Family favorites. The idea here was you'd bring a long standing family favorite, or a recently one. It didn't matter. It just had to be a family recipe that every one enjoys. We had a small group this month so I opted to make my Famous ribs. These really are the bomb. In fact, during dinner, Rowland leaned over and said to me, "Your dad would be proud of these ribs." Makes me tear up just thinking about it. 

Doesn't that look lovely?

I made three racks of ribs. We had enough for everyone to have leftovers. 

Also included in the family favorite menu:

Onion dip from Mark and Vanessa

This dip has shown up at every friend gathering we had in the 90's. Then it became Mark's signature dip for their Ground Hog's day party. It's a dip I associate to him whenever I see it or make it. And it was yummy. 

Janet's Mom's potato salad

This recipe has shown up many times at Wraspir family gatherings. You can't make this in small amounts so we all got leftovers. 

Kathy's Famous Corn Bread

Kathy has a special touch with corn bread. We've had it for years. It always turns out moist and delicious. She says the trick is this small loaf pan so each one is an individual serving. The pan makes great little corn bread loaf and it's delicious. Funny story. Janet wanted Kathy's corn bread recipe one time so she called and asked if she'd share it with her. To which Kathy replied, "Yes. It's a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix." We laughed and laughed at how we thought it was a "family recipe" only to find out it's from a box. 

Sherrie's Kick Ass Salad

Sherrie made this amazing salad many years ago and it's has to be my favorite salad of all time. I don't know what exactly it is about this salad, but everything balances perfectly. And it's brought all together by this amazing poppy seed dressing. 

Sex in a Pan

When is sex in a pan not a family favorite? 

The ribs were so tender that when cutting them they fell off the bone. So I have a pile of rib meat instead of actual bones. See, the rib rule in this house is ... I get the butts. You know? The ends of the rack... mmmm. My favorite.

Sherrie, Rowland, Kathy, Vanessa, Janet, Mark and my big noggin right up front.

All in all it was a family favorite fun night. Lots of chatter. Lots of laughter. Lots of napkins. And lots of dishes (not really). 

Looking forward to month's dinner when we travel to West Seattle for The Pantry Goat to host Viva Italia.