GenealogyBlog

Do you remember Sunday supper at grandma’s house? What was for supper, how did it smell? Cooking and eating a family meal together brings out the best in families. Today in our busy lives it seems the family meal has long been forgotten.

I can not recall a whole lot about my grandparents as all four of them died either before I was born or when I was just a little kid. My Grandma Fox’s house was just a few minutes drive across town and we went there often on Sunday for supper. The smell of supper cooking and the warm inviting atmosphere is what I remember most. It was always a traditional Irish-American Food consisting of meat, potatoes and vegetables. Grandma Fox used to have a vegetable garden in her back yard. I’ve been told by my siblings that if grandma asked you if you wanted more and you said no, you’d only get a little bit more. If you asked for more, well let’s say you certainly wouldn’t leave the table hungry.

After dinner it was cleaning up the supper dishes. After the dishes were done, the cards would come out. The grown-ups would sit around the dinner table playing a game called set-back. It is also known as Pitch to some. Our family still plays set-back every time we get together.

Want to learn about your ancestor’s Sunday Supper? Ask your mom, grandma or any other older relative. Here are a few questions to ask.

• What do you remember most about Sunday’s supper at your mom or grandmas house?
• What was typically for supper?
• What recipes do you have of your mother or grandmother? Can I have a copy?
• What did you do after supper?
• Who was usually at the supper table?
• Where did everyone sit?

This Christmas when you get together to share a meal, ask these questions or some of your own. Try to ask open-ended questions where the answer can’t be a yes or no. Be sure to capture these memories on paper or even recorded.

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