Feasting with family! …or friends, whomever you love…

Thriving in chaos. Navigating a conversation in a loud room with ease. Not bothered when jostled. Delightfully picking my way through a throng of people. 

If you can’t tell, I am from a large extended family, on both of my parents’ sides. It’s something I am extremely proud of, and isn’t that common. Until recently, I naively assumed everyone had a large family, complete with a million cousins (ok, not a million, more like 26), and participated in rambunctious family get togethers. Like, the kind that could leave someone hard of hearing. Meeting new people in my recent years has lead me to discovering people who only have one cousin, or even none! I was literally mind-blown. Trying to picture my childhood holidays in a different light is slightly alarming for me. I envision an eight person family surrounding a small, intimate dinner on real plates, and it kind of makes me cringe because it is so foreign to me. It might as well have happened in another country, speaking another language! 

By now, I’m certain you’re working up an image of what my family gatherings were. Let me enlighten you: we crammed 60-70 people in one house with one bathroom (I am baffled as to how we didn’t completely demolish the plumbing), did dinner potluck-style with everyone contributing their fare, and ate off styrofoam plates–those fabulous tray-like ones with the individual compartments, on card tables where the legs fold out, in whatever room was available. It is in this environment where a lot of my food love language and some of my recipe concocting were birthed. Although not a fancy or fantastic cook, my mother has a handful of dishes up her cooking sleeve, like mashed potatoes. She was always in charge of bringing the mashed potatoes, and she typically let us help by sampling it from a beater. Yep, she uses her Kitchen Aid mixer to produce the most fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes, something I did for the first time this past Thanksgiving. 

These holidays and traditions have forever secured a place in my heart. If I were to ask you to describe a favorite holiday memory, I bet you could recall something as wistfully magical. All of my reminiscing got me thinking about the actual food of the event. Our dishes were simple, filling, and made with love and whatever anyone had at home. My aunt Joy frequently used Coca-Cola in her ham because the Coke made it sweeter, and apparently the bubbly effect of the soda made the ham more tender? I’m actually not sold on any of that, but I digress… After thinking on the food provided at these get-togethers, my biggest takeaways are: what kinds of food were fan (or fam) favorites, and how although having a theme to a meal is wonderful and helpful, it’s not 100% necessary. When planning your meal, whether it’s for family, friends, with or without kids, and/or all of the above, here are my best practical, time-saving, crowd pleasing tips that will hopefully leave your peeps raving about the feast, along with thoroughly enjoying your presence!

Fan Faves:

Finger foods! who doesn’t love the delectable, mini foods you can pop in your mouth and feel good about eating as many as you want because they’re small? My husband’s family frequently did “appetizer night” at their house, something I adore and feel like would’ve fit in with my family nicely. A big trend that’s been making its way around more is charcuterie boards–basically fancy finger food trays. You can find almost any variation of these on Pinterest. Below are my suggestions for simple, filling, and delicious finger foods:

• vegetables: a brightly colored display of vegetables is hard to pass up, especially if it includes all the dips and sauces. Cucumbers, celery, carrots, peppers, snap peas, and cherry tomatoes are some of my favorites. Adding olives, pickled vegetables and/or relishes, and any roasted and chilled vegetables are a fun way to add some energy and creativity to the normal vegetables. Add a variety of hummuses, dips and dressings to add flavor and depth to the vegetables–especially if you tend to think veggies can be bland or boring. If you’d like an easy-to-go way to serve, use small plastic cups filled with the dips/dressings/hummuses, and add cut vegetables right into the cup, dip-style. Adding a variety of cheeses and/or crackers can almost make this an entire meal!
• sandwiches: the king and queen of finger foods! my husband is a sandwich conissiour (and a bit of a snob about it, if I may politely and lovingly add). Taking sandwiches up a notch, have a themed sandwich platter, such as laying out mozzarella, marinara sauce, peppers, onions, and pepperonis/salamis for people to create an Italian-style sandwich. For more of a classic-twist, try a club-themed lay out with turkey and ham cold cuts, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and different flavored mayos (pesto mayo and garlic mayo are divine). If you find yourself in cold weather, try mini grilled cheeses complete with a cup of tomato soup. Nothing is more comfortable than that combo, and nothing cuter than a tiny sandwich perched on a small cup of soup! Wanna be fun? Try a panini press! Include different kinds of bread, cheeses, meats, and toppings for people to use in their own panini. Kids will love this! Even if they are simply making their own grilled cheese. 
• Any sort of bar! Soups, salad, baked potatoes, nachos, etc. all foods that are relatively easy to make, with endless possibilities on how to jazz them up. For a chili night, include shredded cheeses, jalapenos, olives, diced onions and chives, crackers, chips, sour cream…there really isn’t a way to go wrong with this! Baked potatoes, whether regular or sweet, can have some of the same toppings. Roasted or steamed broccoli, mushrooms, peppers and onions are excellent toppings for potatoes, along with cut grilled chicken, crumbled ground turkey, or bacon. Every once in a while, we do nachos for dinner, and the children go wild! We do ground beef or turkey, along with black or pinto beans, chopped peppers, onions, tomatoes, and garlic, plus shredded greens/lettuce, cheese, chunked avocado and whatever salsa we have on hand. The kids get to choose their toppings (with some healthy encouragement on certain items–as in they must choose at least one green thing), and allowing them to feel part of making the dinner is almost the best part. Any of the bar ideas can be done in crock pots, disposable aluminum trays, or good, old-fashioned stove top. 

With any of these options, allow your guests to bring part of the meal! Create a virtual signup with any of the websites available, or start a text chain for who is bringing what. This will cut down on cost, clean up, and will allow everyone to feel like they are part of creating the dinner magic. Cutting down on clean-up time means you get to be more present and engaging with your attendants. An extra added bonus? You may try and find a new favorite flavor or food!

Getting together around a table, no matter how big, small, chaotic or quiet, is essential. Connecting over good food and conversation does something for the soul, and fills not only our bellies, but ourselves in general with love and memories. It doesn’t have to be fancy to be considered a feast. And can I veer a bit off topic and be even more transparent for a moment? We all need more moments like that of good food and good conversation. We’ve all had a run of it the last few years. There isn’t one person who hasn’t been negatively affected in some way due to the covid pandemic, racial tension, political strife, job loss, person loss, looming wars, climate change and natural disasters…the list could literally stretch on for days. Although I am naturally optimistic and confident of God’s plan for the world, there have been some very dark moments and days for me in the last two years.

One thing I have focused on is being grateful for simply waking up. Being alive is a gift, no matter the cost, friends. With the thought that life could change in the blink of an eye, I choose to thank the Lord for another day where I’m able to be in all the ways. To be a mom, wife, neighbor, friend, sister, and business owner. To be silly and laugh with my children or a girlfriend gathering. To hug someone who needs it and look them in the eyes to remind them how loved they are. All of this in sum, I firmly believe a meal together should not only be reserved for holidays and special occasions, but as often as possible. Because a meal together is simply and beautifully that: special. Just get set a date, plan the menu, and allow your feast-ees to help. The tips and foods listed above are to help you create your feast, your memorable moments to have for a lifetime. Feast on, friends!  

“From this point on…every day is a celebration and every meal a feast.”

Michael Golembesky