A Couple things you DO NOT want to see happen at the Supper table..

     Supper at our house has always been a sit down affair. I truly believe kids today don't get as much out of their home life as they should because it seems the family sit down dinner has become an "endangered species", so to speak. It seems more and more families eat take out, or fast food, or even eat dinner at separate times. I have always tried to have a good home cooked meal on the table at night for my family, and I think my children grew up enjoying that routine. Even today, when they get home from school, one of the first questions out of their mouths is "What's for supper?" Not that I cook every night mind you, I'm not SUPER MOM, after all. We do have a night where it is M.Y.O. as we call it..( Make your own..), but I do try most nights to have a good meal on the table.
     There have been a couple occasions where a little "something" happened, and it made the nightly supper a bit more interesting then usual. One instance happened a couple years ago, as we sat at the table chatting after we had finished eating. It was one of those funny moments you never forget...try as you might.
       It was a warm, early spring night, and everyone was home, including Brogan who doesn't eat at home very much since she got her own apartment. We were just talking when suddenly, we heard a loud droning buzz. It sounded like a bug, but we didn't know where it was coming from.
We kept talking, and then the buzzing got a bit louder and we all looked up and around the ceiling, trying to decide where it was coming from.
       Simultaneously, we spotted this big ole blowfly, you know the ones..big, fat and iridescent. I think it had only recently thawed out and emerged from it's winter hiding spot, because it appeared sluggish..flying slowly around in  small circles over the table.
      "Holy cow, look at the size of that fly!" exclaimed Cameron, pointing at the lumbering insect.   
      "Eww gross,"said Liam. The fly sounded like it was in need of dry gas, as it was sputtering, and choking while it made lower and lower loops over the table.
       Now, we are reasonably intelligent people, and really do have a lot more to do then watch bugs...but there was something intriguing about that fly. None of us could manage to tear our eyes away from it..it was so big and ugly. I swear it was about an inch long. The MOTHER of all the flies to be born on Homeland Farm that year.
       At this point, it was flying so slowly and low, that it was at eye level.  I almost expected to see it drop onto the table, it was that sluggish. At this point, Brogan pointed  her finger and said "Look at the size of.......", and that was as far as she got. That fly, which was ever so slowly looping past Brogan's spot at the table, made a run (??) for it, and flew right into Brogan's open mouth. We could almost watch the sides of her throat bulge as that fly banged and bounced all the way down her gullet. We probably could have heard it too, if it weren't for A..the scream she let out once she realized she had, indeed, just swallowed a giant blowfly, and B..the screams of horror, followed closely by gales of laughter from the rest of the family, staring in horrified amazement.
       Ahh yes, watching her hack and cough to try and relaunch that bug was pretty humorous..as were the comments
     "That bug was flying so slow you had time to chew it on the way down!"..."Can you still feel him buzzing in your stomach?"..."Did he fly all the way down or did he decide to walk the rest of the way?".."Want any dessert, or are you too full?"All I can say is... I don't know why she swallowed the fly, but at least she didn't die.
      Another "fun" supper, was last spring when Cameron invited a friend over to eat with us. I always love when we have new people come over..it is always interesting, to be sure. This was a quiet, soft spoken kid that had only recently started to come out of his shell a bit with us. In fact, it was his first time ever eating supper at our house.
        We were right in the middle of "OPERATION FOXY LOXY". If you read my earlier blog, you know we had a constant battle with foxes last year. They wanted to eat my hens, and I wanted to keep them alive.
         We had just sat down to the table, and had started passing the food dishes around, when lo and behold, there right outside my front kitchen window, was a fox. He was standing two feet from my front porch, contemplating which fat hen he was going to go after on the lawn.
         "FOX!!" I bellowed. Now at this point, we had been keeping the gun handy, why, I don't know. We never did come close to hitting one. When I yelled, the kitchen erupted in noise and confusion, as we all jumped out of our chairs and scrambled toward the door.
        "Awwww, he is so pretty,"I heard Cameron's friend say,as Cliffy swung open the door so hard it hit the porch railing. The kids were yelling, the poodle was barking and we all thundered out on the porch. I heard  softly from behind me "Look how red his coat is."
Donovan might have said more, but it was drowned out by the rapid gunfire Cliff was letting fly down across the road where the fox could be seen disappearing into the thick brush.
      "Oh, wow.." I heard behind me. I turned and saw all the color had drained from the young mans face, as he stood looking a little bewildered by what had just happened. Apparently, at his house, no one jumps up from the table and starts shooting. Weird. I do believe it was the last time he ate at our house for a long time. Maybe if he had had a chance to have some of my Maple Gingerbread, he would have come back...

                                   Maple Gingerbread
     1 Cup REAL Maple Syrup
     1 Cup Sour Cream
     1 egg, well beaten
     2 1/3 Cup flour
     1 3/4 tsp baking soda
     1 1/2 tsp ginger
     1/2 tsp salt
     4 T melted butter

         Mix syrup, and sour cream in a bowl, add egg and combine.
         Sift all dry ingredients and stir into wet mixture. Add melted
         butter and stir thoroughly. Pour into a well greased oblong pan,
         and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into middle of
         the cake comes out clean, and the cake is golden brown. Add a
         dollop of real whipped cream , (and a fly, if you so desire..) and enjoy!

An old Yankee recipe..Maple Gingerbread..Yum!

                          
 

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