Sunday night supper at the Pannabecker homestead always meant popcorn, veggies, fruit, cheese, and once in awhile...pop or milkshakes. Growing up in the 50s-60s-70s was the era of family-style eating, something that many of today's family find simply impossible. And yes, that probably ages me. So what?

Anyway, in my family, there were two things that we looked forward to on Sunday nights: having soft drinks (a rarity) and being allowed to eat wherever we wanted. And read while we ate. Oh, that's three things. When we finally got a tv, I suppose we ended up watching tv and eating. I preferred to read (still do). I'm a nerd.

So when our kids were little, we began following that tradition of popcorn, veggies, cold cuts, cheese, pop, etc. Along the way, we changed the menu from time to time, but essentially, it was usually whatever was in the fridge. These days, Fred often bakes cornbread on Sunday afternoon, and we find an old tv show to watch. Which, actually, we do every night, but don't tell our daughters. They think we are still the picture of their childhoods, eating at the table every night.

Since daughter number one is home for a few days -- it's Easter break from teaching and studying at Kent State and her teeth demanded a visit with Dr. Jordan, we invited Grandma P. to eat supper with us tonight. Typical of our usual Sunday night fare, there will be popcorn, veggies, hummus (a more recent addition), babybel cheese, flax seed foccacia, Fred's "No-Fly Zone Shoofly Pie", and at least one highly competitive round of Scrabble. This, of course, allows for casual dining, but with a caveat -- use lots of napkins. Nothing worse than food stuck to Scrabble tiles.

Oh, one more addition -- there will be wine (white, red, and Fred's favorite -- some version of Bailey's, which the rest of us find disgusting). Grandma doesn't get any -- she's driving. Too bad for her.

Just in case anyone wants to try baking today...here are two recipes: Focaccia-style Flax Bread and No Fly-Zone Shoofly Pie. The flax bread is especially good for those limiting their carbs. It can be eaten as is, toasted or used for sandwiches.

Foccacia-Style Flax Bread
(From www.about.com)
2 c. flax seed meal
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tbsp. sweetening power (I use Stevia to keep the carbs/sugar down)
5 beaten eggs (I used 1 whole egg and 5-8 egg whites, depending on the size of the egg)
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. oil
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare pan (1 10x15 pan with sides works best) with oild parchment paper or a silicone mat
Mix dry ingredients well. Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren't any obvious strings of egg white hanging out in the batter. Let batter set for 2-3 minutes to thicken up some (leave it too long and it gets past the point where it's easy to spread.)
Pour batter onto pan. Because it's going to tend to mound in the middle, you'll get a more even thickness if you spread it away from the center somewhat, in roughly a rectangle and inch or two from the sides of the pan. Make for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top or is visibly browning more than flax already is. Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want.

No Fly-Zone Shoofly Pie
(Variation on Mennonite Community Cookbook, p. 380)

1 unbaked pie crust (homemade or purchased)

Bottom part:
3/4 c. dark molasses
3/4 c. boiling water
1/2 tsp. soda

Top part:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter or shortening
1/2 c. brown sugar

Dissolve soda in hot water and add molasses. Combine sugar and flour and rub in the shortening to make crumbs. Pour 1/3 of liquid into unbaked pie crust. Add 1/3 of the crumb mixture. Continue alternating layers of crumbs and liquids -- crumbs should be on top.
Bake at 375 F. for 35 minutes.