Every so often I tell people this, just so it's clear what meal I'm talking about. I realize the vast majority of people consider the evening meal to be "dinner". I came from farming people, and on the farm, dinner is the biggest and most important meal of the day. I remember visiting Uncle Leo and his family; at straight up noon, Uncle Leo would come in all sweaty and tired from whatever work he was doing in the field. He and Uncle Carl helped one another a lot with farm work, so sometimes he'd be there too. Anyway, they had been working hard and were starving, and they expected a big meal. Believe me, Aunt Mary knew how to set a table fit for hungry men (and kids). And she could do this while spending the morning canning green beans and tomatoes, too.
Before Mother married, she worked at various farms as a "hired girl", and she used to talk about how those farm hands (my dad was one) could eat. If we had visitors that really scarfed their food down, she would say, "This is just like feeding threshers!"
She loved to see people eat.
So yes, Dinner is at noon here.
One faithful reader expressed surprise that we are still having our main meal of the day at noon; she thought that once Cliff retired, we'd move the main meal to suppertime. (yes, that's supper. Not dinner.)
Now that Cliff gets up by 6 A.M. and goes to bed by 10 P.M., I haven't been cooking an evening meal at all. We both need help with our weight, so we agreed to eat something like a bowl of cereal or a small salad for supper. If there are low-calorie leftovers from dinner (the noon meal), we might partake of those, but only small servings.
As I expected, squash bugs have pretty much wiped me out of the zucchini business. In the past, once the squash plants were dead, they moved on to the cucumber vines and killed them also. I have already replanted zucchini and cucumbers; last year I was able to keep the squash bugs from killing the late crop; but I never count on anything. They've wiped me out too many times in the past.
I think I have enough green beans to pick today to go with our rib-eye steak. Yes, we're having steak again. We have to use up last year's beef! It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. We'll also have corn on the cob again, since it's ready. Oh, and Pennsylvania red cabbage, which I haven't prepared before.
I've mentioned before that when I was growing up, Mother called corn on the cob "roasting ears". However, to my childish ears it sounded like one word. I thought it was "roastinears" until I was almost grown.
OK, I'm off to pick some green beans.
We have had some lively arguments about dinner and lunch and supper at work. Where I'm from, you have lunch and then dinner or supper in the evening. Dinner was more formal, when everyone sat around the table and ate together or when you had guests. Supper was catch as catch can and you ate whatever you could find at teevee trays or on the go. I like starting the arguments at work just for fun. And I'll throw in "What about tea? Or elevenses?" Just to get somebody's dander up. It's one of those arguments we can have that don't include religion or politics and nobody gets their feelings hurt.
ReplyDeleteWe have lunch and dinner, but your way of eating the big meal at noon is WAY healthier than the big dinners in the evening that we eat. I'm a very light eater in the evening though. We won't talk about the popcorn at 8 pm. :)
ReplyDeleteI do remember my grandparents who lived on a farm calling the midday meal dinner and the evening meal supper. But they still had big meals at both of them. Farm work did create some big appetites. 90 in the shade and my grandmother had biscuits for every meal too. Me...I hardly ever turn the oven on in the summer. Sorry about the squash. Hope the second planting does better. Fresh sweet corn is something we won't have here til later on in July and the whole of August and probably September too. We have some shipped in from other areas but it's never the same. I do have a steak in the freezer just calling my name...I think I'll have to have it today. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteDinner at noon here too.
ReplyDeleteOur roasting ears are about 10 days off but we have about half an acre at that time.
The threshing crew stories and how they moved from farm to farm have been part of our history too. Dad always claimed the women all tried to out do the dinner from the day before.
Dinner is the mid day meal here also. Supper is just a snack of some sort I was like you, I thought roasting ears was one word. Helen
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, we had breakfast, dinner, and supper. Now I call it breakfast, lunch, and supper. We always had a big meal at dinner. My Mom would have meat, potatoes, gravy, veggies, bread, and always a little dessert. I sometimes miss the good old days.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Pat
Okay, I'll jump in on this meal-naming business. Our evening meal (and the main one) is supper, but typically on the weekends, especially Sunday, we have one and only ONE meal that day called lupper.
ReplyDeleteYep. You guessed it. Lunch/Supper. Usually served around two or so and then a fend-for-yourself type grazing if anyone gets hungry that night.
My parents have always eaten their dinner early in the day like you. But my husband and I eat our main meal at 8:30 pm after he gets home from work.
ReplyDeleteI have always heard it is healthier to eat a good breakfast and lunch(dinner) and a light supper. Better to not go to bed with heavy food in your stomach.
ReplyDelete