Sunday after church was almost always the same growing up.  A quick change out of church clothes if I was lucky, then my mom would load up her platter of deviled eggs and we would be off on a short drive to Grandma’s for Sunday dinner.  All five of my uncles, their wives and all the cousins would be at my grandparents farm, throwing horseshoes and letting kids jump out of the hayloft at the top of the barn.  Ruby, my grandmother and amazing Southern woman, fried chicken and prepared dish upon dish of Southern comfort food for her family like it was her religious duty every Sunday afternoon.  As a young child, I recall looking up to her tea ‘pot’ perched on the front corner burner of the electric stove.  However, her tea pot was a stock pot full of sweet tea, enough for all.  Only the adults sat in the dining room, kids were lucky to get a seat at the small red kitchen table or any other open seat, to enjoy the meal before us.  Trust me when I say I can taste the squash fritters and fried okra to this day, and Ruby’s chicken which was like no other, so much that I still crave it.

The art of Sunday supper, or Sunday Dinner, seems to be slowly be fading into one of “those old Southern traditions”.  Traditions from the past, fading but not forgotten.  Just like the farm of my childhood, which is now a strip mall covering the areas where we played barefoot as a kid.

Traditions, old and new.  Change is good, although hard at times, we carry on.  Tonight at our house we are enjoyed one of our family traditions, Grilled Carolina Treet Chicken, (that is not a typo either).   Years ago a neighbor introduced my parents to this fabulous marinade made in Wilmington, NC.  Carolina Treet really is a “treat” you should try.  Tonight and many more nights to come, we will relish the art of Sunday supper and get ready for the week ahead.    Our Sunday Supper menu is below. And in case you did not grow up here and are scratching your head about the whole supper/dinner thing, Sunday dinner means lunch and Sunday supper is what we commonly refer to as dinner.

Sunday Supper- night on the Grill

Carolina Treet BBQ Chicken…

We like to marinate our chicken in a Ziploc bag with about 1/2 cup Carolina Treet marinade and plenty of apple cider vinegar to well cover all pieces of chicken.  I swear the vinegar just makes magic with the chicken in that bag!  Marinate overnight, then grill your chicken low and slow instead of a hot grill where the meat tends to not finish cooking before the skin is charred.  We slowly begin to baste ours about 3/4 of the way trhough cooking.  All said and done, we grilled the chicken for about 45 minutes flipping often.

Rice with Avocado & Pickled Red Onion

Grilled Zucchini & Squash with Fresh Thyme & Lemon, Chopped Tomatoes-

Drizzle with chunks of zucchini and squash with  olive oil, grill to your preference.  When done garnish with chopped tomatoes that have been sitting in their juices while you’ve been grilling and serve.

BBQ Bread on the grill–

Another family tradition that is old school “oh so good”.  I like to butter each piece of bread and then grill it until golden brown on each side.  Tonight I used some garlic herb butter (a Julia’s Take away Gourmet specialty) and it was divine!

 

Just a few things I wanted to share of the simple pleasures in my life.  I hope it helps inspire you to enjoy the best of food and life, too.