No flexibility here unless it is something really, really important. "Supper" is at 6pm sharp! I am very, very, good at getting the complete meal set out on the counter promptly at 6. We fill our plates at the counter and DH takes them to the table. I give him a 10 minute before the hour warning by saying, "you should be in the kitchen getting ready". You wouldn't believe the things he suddenly is 'compelled' to do on his way. He will check the tv listings, change into his evening loafing clothes, does his blood sugar, then may decide to update his blood sugar log with the last 2 weeks results. While filling his insulin syringe he will decide it's time to change to a new bottle and replenish the syringe supply from a back room closet. Gets side tracked while washing his hands and may decide that now is the time to clip his nails etc, etc. Once in the kitchen, now may be the time to refill the water jug, pick the label off an empty pill bottle, or wash a pot or two. Meanwhile, I have filled my plate and am sitting at the table waiting for him to bring my now barely warm food. Drives me crazy!

Walnut Creek, your request for a recipe led me to the box with the recipes written on scraps of paper bags, fancy embossed stationery, and notebook paper, all in the beautiful handwriting of long gone family....my mother, her mother, her mother's mother, and aunts from two generations. On the top of my mother's recipe is the phone number of the butcher whom she had "trained" to select and grind the meats for her. Thank you! Grandmother's Ham Loaf 1 lb. Coarsely ground ham 1 lb. Ground pork, not too fatty 1/2 lb. (or more) Ground chuck 2 large eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup cracker crumbs (crushed white crackers) 1/2 tsp chopped parsley S&P Baste with: 1/2 cup each brown sugar, white vinegar, and water 1 T dry mustard. Simmer the baste ingredients for five minutes. Baste the loaf several times while baking. [One large loaf or two smalls. Grease the pans.] Bake for 60 minutes @ 350. My Mother's Hamloaf 1 egg 1 lb coarsely ground ham 1 lb coarsley ground pork, lean 1 cup tomato juice 1 cup cracker crumbs 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped green pepper Same mustard sauce as a baste. Short cut: buy the cuts of ham and pork (and beef) and let the butcher grind them together. Coarse grind is a must. I'm sure that there are lots of recipes on line, too. P.S. MAKES THE BEST SANDWICHES, EVER.

I didn't grow up eating dessert seven days a week, and neither did my DH. After dinner we'll hand wash a pot or pan and knives, load the dishwasher, and usually read in the living room. We may have a little milk with a sweet there before bed -- a cookie or small piece of cake or pie. (We will have had tea and a sweet around 3 p.m., so we don't want a lot more sweets at night.) DH unloads the dishwasher and we clean up and go to bed. I couldn't drink half a bottle of wine with dinner. Who'd clean up the kitchen while I slept? We each have a drink (gin or bourbon) before we eat dinner --fortification for watching the evening news. Water with dinner. We only drink coffee in the morning.

It varies. It used to be dictated by one sister because as she has children, any and all schedules MUST be convenient for them, (none of my other siblings are like this, they all have children and understand that they wont DIE if they are a little more hungry than usual at mealtime). My mother always complied because the rest of us are more flexible and it was easier, even though it ticked me off. And to make it worse, that sister and her family are always always always LATE, even when she picked the mealtime, and then she blames it on having 6 kids. Its a vicious cycle. Or it was. But, as all her kids are getting older, and admittedly, I have become more obstinate about it, it is more flexible.(They are still always late, by an hour or so) I remember growing up it was at 3 pm. Always. Why I am not sure. When i started cooking the meal,I was still living at home and therefore cooked the whole meal there. I could not (still cant) STAND people in the kitchen PICKING at things because they were hungry, and then when the meal was ready everyone was full. Now that i make most of the meal at my own home the day before, well, the meal is when i show up and finish it. So there. This year I am hoping my mother will agree that a 12-1 pm mealtime will be okay. I have to be at work at 5 am the next morning because someone is on vacation that week and i am to cover her shift that day. Day shifts are pretty rough on me, rougher than they have been in years past, and i find i need more rest beforehand than i used to to be useful. They live about 45 minutes away, and i will be there early to start the turkey and other things, So I am hoping to leave around 3, 4 at the latest, get home, and get into bed.Besides, I have always thought such a big meal should be eaten at midday, then the leftovers can be picked at later when everyone gets hungry again. The only obstacle would be the above mentioned sister, who will be bringing some sweet potato thing and corn casserole. Normally i cook everything. But no matter to me anyway. I have NO reservations about serving the meal at the time it was announced that it would be served,whether or not they and their dishes are there.. They can put a plate in the microwave to reheat it when they get there. And that system doesn't seem to bother them either. It used to. She really expected us to wait, all the food ready, for her to show up and put whatever in the oven and wait for it to be done to eat. Nope. She learned the hard way.