Happy Sunday, dear friend.
When I began thinking about this second Sunday Supper menu, I imagined the table before the menu.
I pictured a setting with my favorite china, linen napkins, and flowers gathered into something simple, summery, and beautiful.
And then, of course, came the meal, brought to the table in serving dishes, with family and friends gathered, with nowhere to be for a little while.
That’s a Sunday Supper to me.
Not a formal dinner, just a Sunday dinner.
There is something beautiful about setting a table, even a simple one. It changes the meal. Perhaps it’s the small pause when unfolding a napkin, or the delight of seeing dinner on a platter instead of the skillet.
Or perhaps it simply says: this time together matters.
With our busy and full lives, I don’t think Sunday Suppers need an entire afternoon of complicated cooking.
And that brings me to a quote I came across this week in a nineteenth-century entertaining book (yes, I collect those). It’s a phrase I can’t stop thinking about.
“The Great Too Much”
In our first Sunday Supper, we met Christine Terhune Herrick, who, in 1891, described the Sunday dinner as the happiest meal of the week.
Two years later, another writer also considered the American dinner table in a different way.
In her 1893 book, The Art of Entertaining, author M. E. W. Sherwood described how American dinner tables had developed a reputation for being overdone.
She penned a memorable phrase that will stay with me.
“The great too much.”
Sherwood wasn’t arguing against beautiful dinner tables or hospitality itself. Her book celebrates the significance of gathering around the table. But she also believed in an attainable menu and what she described as “an elegant economy.”
More than 130 years later, I think we all would agree with her assessment.
A beautiful table doesn’t require more of everything. Just enough.
Perhaps elegance, at its very best, is in part the art of knowing when there is enough.
Setting a Late Summer Table
I will always love setting a table, in every season, for every holiday, for every gathering.
China and linens, flowers and candles; it’s these details that make gathering around the table something special to remember.
But special doesn’t always mean formal.
For a late-summer Sunday table, I love bringing out my favorite china. This week, it will be the wedding china, but use whatever dishes you have on hand. If you have cloth napkins on hand, use them. Clip a few flowers or greenery stems and keep them low enough that everyone can easily see across the table.
Because for Sunday Supper, the people at the table are the event.
And if you have dishes you’ve been saving for that special “someday” occasion, or a set of Grandma’s china you never thought you’d use, perhaps an ordinary Sunday is someday enough.
A Simple Late Summer Menu
This menu is intentionally uncomplicated, seasonal, and delicious. It feels worthy of the dining room and the “good” dishes, but none of it requires a full day preparing dinner.
Greek Roasted Chicken with Lemon Orzo
The whole chicken roasts with lemon, olive oil, garlic, and oregano until cooked through and golden. The orzo cooks right alongside in the same pan, soaking up the delicious pan juices.
Bring the roasting dish straight to the table, scatter some chopped parsley over the top, and add a few lemon wedges on the side.
It’s a celebratory meal, but the oven does most of the work.
A Late Summer Wedge Salad
Alongside the roasted chicken, I love a crisp wedge salad in late summer.
When the tomatoes are so sweet and juicy, they hardly need embellishment. Arrange crisp lettuce wedges on a platter with ripe chopped tomatoes or sweet cherry tomatoes with freshly chopped herbs.
Add cucumber, plenty of fresh herbs, and perhaps a little thinly sliced red onion.
Dress simply with a creamy herbed dressing or a homemade lemon vinaigrette for a bright finish.
Peach Cobbler for Dessert
Every Sunday deserves something sweet if only because lingering over dessert is one of my favorite ways to keep everyone at the table… just a little longer.
A warm peach cobbler feels just right for these late-August Sundays.
Make it earlier in the day, and warm it gently before serving. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream if possible. To free up oven space, I often use this slow-cooker peach cobbler.
Then bring out the coffee (or tea).
Some Sunday traditions are worth keeping. This is one of them.
Keeping Sunday Simple
One of the things I would love this Sunday Supper series to prove is that creating a special meal doesn’t always mean creating a complicated one.
For this simple menu, I love to wash the lettuce, make the dressing, and gather my serving dishes on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, I make the cobbler. When only one oven is available, I make this slow cooker peach cobbler to free up space for the roasted chicken.
An hour and a half before dinner, the chicken goes into the oven.
While it roasts, there is plenty of time to set the table, arrange the flowers, prepare the salad, and sit for a spell with a cup of tea.
My mother always said the last part matters too.
Using the Good China
I wonder why we save our favorite things for that “someday.”
The china is saved for company.
The linen napkins for holidays.
A special platter for Thanksgiving (unless it’s the one with the beautiful turkey).
The candles for a dinner party we may never host.
There are certainly occasions we would consider worthy of our best and favorite things.
But there are also ordinary Sundays. And perhaps they are worthy too.
Not to impress, but because beauty has a place in ordinary life.
A roasted chicken will taste just as delicious on everyday plates, but somehow the meal feels more special when someone has taken a few minutes to make it lovely.
That doesn’t mean perfection. And it certainly doesn’t mean “the great too much.”
Perhaps this Sunday, it simply means this: a chicken roasting in the oven, a fresh salad from the late-summer garden or market, and a dessert that feels like the season.
All served on the dishes you love.
And enough time to stay at the table when dinner is finished.
Have a wonderful Sunday,
Stephanie
Join me At the Table for more Sunday Suppers, seasonal menus, and simple ideas for gathering around the table.
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