Sunday Dinner

and a recipe

There have been a few online conversations arguing that get-togethers and connections have been limited due to the pressure to make everything look aesthetically pleasing, especially amid the rise in popularity of highly curated dinner parties and craft nights. While I agree that there are pressures to have the picture perfect evening with friends, I think it’s a bit more complicated.

We are living further away from our close family and friends, which is compounded by a strenuous 40-hour work week, hour-long commutes, and 48 hours to prioritize our needs outside that don’t align with capitalist requirements. So again, capitalism is the culprit, not our desires to make things pretty.

Now I am certainly not a stranger to managing long-distance relationships. I’m a new mom who lives 5 hours away from her dad, and 4 hours away from her mom. Most of my friends are scattered through parts of the I-95 corridor between VA and NY. This distance was established because of job opportunities - another reason to side eye capitalism. There are seasons when the distance feels manageable, and there are seasons when the distance feels isolating in ways that I struggle to put into words.

The older I get, the easier it is for me to boldly say that my friends are my family. I don’t have siblings close in age, so the friends that I have chosen have a special place in my life. So when I think about ways to disrupt how capitalism and its evil are keeping my friends tired and disconnected, I decided to bring back Sunday dinners.

When I was younger, I always romanticized Sunday Dinners. The idea that you get to see all of your family on a regular Sunday and eat your favorite foods - an absolute dream to a Cancer rising. So I’m bringing back Sunday Dinners with my friends. A standing dinner twice a month. An open invitation, no calendar invites. Something to look forward to. There won’t always be pretty table settings or a high effort menu, but there will always be a good time, and that’s the focus.

All this talk about Sunday dinners has me thinking about one of my favorite comfort meals: turkey meatballs, collard greens, mashed potatoes, and onion gravy.

Let’s get into the recipe notes.