Poem: "Sunday Dinner"
Feb. 5th, 2019 07:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis is today's freebie, inspired by prompts from mashfanficchick, gingicat, and torc87. It belongs to the series Love Is For Children.
"Sunday Dinner"
The concept of family was
integral to the team, but also
a touchy topic in Avengers Tower.
Phil pointed out to Steve and Bucky
that despite their hardships, they had
better memories of childhood than
most of their teammates did.
Sure, they all had Game Night
to share now, but they needed
more than that to make a life.
"Okay, I get that," Steve said,
rubbing a hand through his hair.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Well, can you think of
any other family traditions
or rituals that you enjoyed
and want to share?" Phil said.
"I ... don't know," Steve said.
"I mean, I remember plenty, but
I'm not sure if any of that would
really appeal to modern folks."
"Sunday dinner," Bucky blurted.
"Everybody used to do that, and
now hardly anyone eats together.
It's bad for family, bad for friends,
when you don't do that. So we
should bring it back. Besides,
everyone on our team loves food!"
"That's a good idea," Steve said.
"People copy what we do, so we
might as well take advantage of it.
We already have Game Night for
the team, but we don't really have
a time to bring in our friends."
"I'm inviting Daveed," said Bucky.
"We could ask Dr. Samson too,"
said Steve. "He already knows
at least half of the team."
"I'll pass the word," Phil said,
taking out his smartphone.
When they went down to
Tony's workshop in person
because he wasn't answering
his phone, Steve explained
the new Sunday Dinner idea.
Tony blinked for a moment.
"Okay. I'm inviting Rhodey."
"Hey, we can call Sam too,"
said Bucky. "He's comfortable
with us even when we're squirrelly."
When Betty heard of the plan,
she said, "I'll ask Tiffany in Publicity.
We need more women around here."
"She is not wrong," Bruce said.
When Sunday rolled around, Steve
and Bucky took over the kitchen. They
made roasted pork with blackberry sauce,
steamed green beans, honey-roasted carrots,
four-cheese macaroni and cheese, and
apple-pear crumble for dessert.
Nobody had asked anyone
to bring a dish, but Sam brought
African pumpkin bread pudding.
Rhodey came in carrying
a huge carton of strawberries
that made Tony laugh for
some reason they didn't
explain to anyone else.
Dr. Samson and Daveed
showed up with a basket
of poppyseed challah rolls.
"Forward ... forward ..."
JARVIS chanted, and
everyone turned to look.
Tiffany was coming in with
a fruit basket so big that
she couldn't see over it.
"That is a lot of fruit,"
Clint said, staring at it.
"It's not like we won't finish
the extra food," Natasha said
with a philosophical shrug.
Bucky clapped his hands.
"Okay, kids, gather 'round,"
he said. "Steve's gonna
say grace, then we'll go
around the table telling
how our week went."
They shuffled around a bit,
since none of the younger folks
were used to the traditional ritual,
but Bucky was an old hand at this.
He got them herded neatly into
their places, just like a handler
managing a team, and Steve
fell in right alongside him.
Exactly where they should be.
* * *
Notes:
Family traditions are important for human bonding. Sharing meals creates family ties, and Sunday dinner has many benefits.
Among the favorite recipes for Sunday dinner are roasted pork with blackberry sauce and green beans, four-cheese macaroni and cheese, honey-roasted carrots, and apple-pear crumble. Challah is a traditional Jewish bread. Pumpkin is a big part of black cuisine, such as this African pumpkin bread pudding. Pepper is allergic to strawberries, as mentioned in Iron Man 2, so Rhodey brings them to tease Tony because they are always jerking each other's chain.
A fruit basket makes a great host gift for most occasions. Knowing the Avengers, Tiffany went all out. There is about half a bushel of assorted fruit and snacks in that thing. Learn how to make your own fruit basket.
mashfanficchick, gingicat, and torc87. It belongs to the series Love Is For Children."Sunday Dinner"
The concept of family was
integral to the team, but also
a touchy topic in Avengers Tower.
