Holiday Break

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

In honor of the holidays we're going to take two Sundays off from Chambers Family Dinner and be ready to rock and roll come January 9th. Hope that you enjoy plenty of time with family and people who make you laugh and we'll see you then!

Week 15 Menu - December 19th

Ease into the festive spirit with some belly-warming dishes....

Linguini with clam cream sauce
Seasonal squash and carrot medley
Parmesan-crusted toast points

Eggnog custard

Sunday, December 13

No dinner this week...

Week 13 Menu

i think that we're going to have our first repeat week:

oven fried chix
garlic mashed potatoes
green beans

dessert: TBD
see you at 6!

Week 12 Menu

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We ARE having CFD tonight, but honestly, i'm not sure what it's going to be yet. Brian and I are in Ocala until this afternoon so i'm hoping inspiration will hit sometime during our trek back.

Maybe a soup......

see you tonight!

Menu Week 11

Welcome to family tradition week!
in honor of thanksgiving on thursday, we're giving thanks for our (i.e. my) heritage and traditional comfort foods.

Therefore, tonight we will be making:

Polish Spaghetti
Garlic Bread
Glazed Carrots
Green Beans

Apple Cake & Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert (a la my aunt terry)

See you tonight at 6pm!!!

Menu Week 10

Crazy to think that we've been doing this for 10 weeks! It's already become routine for Sundays, and despite the work it's become one of our favorite times of the week. Thank you to everyone who has already joined us, and thank you to anyone who is thinking of coming! We would love to have you.

We've determined that we have been awful about taking pictures. So last week we pulled out Brian's old polaroid camera, which produces very 70ish style photos, and had a great time. Be prepared for some throw-back shots and remember that there aren't any do-overs!

Menu: Breakfast for Dinner
Banana bread french toast
Scrambled eggs with bacon
Toast
Sausage/cheese breakfast casserole a la momma mader
Fruit
Sour cream coffee cake

Week 9 Menu

Bratwurst
Mustard Roasted Potatoes
BLT Salad
Glazed Carrots

Desert:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Menu Week 8

This week's menu:

Parmesan-crusted chicken
Lemon fusilli with arugula
Green beans

Frozen berries in white chocolate

see you sunday at 6pm!

Weeks 1-6

Chambers Family Dinner has definitely changed our Sundays. Whereas before we simply laid about and bemoaned the coming workday, we now measuredly challenge the day looking ahead to the mystery of our open dinner. We don't ask for RSVPs, so we never know who's going to show up until they walk in the door. Which is an exciting thing....and makes us really happy whenever someone DOES walk through the door.

I'm trying to keep my expectations open, so that on that Sunday when no one arrives, i'm not disappointed. So far that hasn't happened. We've had dinners ranging in size from 3 to 12, ages from 17 to 64, and guests ranging from out-of-town family to people we meet when they arrive. Each week's 6-8:30pm is different. Some quiet, some loud, some hilarious, some more serious. We talk a lot about our dogs....especially since we don't have kids yet to tell stories about. One day.

As this tradition continues we hope that it changes and grows along with us. I hope that I have to start cooking for 15 instead of 10, and then maybe 20. I hope that our friends meet other friends and go on to be friends in their own right. We hope that people feel refreshed and encouraged by the brief time on Sundays. And we hope you'll join us sometime soon.

Week 7: CANCELLED

No chambers family dinner this week since brian and i will be out of town....
see you next Sunday at 6pm!

Menu Week 6

Crostini - bruschetta with a kick

Beef Bourguignone (really fancy word for a dish with beef, bacon, and red wine)
Zucchini/yellow squash saute

Dessert - banana cake

Poblano and chicken tostadas from another evening. I didn't make the salsa.

Summer Fruit Crostata from last week.....
Every dinner is made from scratch, i actually made this pastry dough!

Week 5 Menu

This week we're firing things up!

Teriyaki pork tenderloin
Risotto milanese
Grilled asparagus
Spicy & sweet carrots

Summer fruit crostata for dessert....

Week 4

Talk about jumping to the big leagues!
My (Leah) family surprised us for our Sunday dinner, making it a great group of family, regulars, and newbies. Pictures to follow.....

Week 4 Menu

Appetizers a la Brian Alan Chambers
Shrimp Scampi
Glazed Carrots
Garlic Bread
dessert: TBD

Hope to see you here! Sunday at 6pm....

Week 3 Menu

Week 3 coming right up!
Things have been pretty busy lately, so as always we're sticking with low-key and casual for our Sunday night.

This Sunday we're going to be having chicken and poblano tostadas, complete with a corn relish and salsa, complemented by a Mader special of black beans and yellow rice.
Homemade vanilla ice cream with homemade fudge and chocolate covered peanuts for dessert!

we'd love for you to join us.

6pm on sunday!

The beginning

Chambers Family Dinner kicked off last Sunday with 5 people, oven-friend chicken, and key lime pie. Not a bad start for a grass roots, badly advertised event.

Right now the lasagna is cooking as Brian and I wait for any guests to arrive. We're keeping our expectations open...don't want to be disappointed if people don't show up. A quiet night at home with lots of leftovers isn't a bad thing....especially when i made tin roof ice cream and chocolate covered peanuts.

Looking forward to week 2 and hope to see you on a future Sunday!