Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sunday Meals Explained.

(In looking for a quote on Sunday's "Dinners on the Grounds" to go with a post that I was going to do, I came upon this from a blog. It had me giggle out loud! I guess I never knew the terminology "Dinner on the Ground" needed to be explained.  Apparently the SOUTH part of the United States has a lot to explain! giggle)
 
"The first two things you should know about dinner on the ground are:
 1. It’s not dinner
and
2. It’s not on the ground.
 
Ok, actually, it IS dinner for Southerners, but I didn’t want to confuse folks who think of dinner as an evening meal. In the South, dinner is served once a week (at noon on Sunday) or possibly twice if there’s a holiday involved. All other midday meals are called “lunch” or occasionally “brunch” (for fancy people). The evening feeding event is called “supper.”

While dinner on the ground may or may not be considered “dinner,” it is definitely NOT on the ground. Unless you are the type of person who doesn’t mind the occasional speck of dirt in your mashed potatoes or grass stains on your Sunday best.

I’m sure my non-Southern readers can’t wait to find out what this mysterious event actually is, so here goes: It’s a potluck meal after church on Sundays. I know, kind of a letdown – unless you actually GO to one.

I’m not sure how the tradition of dinner on the ground got started or how it evolved off the ground and onto folding tables. I suspect it had something to do with the desire to boost church attendance. Even the worst backsliders (and y’all know who you are) will endure a sermon and some hymn singing for an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of Southern delicacies. For free, no less! (Or at the low, low price of a two-liter Coke or a pack of those yucky dinner rolls parked next to the hot dog buns at Kroger.)
 
As a general rule – based purely on my personal observations – the farther into the backwoods you go, the better the food’s going to be. I suspect there are some city churches that don’t even do dinner on the ground anymore, which just seems terribly sad.

If you want a true taste of Southern cuisine at its finest, try to finagle an invitation to a dinner on the ground. I’m partial to the Baptists, but I’m sure a Methodist spread might do. You’ll find it like funeral food a  worthy display of casseroles, meat-flavored vegetables, and homemade Dixie sweets – with the added perk that nobody actually died." - girloutofdixie                                

2 comments:

  1. Hahahaha, oh this one was good...tho' for us here in Louisiana we have "dinner" every time we go to my husbands granmother's house around noon time, that's just what she calls it EVERYDAY!!! Oh and our church has "dinner on the ground" every Sunday...oh how I miss that, because up here in north TX. they don't. :(

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  2. I've had to explain this to my kids a bunch of times. Their nana (Methodist minister's wife!) names meals this way. ;)

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