Phil pointed out to Steve and Bucky
that despite their hardships, they had
better memories of childhood than
most of their teammates did.
Sure, they all had Game Night
to share now, but they needed
more than that to make a life.
"Okay, I get that," Steve said,
rubbing a hand through his hair.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Well, can you think of
any other family traditions
or rituals that you enjoyed
and want to share?" Phil said.
"I ... don't know," Steve said.
"I mean, I remember plenty, but
I'm not sure if any of that would
really appeal to modern folks."
"Sunday dinner," Bucky blurted.
"Everybody used to do that, and
now hardly anyone eats together.
It's bad for family, bad for friends,
when you don't do that. So we
should bring it back. Besides,
everyone on our team loves food!"
"That's a good idea," Steve said.
"People copy what we do, so we
might as well take advantage of it.
We already have Game Night for
the team, but we don't really have
a time to bring in our friends."
"I'm inviting Daveed," said Bucky.
"We could ask Dr. Samson too,"
said Steve. "He already knows
at least half of the team."
"I'll pass the word," Phil said,
taking out his smartphone.
When they went down to
Tony's workshop in person
because he wasn't answering
his phone, Steve explained
the new Sunday Dinner idea.
Tony blinked for a moment.
"Okay. I'm inviting Rhodey."
"Hey, we can call Sam too,"
said Bucky. "He's comfortable
with us even when we're squirrelly."
When Betty heard of the plan,
she said, "I'll ask Tiffany in Publicity.
We need more women around here."
"She is not wrong," Bruce said.
When Sunday rolled around, Steve
and Bucky took over the kitchen. They
made roasted pork with blackberry sauce,
steamed green beans, honey-roasted carrots,
four-cheese macaroni and cheese, and
apple-pear crumble for dessert.
Nobody had asked anyone
to bring a dish, but Sam brought
African pumpkin bread pudding.
Rhodey came in carrying
a huge carton of strawberries
that made Tony laugh for
some reason they didn't
explain to anyone else.
Dr. Samson and Daveed
showed up with a basket
of poppyseed challah rolls.
"Forward ... forward ..."
JARVIS chanted, and
everyone turned to look.
Tiffany was coming in with
a fruit basket so big that
she couldn't see over it.
"That is a lot of fruit,"
Clint said, staring at it.
"It's not like we won't finish
the extra food," Natasha said
with a philosophical shrug.
Bucky clapped his hands.
"Okay, kids, gather 'round,"
he said. "Steve's gonna
say grace, then we'll go
around the table telling
how our week went."
They shuffled around a bit,
since none of the younger folks
were used to the traditional ritual,
but Bucky was an old hand at this.
He got them herded neatly into
their places, just like a handler
managing a team, and Steve
fell in right alongside him.
Exactly where they should be.
* * *
Notes:
Family traditions are important for human bonding. Sharing meals creates family ties, and Sunday dinner has many benefits.
Among the favorite recipes for Sunday dinner are roasted pork with blackberry sauce and green beans, four-cheese macaroni and cheese, honey-roasted carrots, and apple-pear crumble. Challah is a traditional Jewish bread. Pumpkin is a big part of black cuisine, such as this African pumpkin bread pudding. Pepper is allergic to strawberries, as mentioned in Iron Man 2, so Rhodey brings them to tease Tony because they are always jerking each other's chain.
A fruit basket makes a great host gift for most occasions. Knowing the Avengers, Tiffany went all out. There is about half a bushel of assorted fruit and snacks in that thing. Learn how to make your own fruit basket.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 02:15 am (UTC)I got the strawberry reference even before the footnotes, and that is so what they'd do!
