I’d like to welcome you to Sunday which is the end of one week and the beginning of a new week. As we move through the day and settle into the evening, I’ll be going down in a little bit to start dinner this evening. Normally, that is David’s job.

That is his space, his way in the kitchen, and his down-home cooking style where nothing is measured and everything is done with a whole lot of love, a pinch of this, and a smidgen of that, just like my grandma would make and somehow it always comes out right without ever needing a recipe.

But his hours have been extended at work, which honestly has been a godsend for our family, so today dinner falls on me. And that just means I step into it the same way my grandmother always did, without measuring, without overthinking it, just cooking with what we have and trusting it will come together the way it needs to.

And if you’d like to have dinner with us, there is plenty. You are welcome at our table anytime, because there is always room for one more.

Being Sunday in our home it’s usually family-time, but today is not one of those picture-perfect full-house Sundays. Charlie and Bradley are both at work, long shifts that run late into the night, and Gerald is camped out on the couch like that is his permanent spot for the day. The dogs are upstairs asleep, and the house has that quiet hum to it where people are here, but not all together at the same time anymore.

And me, I’m moving through the house. I’ve already done two loads of dishes with Junior, and I still have one more load sitting there waiting on me. I still cannot figure out where all of it came from because I sure don’t remember making that many dishes, but they are there just the same.

So by the time I head down to start dinner, I am already in the middle of everything. Not stepping into a calm kitchen, not starting fresh, just continuing the flow of the day that never really slowed down. Shaking my head as I don’t even had half the steps I should have but I’ve been drinking water and that is half the battle.

For dinner, I will be starting with a pack of hamburger patties I picked up from Kroger, eight to a pack, marked down, nothing fancy, just something I could turn into a meal that would stretch across the table however it needed to. Having the Hamburger Patties allows us to make different meals including Hamburgers.

I will get my small skillet out to cook the onions in because I like for them to be brown not burnt but cooked so I let them cook slow until they’re softened and start turning golden, and that smell is always what makes the whole house feel like something is coming together even when the day has been scattered. Although Charlie hates the smell.

Then I added the hamburger patties and let them brown down in the same skillet, sometimes they break apart as they cook but that is okay they still taste good. I seasoned the patties with Kinder’s the Blend for Gerald David and I. For Bradley and Charlie I used Lawery’s Steak Seasoning like my dad would use.

Then I made the gravy. I used McCormick brown gravy mix, stirring it in slowly with water so it would thicken without clumping, and as it simmered it started coating everything in that warm, simple kind of comfort that turns a skillet meal into hamburger steak with brown gravy and onions.

Some of it stays with gravy for me, and some of it stays plain so David and the boys can eat it however they want without picking around onions or anything they don’t like. That is just how it has to be sometimes, and it works better that way.

And while that is simmering on the stove, I’ll make Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes and heat up some MexiCorn just simple sides that finish the meal without making it harder than it needs to be. They may not be my Grandmother’s Hamburger Steaks but they tasted good and they were filling and that is all that matters.

So if you’re reading this, consider yourself invited. Not to something fancy, not to something perfect, just to a Sunday dinner that came together the way real life does, in between dishes, work schedules, quiet rooms, and a skillet on the stove that still somehow brings it all together.

Mock Hamburger Steaks with Country Sides

A Budget-Friendly Sunday Down-Home Family Meal

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates