Sunday dinner with the family... Yep, more food shots. Brace yourself!

Home made peach ice cream and fried chicken! Woohooo! I almost feel bad for ya, never havin' really experienced this meal. You poor things. Deprived!



The routine is driven into my DNA. We've been doin' this ever since before I can remember. Ever since the day when we used to crank it by hand, one person crankin' while another sat on top to steady the can. My talents shifted from sittin' to crankin' by about the age of 8 or 10.



Mom's shifted from one kind of fryer to another, and is never quite satisfied with what she does. I guess that's the sign of a good cook. A perfectionist. Of course, we never complain!



With the four of us eating now, Mom's got to fry up enough white meat (top batch) for three. The girls all prefer the breast. Yep, that bottom plate us just for me. Mmmm, I loves me some dark meat! No, I didn't eat it all in one sitting. I got to take a bag of it home. Finished it off a few days later.

I said the four of us... This was the first time since daddy died that we gathered for this feast. My mother, sister, Denise and I. It's the first time I can remember when Dad wasn't around to share the legs and thighs with me. He was missed, but we didn't linger on it too much.



My "job", if you can call it that, is to show up on time (critical!), bring a bag of ice (large bag), and get the ice cream machine goin'.



Easy peasy! Just make sure you ad enough rock salt and keep the ice topped off. When the machine finally grinds to a halt, presto!



In the end, I open the container and serve out the glasses of home made peach ice cream.



Mom always gets the first plate. White meat only. Dad used to get the second, but this time I gave it to sis. Denise came third, and I was fourth. I was ready, just in case Denise got bent out of shape at being third in line. I would have told her "Hey, the sweetest ice cream is always at the bottom of the bin, but you can go sooner if you want". But she didn't say anything. She ain't like that.

Anyway, she was busy herself. I'd said something when we got there, maybe whimpering a bit, about her getting the blender out and whippin' up some strawberry daiquiris to go with the food.

She's REALLY good at this sort of thing. Loves Mom's blender and loves to play with it.

So, as I dished out the goods at one end of the counter, she was pouring glasses of this sweet goodness at the other.

So, do you think we overdid it? Hmmm???

Well, maybe. But time has gone by and we wanted to have a family day. I try not to get into a dark mood about it, but these days will end some time, inevitably, and I don't want to waste any opportunities. I guess dad's passing has made me, us, think that we shouldn't put anything off any more.

One of the thoughts that comes to me now and then, torturing me, is the idea that being the youngest person in my family, I'm gonna have to sit back and watch everyone in my extended family die. Everyone that means something to me. I can make the chicken, and I can probably make the ice cream, but none of it will taste the same then. Anyway, putting it all together will probably be too painful. So I don't piss around any more. We take the time to enjoy one another while we can. I guess, having been so stupid, having missed out on so much, I'm determined to squeeze the most out of whatever's left.

That's what the Friday dinners and the busy weekends are all about. We were plannin' another tomorrow, but Mom has a cold. I'm slowly gettin' over mine, but now she'd puny, so she called me today and told me that Friday was off. It's a bummer, but we'll probably go over some time over the three day weekend and see her. She says she's got a roast, so there'll be more food shots next week. What the hell would you do if I didn't put my gluttony on display? Go on a diet? Pffft!

Anyway, you guys take care and we'll talk again tomorrow. Cheers!