If you long for springtime as winter begins, enjoy my description of the best meal of the year.
When asked, “What’s your favorite family meal,” typical responses include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother’s or Father’s Day, or the Fourth of July. Predictable and enjoyable, definitely, but no match for my favorite feast.
The Best Meal of the Year Menu
Although the exact day varies from year to year, the menu remains constant. When circumstances align so my favorite vegetables can all be gathered fresh from the garden at the same time, we’re ready.
For some reason, meatloaf remains my entrée of choice, and I’m definitely not a big meatloaf fan. Perhaps it’s because that’s what Mom served the first time I recall this particular spread. Anyway, the following side dishes make the meal memorable, with or without the benefit of meat:
- Sliced cucumbers: Not those tasteless monsters at the grocery, but the little ones so crisp you have to slice carefully, or they break. You can smell their pungent earthy aroma from one side of the room to the other.
- Sliced Tomatoes: Still warm from the vine and sliced thicker than a half-pound burger. The bowl has to be huge. If not, reinforcements must be sliced in the middle of the meal. A knife sits on the counter, just for that purpose. Red, pink, yellow, or striped matters not, although I prefer a sampling of each. Eventually, I must pull back on my red tomato greed. A fine rash on my lips temporarily commands a less acid variety.
- Green Onions: Eaten from green to white, saving the best for last. If the blades have grown too tough, remove them and quarter the onion. Then peel a layer or two of the bulb for each bite. (Verify that any romantic interest has onion too, so bad breath goes unnoticed … or not, if you’re really hungry.)
Hungry Yet? There’s More!
- Baby Potatoes boiled in green beans: The potatoes require scraping rather than peeling since they’re so new. Or simply boil them in the peel.
- Although I avoid rattlesnakes (the animal) with all the respect their fangs deserve, rattlesnake beans are a shoo-in for a first-rate meal.
- Corn on the Cob: Definitely on the cob. This should be picked a few days before it’s fully mature. When I bite into those tender kernels, anyone sitting nearby needs to duck because the juice is going to fly! A few stray kernels at the edge of my mouth or on the nose of a tiny relative represent nothing less than pure visceral bliss.
- Cornbread: Made from scratch. I prefer the corner pieces with their extra crunch if all four haven’t been taken before the plate reaches my end of the table.
Extra Helpings or Dessert?
Dessert is optional. I prefer extra helpings of all the above over any sweet treat offered. Nevertheless, I’ve been known to force down a bowl of hot cherry cobbler à la mode. The pucker power of fresh cherries from our orchard mixed with the cobbler and ice cream’s sweetness makes saying, “No, thanks,” impossible.
Best Meal Memories
Until his death, Dad always began the meal with prayer. I must confess that, with taste buds in overdrive, my thoughts often echoed my younger brother’s request for a short one. I can’t help but believe that God understands and takes pleasure in our wholehearted enjoyment.
Add to all these delicacies a houseful of relatives and whoever else happened by during the summer, and we were set for a feast finer than any kings.
The Best Meal of Every Year Awaits
I’ve tried to replicate this menu and have come close. Yet it’s not the same when I cook it myself in an air-conditioned kitchen; I have no sweat beading on my face, requiring periodic swipes with an apron tail. Come to think of it, Mom had air conditioning in her later years and stopped wearing aprons. Oh well, she could still pull it off, in spite of the latest luxuries.
Of course, not even Mom’s greatest creations compare to the banquet waiting for believers in heaven. Eternity in the presence of our Savior who offers nothing but the best of the best. Until then, enjoy your favorites but remember the best is yet to be.
Bon appétit!
“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9 NIV).
Thank you! And now, even though I’m still full from Thanksgiving, my mouth is watering!
Thoughts of it make my mouth water too, Maureen. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and pray this holy season fills your heart with joy.