Main Course – don’t forget the vegetables
Of all the types of parties Nanny enjoyed, the dinner party was her forte. She loved to throw a dinner party. She wrote down who was coming what they liked and didn’t like and then started planning her meal. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, carrots, potatoes, peas, yellow beans, turnip, Brussels sprouts, corn, fresh buns and the sacrificial vegetable that never made it out of the microwave. Yes there was always a vegetable left behind. No dinner party was complete without Nanny cooking at least eight vegetables. And when it was time to serve the meal, all appliances were used as vegetables were warmed back up or reheated or finished. Nanny would put something in the microwave and then forget about it when it was time fore serving. I believe she did this is because she never cooked anything with the microwave, so when it came time to serve the microwave was not on her mind. This became the running joke of all our family meals. When dinner ended we would bet to see if anything was left in the microwave and if there was what was it.
When one arrived at Nanny and Pa’s for dinner there would be music playing, candles burning and the rooms would be decorated for the occasion. You would have been greeted with a kiss and hug and asked for your drink order. Cold appetizers would be out soon followed by a tray or two of hot appies. The only thing you would be unsure of is who else was going to be in attendance. This was especially the case when it came to Christmas dinners. Oh you could count on my grandparents, my cousins – Sweeneys and McKays – my best friend Pat McEleleny, my dad’s Uncle Bun, Aunt Hilda and cousin Brian McCarthy but you knew there were going to be wild cards. The other day we were looking through old pictures and found the perfect example. In an undated picture there were 18 people at Christmas dinner. Most of the usual suspects but there right in the middle of the photo was a young man from Africa. None of us can remember his name but there he is smiling like one of the family. In those days my mom worked for a doctors office. Frequently Nanny would hear that someone would be alone for one event or another and without hesitating she would insist they attend one of her dinners. So we have an extensive collection of dinner parties with unidentifiable faces.