Comments on: Family Dinner Night

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:06:33 +0000

My friends and I were thinking about doing something similar but rotating the host every month or so. Love the idea!

By: lynne

lynne — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:26:41 +0000

We do this too. My son started having Sunday dinner for our family after my husband passed away. Then friends came, & neighbors, & it grew & grew. My son currently lives with me, but a family down the street took over.The host decides on the main course & the rest of us bring sides (or contribute to the main course) & desserts. We have been doing this for several years & it is a great way to socialize. (We also do a Monday night football & certain holidays in addition to the weekly dinner).

By: Caroline

Caroline — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:05:01 +0000

Awesome – totally want to do this!

By: Steffie

Steffie — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:47:54 +0000

Great Idea ! But I wouldn’t start a new thing so soon after a new baby. There will already be adjustments to get used to, not just the adults but the children have to get used to a new baby and having Mommie around all day.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:29:29 +0000

Love it, love it! We used to do this in college, although usually more potluck style. I’ve moved to a new area about 9 months ago and then I finally have enough of a social group to start doing this again. Thanks for the nudge!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:25:58 +0000

My husband and I have been doing this since Christmas. Almost every Sunday my family (43, if everyone comes)is invited to dinner. We have usually two entrees, spaghetti and lasagna or chili and Southwest chicken soup for example. Everyone brings something, entree, salad, fruit, dessert, bread, drinks. We have had from 12 to 23 and not always the same people. Several nephews are college students in town, so they enjoy a home cooked meal. We ususally play cards or a game afterwards or before dinner if we get together early enough. Ages range from my dad at 80 to my grandson at 18 months. I usually host as my house is the most centrally located. It is fun to see the college kids playing “Go Fish” with the pre-schoolers. My 16 year old niece told me recently, “I love Sunday nights at your house.” What a compliment!

By: BonzoGal

BonzoGal — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:06:07 +0000

Dean- I want to come to your family dinners! I loooove curries.

By: Dean

Dean — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:33:42 +0000

One dish we often serve up at family dinners like this is a curry, it can be made for a reasonable amount, can be left on a low heat once cooked, the accompaniments (rice and/or naan bread) are cheap. Can also serve lots of starters like bhajis, samosas and pakora.

By: kristine

kristine — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:45:37 +0000

I only say something becasue normally I would just be turned off by this, with the same feeling I get when someone “plops” food onto my plate messily, and just stop reading the blog. But I like this blog, and I figure that if the wheel squeaks- you might just fix it. It is not the same as commenter typos and mistakes, as no one here is commenting for profession.

By: kristine

kristine — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:41:26 +0000

You may want to count to ten and double-check articles before posting. In a good article like this, it denotes a lack of care in the exectution that does not do justice to the care you put into the content. It’s like working really hard to be healthy and look fit, but then dressing sloppily. More typos than me is hard to come by!

By: Michele

Michele — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:58:35 +0000

We used to do something like this once a week in our neighborhood in the summer. The ‘host’ (we took turns) would drag the BBQ out to the street, tables were dragged over to the host’s driveway, and everyone started showing up with salads, desserts, tortillas, bottles of wine, paper plates and such. The host usually provided the BBQ dish- burgers, dogs, chicken, fish, ribs, whatever. All the kids would play in that front yard and we would show Disney movies on a sheet on the side of the house.We always dragged out our portable firepit. Even though everyone in that neighborhood has moved away we still visit! Actually, we became such close friends with one neighbor that we moved to Oregon and continue our weekly dinners, although in the winter we eat inside because of the snow:) and a jacuzzi has taken the place of the firepit!

By: Leah

Leah — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:53:12 +0000

love it! we’re working on starting something like this up where I live. There’s a bunch of us who like playing games, and it would be nice to get together once a month for games and dinner. We actually did this in college — it let all of us get a homecooked meal without blowing the budget. When you’re in college, it is sometimes hard to buy a lot of veggies or meat because I wouldn’t always eat them before they went bad. (Even when I didn’t have a meal plan, I’d often find myself at free food events or invited somewhere for dinner even when I planned to cook.) We’d all get together and make a big mess of something, like spaghetti or pad thai.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:25:37 +0000

Great idea. This would be a fun thing to do as a picnic in a park during the summer months. That way no one would have to feel they have to spend all day cleaning the house for the event.

By: BonzoGal

BonzoGal — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:02:52 +0000

My husband wants to start doing this, along with a regular showing of a series of videos- he’s chosen “I, Claudius”. We’re going to host ‘drop in’ dinners and a movie/show on a set day of the week. Low-intensity socializing FTW!

By: NMPatricia

NMPatricia — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:18:45 +0000

This is definitely a keeper of an idea. Makes me think of the possibilities for my goal of expanding my social circle. We moved about a year ago and have a really hard time meeting people. This way, do a potluck and have people bring a couple of other people. I might wait until I have enough companionable people to make a core group. Thanks for the inspiration.

This is the reason why I keep reading. For awhile now, I have wondered whether this blog was worth my time. Not that it isn’t worthy. But I no longer have debt and have most of the other aspects under control. But this is the sort of thing that has far ranging effects beyond frugality.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:00:15 +0000

My family has a weekly variation of this. My only relatives nearby are my mom and sister. Once a week we get together for dinner, rotating homes and cooking responsibilities. We keep it super casual, things like spaghetti, meatloaf, tacos, etc are usually the menu. It’s a great way to spend time together with very little expense. After dinner we usually play cards or a board game – that week’s hostess gets to pick.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:52:44 +0000

I have friends who do something similar on Sundays. The dinner is typically spaghetti–they supply teh spaghetti, others sauces, salads, snacks, desserts, beverages.

By: J

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:33:36 +0000

“includes everyone important to them, regardless of whether they’re” …. the sentence isn’t complete.

This sounds like a nice idea, though. I used to host events like this where people would come over. We also played a lot of penny poker.