Help is On the Way!...Weekend Family Meals

For most families nowadays, the week end is the only time to get together and have a nice meal as a family, particularly if Mom works.  It is also the only time available to go to the store and get your shopping done.  I know, I remember it well...boy,  how I hated Saturday mornings. One of the most common lines I get on the comments or on Twitter is "Great recipe, I think I'll try it this weekend!"

I was lucky enough to grow up at a time when there was a Dad who went to work and a Mom who stayed at home and took care of the kids.  She also cooked and baked cookies and wonderful casseroles.  There were no Barefoot Contessas or Giadas or Food TV and Gourmet magazine was only for the serious cook.  Our Moms cut recipes from Good Housekeeping,  Better Homes & Gardens and followed the Joy of Cooking almost as closely as Dr. Spock.  They also guarded those recipes with their lives.  Recipes didn't have great names then like Chicken Kielbasa with a Tomatillo Sauce on a Bed of Arugula & Goat Cheese.  They were simply Mrs. SoAndSo's Baked  Ham (we called everyone, Mr. & Mrs. in those days, never Mike, I'm your waiter tonight!).  Then came Julia and Martha and the Silver Palate.  Oh my, that first book of Martha's, Entertaining...  Most of the recipes didn't work, but who cared! we all wanted to be Martha, just like today we all want to be Ina and have a husband like Jeffrey.

Starting today, I am going to try to help working couples and Moms by posting a menu of past recipes that I think will work well in this context and which I think will be fun to share with your family at the end of the week.  This is your time to shine! It will be done according to the seasons so you can take advantage of what is in the grocery store and the farmers market. We'll play along with it but your feedback will be very helpful.  So, what do you think?

This weekend's recipe is Yankee Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes (what else!) and apple crisp for dessert! They are both easy and go well together.  Wait til you get a whiff of the aromas emanating from this dish, rum, horseradish..By the time this baby finishes cooking you will have gone stark mad!  It is a wonderful start  to this series and a great recipe to have in your repertoire.

Above is Ina Garten's new kitchen/dining for inspiration.

Photo:  Google