A few months ago while making out a meal plan for the week I realized we were in a meal rut. You know, the same things all the time. We had talked with some of our friends about having a thai food night once a month with them, but with all of our hectic schedules, the timing just never seemed to work out.
Hungry for something fresh and new, I spent a few days thinking about different ways to change things up yet make it easier to plan meals and grocery shopping. Adam suggested we assign a type of food to each day of the week (i.e. Tuesday is casserole night, Wednesday is chicken night...) and we can try new recipes according to what night it is. Fantastic idea! I set about sorting it immediately and a short while later had a good plan.
It was good, but I still felt like it needed to be more fun. That's when I had this wonderful idea: Foreign Food Friday! I got out slips of paper and pens and a quart sized mason jar, sat all the kids down at the table and explained the plan. They were to write down the names of some countries that sounded interesting to them on the slips of paper and put them into the jar. Then, every Sunday after dinner we would take turns choosing one. Whatever country was chosen would be the focus of research that week and on Friday we would share a typical meal eaten in that country and learn some things we may not have known about its culture.
The idea was a hit! Everyone loved thinking up new countries to add to the jar. Brielle got to choose the first slip.........Ireland! Let me tell you something: Irish people really know the meaning of comfort food! We made Irish stew, soda bread and homemade apple pie (whose crust was made with sour cream and turned out to be the best one I've ever made).
We have since extended the invitation to the friends with whom it was so hard to coordinate schedules and they joined us for our last Foreign Food Friday: Thailand. It was a blast! We have since decided to do Foreign Food Friday every other week in order to do more research and allow time for hunting down those sometimes elusive foreign ingredients. I believe our friends will be joining us for every Foreign Food Friday and I am looking forward to the next one: Russia! If anyone has any fantastic foreign recipes they'd like to share with us I would be very glad to get them. Hopefully, as this might very well become tradition in our house, I will be able to add a few photos with recipes next time.
Till then, take care and explore the amazing depths of your culinary culture if you dare....it could be eye opening and wonderful fun.
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