9th Fourth Sunday Dinner

You are cordially invited to attend the

9^th

Fourth Sunday Dinner.

The theme for this month is:

Octoberfest

We will take turns each month hosting the dinner and preparing the main dish, hot side dish, cold side dish and dessert.  

We will rotate the food assignments and announce the main dish so you can coordinate the side dishes.

I am looking forward to sharing this Fourth Sunday with each one of you.

The place for the Fourth Sunday Dinner this month is:

Dad & Mom's Place

The main dish will be prepared by:

Dad & Mom

Main Dish: Beer Brats !

Hot side dish: Ben & Nicole & Liam

Cold side dish: Josh & Katie

Dessert: Jake & Vivi

Alcoholic beverages - Bring your own

Arrive at 4pm for gathering

Dinner at 5pm

8th Fourth Sunday Dinner

You are cordially invited to attend the

8th.

Fourth Sunday Dinner.

The theme for this month is:

Kid's Choice – Chinese

We will take turns each month hosting the dinner and preparing the main dish, hot side dish, cold side dish and dessert.  

We will rotate the food assignments and announce the main dish so you can coordinate the side dishes.

I am looking forward to sharing this Fourth Sunday with each one of you.

The place for the Fourth Sunday Dinner this month is:

Jake's Place

The main dish will be prepared by:Jake & Vivi

Main Dish: Various Oriental Meats!

Hot side dish: Dad & Mom

Cold side dish: Ben & Nicole & Liam.

Dessert: Josh & Katie

Alcoholic beverages- Bring your own

Arrive at 4pm for gathering

Dinner at 5pm

7th Fourth Sunday Dinner

You are cordially invited to attend the

7^th Fourth Sunday Dinner.

The theme for this month is:

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

The place for the Fourth Sunday Dinner this month is:

Josh & Katie's Place

PJ's required

The main dish will be prepared by:Josh & Katie

Main Dish: Omelet Bar

Hot side dish: Jake & Vivi

Cold side dish: Dad & Mom

Dessert: Ben & Nicole 

Alcoholic Drinks: Bring your own
Arrive at 4pm for gathering
Dinner at 5pm

6th Fourth Sunday Dinner

The theme for this month is: Founding Fathers (4^th of July)

I am looking forward to sharing this Fourth Sunday with each one of you.

The place for the Fourth Sunday Dinner this month is:

Ben & Nicole & Liam’s Place

The main dish will be prepared by: Ben & Nicole

Main Dish: Pot Roast

Hot side dish: Josh & Katie

Cold side dish: Jake & Vivi

Dessert: Dad & Mom

Alcoholic Drinks: Bring your own

Arrive at 4pm for gathering -- Dinner at 5pm

5th Fourth Sunday Dinner

The theme for this month is:

I am looking forward to sharing this Fourth Sunday with each one of you.

And welcoming the newest member of the del Campo family:

LIAM ARTHUR del CAMPO

The place for the Fourth Sunday Dinner this month is:

Dad & Mom's Place

The main dish will be prepared by:

Dad & Mom

Main Dish:

Hot Dogs & Hamburgers, of course!

Hot side dish: Ben & Nicole

Cold side dish: Josh & Katie

Dessert: Jake & Vivi

Alcoholic Drinks: Bring your own

Arrive at 4pm for gathering

Dinner at 5pm

4th Fourth Sunday Dinner

The place for the 4th Sunday Dinner this month is:

Jake's Place

The main dish will be prepared by:

Jake & Vivi

Main Dish: Mexican Meats and Tortillas

Hot side dish: Dad & Mom

Cold side dish: Ben & Nicole

Dessert: Josh & Katie

Alcoholic Drinks: Bring your own

Arrive at 4pm for gathering

Dinner at 5pm

3rd Fourth Sunday Dinner Comments!

 Well, we celebrated another Fourth Sunday Dinner – this time we all gathered at Josh and Katie’s new apartment.  The night began with some delicious cheese, crackers, olives and M&M snacks.  I made an “Irish Cocktail” called Peppermint Patty for a pre-dinner drink.  It was made with equal parts: Chocolate Vodka, White Crème de Cacao, Green Crème de Menthe, and Half & Half Cream.  Shake it over ice and poured into martini style glasses (or plastics!).

I could not decide what to make for my Irish cold side dish, so I improvised.  I took fresh spinach and mixed it with diced corned beef, diced gouda cheese, dried cranberries, tomatoes, and Irish Soda Bread croutons!  All this was topped with Sweet Mustard Salad Dressing.  It really came out better than I expected.

  We will be skipping April, since Easter Sunday is the right before the fourth Sunday of the month.  We will resume our dinners on Sunday, May 25 for a Cinco de Mayo Mexican Feast.   
Do you recognize my little Mexicanos?

3rd Fourth Sunday Dinner is almost here!

Believe it or not, the 3rd  Fourth Sunday is almost here!  So far, the first two Fourth Sunday Dinners were a huge success.  What a wonderful night of food, fun, love and laughter.  This is truly a blessing to our family togetherness.

Josh and Katie are going to “wow” us with their version of a St. Patrick’s Day favorite – corned beef and cabbage.  Mom and Dad have a special surprise for this month’s cocktail (a special recipe from a dear friend of Dad’s).  Just wait and you will see why it is so special. 

Before you know it, we will have a new member to join us at our Fourth Sunday Dinners, but it will be a while before he will be able to share in our meal, until the time comes when we can just blend it up and make it palatable for him. 

