FAMILY DINING MEMORIES

So many family happenings occur around the dining or kitchen table, leaving us with memories that shape our lives. This may be a table in a dining nook, or a large table in the center of the room where many activities take place in addition to serving and eating meals. Sometimes these tables are handed down over the generations.

Dining Tables in Your Life

Think of the kitchen or dining tables of your childhood, early married years and later days when more than one generation gathered there. These may be tables you have in your possession now or simply ones you recall in memory.

Once when asked to write a note to her grandparents about her favorite visits at their farm, my daughter mentioned gathering in their kitchen around the large table.

The dining table we had in our multigenerational household when our daughter and her family lived with us for several years was the special one my mother-in-law purchased when she finally could have a more formal dining room. This trestle table was one she dreamed of for years, one she enjoyed as she entertained family and friends.

I recall her pleasure in obtaining different tablecloths and placemats for this table, decorating it for various festive occasions and entertaining, as she hadn’t done when her eight children were small. We also have some of those tablecloths to use for holidays.

Do you have a table in your life that holds memories and tells a story, whether from long ago or more recent years? Record these memories for future generations to ensure that your family heritage will survive.

FRENCH FRY CASSEROLE

Dice 1 small onion and mix with one pound of ground beef or turkey. Press into the bottom of a 9 x 9-inch pan.

Mix together 1 can cream of cheddar soup and 1 can cream of celery soup. Spread this mixture over the ground meat. Then cover the surface generously with frozen French fries.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 minutes until done. The fries should be crisp and golden.

(Variation: Sprinkle lightly with shredded cheese about 15 minutes before the casserole is done.)

(c) Mary Emma Allen

(Mary Emma Allen researches and writes about family history from her New Hampshire home. )