I can just see JARVIS guiding Tiffany like that, not to mention getting the doors... and that fruit basket will probably last a week, maybe less if Hulk shows up. [probably a LOT less if the big guy gets peckish]
Also, thank you for the Challah link. I've started making our own bread, since it works out a lot cheaper. [£1.50 for loaf.. 69p for a bag of flour that makes three loaves... not a hard choice!] and I was looking for more recipes.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 02:27 am (UTC)That makes me think--would JARVIS enjoy participating in a game where he guides a blindfolded player through some kind of obstacle course? It could be like a handler-asset exercise as well, pairing other people up to do the same. A kind of combination trust and spy skills challenge.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 02:33 am (UTC)Although, doesn't JARVIS sort of do that already with Tony when he's in his suit? I guess it might be interesting though to switch it up and have JARVIS guide someone else..
Yes ...
Date: 2019-02-06 02:40 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 02:32 am (UTC)Yay! :D
From the movies, I get the impression that Tony and Rhodey are dick friends. Rhodey tries to keep Tony more-or-less in line, and Tony pesters the hell out of him, and Rhodey gives it right back.
>> I can just see JARVIS guiding Tiffany like that, not to mention getting the doors... <<
JARVIS is used to guiding people when they can't see, like if something blows up in Tony's face or he has a migraine.
>> and that fruit basket will probably last a week, maybe less if Hulk shows up. [probably a LOT less if the big guy gets peckish] <<
That fruit basket will last the Avengers a day. Remember, Steve eats about 4x normal for a highly active man, Bucky 3x, Natasha 2x, and most of the others are at least toward the high end of the normal scale.
>>Also, thank you for the Challah link. I've started making our own bread, since it works out a lot cheaper. <<
This is the challah recipe I use:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/best-challah-egg-bread/
Another favorite is a tricolor loaf called Brigid's Braid:
https://web.archive.org/web/20100213064806/http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usky&c=holidays&id=13395
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 02:39 am (UTC)and thank you for the recipes. I'm kinda having fun making bread, although it's complicated because if I make a really good one, I then have to figure out how to make a version without yeast, because my daughter wants to share and she and yeast do not get along! So far, so good..
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 03:49 am (UTC)https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Bread-Without-Yeast
http://happypreppers.com/no-yeast-bread.html
https://oureverydaylife.com/list-leavening-agents-27126.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Leavening_agents
http://www.eliyah.com/recipes.html
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 04:19 pm (UTC)What we call "biscuits"...
These are yummy and dead easy - slightly different from the shortening-based biscuits Southern Americans are used to... my little sister made these nearly 40 years ago, once or twice, and they're still memorable. I need to do these again. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/232810/easy-mayonnaise-biscuits/
From your own sceptre'd isle, scones... which can be savoury or sweet...
CORNBREAD. That's a whole separate discussion which has been had on here before.
And of course sourdough. Which frankly is only for those who make bread a LOT, because starter maintenance is relatively labour-intensive.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 07:21 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-06-08 10:23 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-06-08 10:50 am (UTC)Some people can eat ancestral wheat (e.g. einkorn, emmer) but not modern wheat that's been bred for more gluten.
Yeasts can be bred for many different purposes, and the ones for wine or or other spirits have somewhat divergent qualities than those for bread. All the commercial yeasts have more consistent qualities compared to wild yeast. So it would depend on whether someone was reacting to yeast as a live organism, the makeup of the yeast body itself, or something it produces. Some of those would be more likely to differentiate than others.
They act like corn is all the same thing, but I've known several people who could sometimes digest corn just fine and other times had a violent reaction. So they had to stop eating all of it, because they couldn't pin down the variable. My hypothesis is that it's either a gengineered frankencorn or a pesticide residue causing the problem. It's an occult variable, not on the label because nobody considers it a meaningful difference, but it sure as hell shows up as a difference in practice.
It's up to the individual to decide which boundaries they want to push, or not. Generally the more serious the risk, the less prudent it is to push. But if your limitations are causing problems, you're more likely to look for loopholes.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 02:45 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 02:55 am (UTC)I ran out of maple half way through a Maple & Pecan loaf, and used honey. Oh boy! Tastiest accident ever!