Well, see you there!  Love you all!

Well, the 2^nd Fourth Sunday dinner came upon us really fast.  Ben and Nicole said they almost forgot it was this weekend.  George and I spent the day finishing up our desserts – George made homemade cheese cake with fresh strawberries and strawberry glaze.  I made Raspberry Cream Cheese Tarts – super easy to make.  The recipe will be posted (I did not glaze them).

We arrived a little early and had some cheese and crackers appetizer along with some Spanish wine.  Ben and Nicole were busy making the ham.  I got to see the beautiful crib that Nicole’s dad sent her.  It’s really unique.  It goes from a crib to child day bed to full size bed.  We then welcomed Josh and Katie.  They brought some very yummy shrimp and bacon skewers with cinnamon chili powder rub.  Jacob showed up a few minutes later to prepare a gourmet tomato, mozzarella, and basil capreze salad.  Vivi showed up late since she was driving in from seeing her sister in West Palm Beach.  Jacob made sure he saved the whole dinner for her.  After dinner we talked and watched some of the Daytona 500 race (which was postponed 6 hours because of bad weather).  After dinner, the menfolk went outside and solved all the world’s problems, as usual, over cigars and fine whiskey!  Except Jacob – who cannot stand the smell of the cigars.  There was a promise made that night that the next Fourth Sunday after dinner menfolk meeting would be cigar-less so Jacob could join in on the world solving problem discussion.  All in all, it was a wonderful evening.  I love these dinners – great idea – even if I do say so myself!!! Get ready for March – Irish theme at Josh and Katie’s.

Homemade, Heart-Shaped Toaster Pastries  

By SARAH DIGREGORIO

Surprise your valentine with these pretty (and deceptively easy!) breakfast pastries.

Homemade Tarts

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Beat 1 large egg in a bowl. Unroll 2 sheets of refrigerated pie dough and cut out 3- to 4-inch heart shapes using cookie cutters. Arrange half the hearts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Top with about 1½ Tbsp ­filling (see below for ideas), leaving clean border all around. Generously moisten edges of remaining hearts with beaten egg (use your fingers or a ­pastry brush) and align 1 heart on top of each heart on baking sheet, pressing very firmly all around edges to seal ­fillings inside; crimp with a fork. Brush tops with more beaten egg. Bake until golden brown and slightly puffed, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool on a rack, then dip in Vanilla Glaze (see below) and immediately decorate with sprinkles, sanding sugar, or nonpareils.

Vanilla Glaze
Whisk 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 Tbsp milk, and 1 tsp vanilla until smooth. Tint with a few drops of food coloring.

Four Great Fillings
1. Cream cheese + raspberry jam
2. Marmalade + a drizzle of maple syrup
3. Thinly sliced banana + a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk
4 Cherry jam + Nutella

Second 4th Sunday

OK - here it goes.  We had our first 4th Sunday dinner and it was wonderful - as I stated in my comments after the dinner.  

So now we approach the next gathering - the Second 4th Sunday Dinner.  I am really looking forward to it. This time the dinner is on February 23rd and will be at Ben and Nicole's home.

George and I got the easy choice this month.  The theme is "Red, pink or sweet" and since we are making dessert this time, it's a no brainer - any dessert we make will fit the "sweet" theme!  

Ben and Nicole - Main dish
Josh and Katie - Hot side dish
Jake and Vivi - Cold side dish
Dad and Mom - Dessert

Well, it's almost time for the second 4th Sunday dinner - Ben, Nicole  - where are your comments from the first 4th Sunday dinner?

What is Fourth Sunday Dinner?

   

Well, here we go.  This is my first time blogging.

The name of my blog is "Fourth Sunday Dinner".  Why, you ask?

As my children have gotten older, gone on to their careers and started having their own outside interests, it seems like we are spending less and less time together.  So, I decided that on the Fourth Sunday of every month, we would get together for dinner.  My husband usually has off of work on the fourth Sunday of every month to participate in his men's group's (Knights of Columbus) monthly fundraising breakfast at our church.  So ... this seemed like the perfect Sunday to make plans to have some family time.

To make the Fourth Sunday Dinners more interesting, I decided that each month would have a theme and each participant would be responsible for a certain part of the meal.  Invitations would be sent (by me) for each dinner announcing the theme and the assignments.

The theme for January is: New - celebrating the new year.  This theme asks each person to prepare something they have not made before.  The assignments are:

Mom and Dad - Main dish
Ben and Nicole - Hot side dish
Josh and Katie - Cold side dish
Jacob and Vivi - Dessert

The dinner will be held at Mom and Dad's home this month.  Next month, the theme will be to make something Red, Pink or Sweet.  With the assignments moved up one; i.e. Ben and Nicole will be making the Main dish and the dinner will be held at their home.

There is also an added element.  Each person has to add to this blog something new that happened to them in the past year.  Other blog additions will be decided on each month.

I am really looking forward to starting this new family tradition and getting together with my family on a monthly basis.

I thank God every day for the wonderful husband and children He has allowed me to have.  I see so many families torn apart by divorce and problems with their children and, as I pray for their reconciliation and rekindling of the love they lost, I also look at my life and know how blessed I am.  Especially since my husband and I are about to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary.  

Oh, yeah, stay tuned. I will add a synopsis of our first dinner at the end of this month!