Catholic Recipe: Cool Sunday Dinner Sample Menu

Of all the days in the week, Sunday is the one when families should be able to be together to enjoy the leisure hours. Saturday hustles and bustles. There's shopping to do, an appointment at the hairdressers, a ball game, lawn mowing, hedge clipping, gardening, repairs around the house, and other odd jobs in their season. But on Sundays, after Mass, the family — all but Mother — can be together. Why not Mother? Because all too often she is isolated in the kitchen, cooking up a big Sunday dinner for the family's enjoyment. Then when the dinner is finally served, she is usually too tired to have any appetite or any pleasure in it.

With a simple change or two in the schedule, and some thinking in the way of menu planning, Mother can be free to enjoy life too.

The schedule depends on the hour when the family attends Mass. If everyone likes to sleep a little later than usual and attend Mass at ten or eleven o'clock, only two meals are necessary — a hearty late breakfast and dinner at the accustomed hour. If churchgoing is earlier, there will be a light breakfast, a snack at lunchtime, and dinner as usual. In the latter instance, it is even more important to plan an easy dinner.

With all the so-called convenience foods — frozen, canned, semiprepared, and ready to heat and serve — at her disposal, Mother can really enjoy her Sundays with her family. Let's prove it, with a dozen menus to illustrate what can be done.

DIRECTIONS

Preparation Notes Let the beef simmer gently while you go about Saturday's routine. Reheat and thicken gravy at dinnertime on Sunday.

Use instant mashed potatoes, if desired.

Heat sliced beets; drain; season to taste with salt, pepper, and butter or margarine.

Heat small boiled canned onions; drain. Add light cream or half-and-half; reheat, but do not boil. Season to taste.

Wash radishes; cut raw carrots into thin sticks.

Serve fresh pears (or any fresh fruit in season) with the cheese for dessert.