Family Gathering I
Top: Mom's Cousins and my Uncle Gilbert & Aunt Mae (Mother's brother) In the Rocker is my Aunt LizBottom: The Wiley Cousins
My brother and Sister-in-law invited me to stay with them this trip,(in the farm house) since they have fixed up the house a lot, remodeled the bathroom and have a spare bedroom. I have to put out my nephew from his bedroom when I stay at my sister’s house, so I accepted Tim and Vickie’s offer. They also made an offer I bet they regret making… ha ha. Vickie told me she had to be at work most days I was there, but that if I wanted to invite anyone to the house anytime, even if she was at work, I was welcome to do so. Well, I had already “gently asked” them to have an open house for the family and we decided to do it the second Saturday I was there. I was thinking that if I had both my Dad and my Mom’s side of the family, it would be a lot of people.
So…. I decided to invite my Mom’s side to the house for lunch one day during the week. I polled the cousins and two aunts and one uncle, and they chose Tuesday. A day that Vickie worked, bless her heart, she had a menu planned before I even got home. Tim had a huge garden and they had so many green beans, that she thought we would make another famous PA Dutch dish “Ham and Green Beans”. She also thought that might be something those coming might not have had for a while, as it’s more common a dish when people have fresh green beans or those canned or frozen from their garden. You take good country ham (from our local butcher shop) and cook it, add the green beans and some quartered potatoes, and it makes a delicious one dish meal. So, Monday Vickie had off, and she and I shopped and prepared for Tuesday. We had a great time together, talking, laughing and cooking. I made a Minnesota “Snicker Salad” that no one there ever heard of. I also made Pumpkin Bars and we made apple crisp, from the apple trees from the house they used to live in, in the middle of Adams County Apple orchards. We had apple cider, fresh from Adams County orchards, and homemade pickles, good country ham and good bread!
Tuesday at 11 am, all of Mom’s family arrived, except for one of my cousins and one of my second cousins. There were 13 of us, around their beautiful farm table! Since Tim works the middle shift, he was home to help me with the lunch. I was at Julie’s house Monday night, and when I came home, Vicki had the table all set! Tim was a big help and I was so pleased that he could be there too. What a delight to eat together and be with family that doesn’t often get together. They all told us they were so pleased for the get together, because most of them don’t get to see each other, more than once a year at the annual reunion that’s held, that is, IF they go to the reunion! We visited until almost 3 o’clock before the first ones left. What a great day that was! Not just for me, but for everyone!
The comment was made that Romaine would be so pleased to see her family around the table eating a good meal. Food and family was so important to her. I know she was with us in spirit that day!
So…. I decided to invite my Mom’s side to the house for lunch one day during the week. I polled the cousins and two aunts and one uncle, and they chose Tuesday. A day that Vickie worked, bless her heart, she had a menu planned before I even got home. Tim had a huge garden and they had so many green beans, that she thought we would make another famous PA Dutch dish “Ham and Green Beans”. She also thought that might be something those coming might not have had for a while, as it’s more common a dish when people have fresh green beans or those canned or frozen from their garden. You take good country ham (from our local butcher shop) and cook it, add the green beans and some quartered potatoes, and it makes a delicious one dish meal. So, Monday Vickie had off, and she and I shopped and prepared for Tuesday. We had a great time together, talking, laughing and cooking. I made a Minnesota “Snicker Salad” that no one there ever heard of. I also made Pumpkin Bars and we made apple crisp, from the apple trees from the house they used to live in, in the middle of Adams County Apple orchards. We had apple cider, fresh from Adams County orchards, and homemade pickles, good country ham and good bread!
Tuesday at 11 am, all of Mom’s family arrived, except for one of my cousins and one of my second cousins. There were 13 of us, around their beautiful farm table! Since Tim works the middle shift, he was home to help me with the lunch. I was at Julie’s house Monday night, and when I came home, Vicki had the table all set! Tim was a big help and I was so pleased that he could be there too. What a delight to eat together and be with family that doesn’t often get together. They all told us they were so pleased for the get together, because most of them don’t get to see each other, more than once a year at the annual reunion that’s held, that is, IF they go to the reunion! We visited until almost 3 o’clock before the first ones left. What a great day that was! Not just for me, but for everyone!
The comment was made that Romaine would be so pleased to see her family around the table eating a good meal. Food and family was so important to her. I know she was with us in spirit that day!
posted by Linda at 2:50 PM
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