Groaning Chairs

As you know, food plays a large part of the holidays in the winter... And if you read here yesterday, you know about the Sunday dinner I invited my parents to today. I like to plan ahead, do ahead and have the "party" be as relaxed and flowing as possible.

Last night, I cleaned the diningroom and set the table.

Looks pretty festive, don't you think?

Close up shot. That's our wedding china which doesn't quite go with the holiday placemats and table cloth. Mom offered me her holiday china (white with a ring of holly and berries around it) since I'll probably be the one doing the china holiday meals. This year, she finally gave in to Chinette. With no dishwasher and lots of people to feed, it made much more sense. MY dishwasher works, so I use dishes.

As I was cleaning house this morning, my brother Matt called to see if we wanted to come have breakfast with him at Brooma before he drove back to Atlanta. Since we probably wouldn't be seeing much of him in the future (Korea and all), I said sure! One of his lady friends and brother Jerry also made it.

Brooma is the restaurant that we went to in the "Early Girls" post. Darling Man and ZBoy discovered this little restaurant at the end of a strip mall a few years ago and we've been regulars ever since. The waitresses treat us all like family, greeting us with hugs when we arrive. ZBoy is a special favorite.

I've taken various family members there over the years, and what I didn't know is that Matt was also a regular. We just never were regular at the same time. When DM, ZBoy and I showed up, Cindy the waitress was about to show us to a table when Matt looked up and waved us over. She had no idea we were related.

Marvelous breakfast ensued, with Jerry ordering extra biscuit and Matt deciding that he wanted to some chocolate chip pancakes. This is what Cindy brought him:

Too funny!!!

A good time was had by all, followed by hugs and goodbyes before we headed back home to finish getting ready for the Sunday dinner.

Unfortunately, I was so busy that I never picked up my camera again, but the lamb turned out wonderfully, the broccoli was tender, the new potatoes perfect. I ran out of time to try the Yorkshire pudding, so we had crescent rolls instead. Mom brought a squash casserole and I made a chocolate pudding pie (sugar free). It was delicious, the conversation scintillating and a good time was had by all.

And it's all cleaned up - almost before dinner was over as I loaded the dishwasher while clearing the table. I love when things work out like that because then I can just relax when it's all over!