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 02:57 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 03:02 am (UTC)I think I just found a use for that.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 03:55 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 03:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 02:23 am (UTC)Tiffany's fruit basket is impressive. I wonder if offerings like that would peter out if this becomes a regular thing, to be replaced more with smaller dishes. The fruit basket seems more like a gift than a side dish. *shrug* Just thinking aloud! It's nice to imagine them turning this into a regular occurrence in their broader circle, and how it might change over time.
We never did Sunday dinner as such in my house, but that's because we always eat a (homemade) meal together each night. We're not good about dinner conversation, though--I sort of like the idea of having that over dinner like Bucky organizes, rather than done sort of at random during the dinner assembly and pet feeding stages.
Thoughts
Date: 2019-02-06 02:48 am (UTC)The selections will probably adapt to the tastes of the people who usually attend.
>> The fruit basket seems more like a gift than a side dish. <<
Remember they're feeding Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Betty, Tony, Phil and this week's guests are Daveed, Dr. Samson, Rhodey, Sam, and Tiffany. That is 13 people -- before counting the fact that Steve eats 4x the norm for a highly active man, Bucky 3x, Natasha 2x, and the others toward the high end of normal. That probably adds up to at least 20 appetites. If they follow the standard potluck rule of bringing a dish to serve 8 people, it won't go very far. There is a reason they bake things in sheet pans.
And of course, Steve and Bucky grew up in the Depression. If you put fresh fruit in front of them, they will devour it because they're not used to having it.
>>I sort of like the idea of having that over dinner like Bucky organizes, rather than done sort of at random during the dinner assembly and pet feeding stages.<<
The bigger the group, the harder it is for everyone to catch up with all the other people. Organizing a certain type of conversation around the table solves this problem and provides a starter topic. Some families always use the same prompt, like "How was your day/week?" while others vary among things like "What's the funniest thing you heard recently?" or "What new thing have you learned?"
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 03:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 04:30 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2019-02-06 04:33 am (UTC)I'm glad you liked it. When I got the prompt, I realized that the Avengers have had Game Night for themselves, but little if anything to connect them with other people.
>> I bet everyone had a WONDERFUL time, <<
Oh yeah. They'll all be asking when they can do that again. Well, every week, and it just depends which of the Avenger friends are available at the time.
>> & I'm totally gonna make that roast pork. <<
:D It does sound good. Pork with blackberry is delicious.
Saying grace...
Date: 2019-02-06 04:25 pm (UTC)NSTIW, Mother's Day dinner, *after* I'd walked away from the church but before *anyone* knew who and what I was other than them as already were themselves... and maybe my UU housemate what started this long strange trip... and I get tapped to say grace. ohshitohshitohshit improvise like hell, bear...
"For this food, for this fellowship, for the ones who made it, to the One who made all mothers, we give thanks. Amen." *PHEW!* (or something along those lines, it's been thirty years...)
I think, perhaps, looking back, that's someone I've always been, someone who can translate Witch to Christian and vicey-versy and not get folks all wound up about it unless they need to be.
(Shades of Dar Williams... :)
Re: Saying grace...
Date: 2019-02-06 09:13 pm (UTC)That's good.
I can actually do it too, and I'm good at nondenominational prayers.
Ironically, I remember some of the Christian ones I learned at Girl Scouts ... the ones with really really Pagan vibes. I still like this one:
The Lord's been good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need
The sun and the rain and the appleseeds
Oh, the Lord's been good to me.
No name, and all the references are Pagan as fuck. :D
"Hey, Greenman, you're getting that Christian guy's postcards again."
"So? It's still addressed to me. Besides, I like that picture."
Re: Saying grace...
Date: 2019-02-06 11:23 pm (UTC)Re: Saying grace...
Date: 2019-06-08 10:26 am (UTC)Thanks for the grub
AMEN"
You shout the amen as loudly as possible and then devour food. Usually said on camping trips with Girl Scouts. I don't know if you got that one, but it's hilarious.
Of course!
Date: 2019-02-06 05:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-06 07:34 pm (UTC)Popping in...
Date: 2019-02-07 01:08 am (UTC)I’m not sure about Tiffany. Sorry.