What's on the menu-seeing family that you only see every few yrs.

[shootingstar]

I will visit Toronto to see my family whom I haven't seen for 2 yrs.  Usually there is some eating involved. This is ok. I just have to pace myself and not get carried away. Most likely the following might happen where food gets involved:

*A large get-together either at a sister's home or at a restaurant. This will be all siblings, their spouses and whichever children are around in the city, my mother. Age range will be from 6 months to 34 yrs. old for nieces, nephews and grand-niece, etc.  If it's at sis' house, it will be mixed up pot-luck  --some Chinese dishes (usually my mother's), other dishes either home-cooked and some Chinese bakery, store bought. Really there's no real attempt at complimentary flavour planning...just some meat, pasta/rice, veggie dishes and small desserts.  My family are not much wine drinkers. There will be some cans of beer. Otherwise it's pop, coffee, tea.

*Probably will meet up with each sister who has kids at their home (if they want) or we meet up...at a restaurant. Their recommendation.

*Meet up with nephew and wife..to see their new baby girl and their son.  I may ask to see if can have a coffee with just nephew for an hr.

*Meet up with niece for lunch ...and maybe 2nd time, for dinner with her hubby and with my dearie.  For latter, a good Chinese dim sum restaurant at their recommendation.  Niece is abit of a Toronto foodie.

Do ; your  out-of-town/rare family visits include food?

[Zephyr]

Always.  As our family tends to be large get togethers, they are almost always in the summer and at the lake.  Being East Coasters, it will be a pot luck and a good old fashion lobster boil where we will cook up to 100lbs of lobster in an afternoon, depending on the crowd.  There will also be a supper of plank salmon anither night.  Being such a big group, restaurants are out of the question as we can never get us all seated.

It is so engrained in our family that my daughter wants her wedding reception this summer to resemble our family lobster dinner so her new in-laws can experience an east coast family feast

[Kirby]

We don't really have extended family that we see every few years. There are some local extended family that we see fairly frequently and some very extended family that we never see at all. Food is usually involved in any visit, but there aren't special foods with the extended family - usually whatever we order at a restaurant.

My close family has traditional recipes that are traditions, though.

[Airehead]

I am actively trying to figure out how and when to get to Wisconsin to see my aunt and uncle. He is in his late 80’s or early 90’s and just had a shunt put in for a brain tumor. He was in the army and then a career marine physician. Brilliant man. I like these two a lot. He was a pediatrician in Green Bay for years. Now they live in the house he was born in which is in Grafton.   Two years ago he was still in a soccer league. Last year he was cutting firewood. 

[Wilbur ★]

6 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

her new in-laws can experience an east coast family feast

Barbaric, I tell ya!   

[ChrisL]

Yeah we just had a huge satay party for a family gathering.  Satay was the main meat with a lot of Indo sides like bami (Indo chow mean) nasi goereng (Indo fried rice) gado gado (veggies with peanut sauce) and several desserts.

I plowed through a lot of satay and went light on the rest.

[petitepedal ★]

The last extended family gathering was with my cousin and his wife at Barley John's..been at least 40 years since I saw them...

Last time I tried to meet my sister for lunch, she preferred going to the dog park. She did come to Thanksgiving at my place a few years ago.

Family can be overrated 

[Wilbur ★]

4 minutes ago, Airehead said:

I am actively trying to figure out how and when to get to Wisconsin to see my aunt and uncle. He is in his late 80’s or early 90’s and just had a shunt put in for a brain tumor. He was in the army and then a career marine physician. Brilliant man. I like these two a lot. He was a pediatrician in Green Bay for years. Now they live in the house he was born in which is in Grafton.   Two years ago he was still in a soccer league. Last year he was cutting firewood. 

How?  Don't you have a fleet of airplanes?  

[jsharr ★]

BBQ, steak, tex mex, seafood

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

Yes, my parents are from Boston MA. Our immediate family was mostly born in Baltimore Md. we lived in Los Angeles for eight years then moved to the DC area in 1972. Summers vacations were in MA for many years. Family reunions were every August. Dad made 3-5 gallon pots of clam chowdah with buttah, cream, onion, potatoes and fresh clams. A metal trash can with water was heated on a propane burner. A bushel of shucked corn went in, followed by 80-100 lobsters. Tables were set with chowdah, melted buttah, claw cracking tools. My brother and I would take the claws, split the tails with a cleaver and load plates. Sisters added a corn cob and served. We’d go through 1.75 L of rum making pina coladas. Lots of beer consumed all day. After dark, desserts made by all the aunts were served. Sometimes Uncle Bob would show slides of pictures he took in the past and we would howl at the pics we came to know well. My Dad (6kids) had a brother (5 kids) and a sister (9 kids). Mom had a brother (4 kids) and two sisters (6 and 4 kids). We like to cook cause we like to eat.

[shootingstar]

47 minutes ago, petitepedal said:

The last extended family gathering was with my cousin and his wife at Barley John's..been at least 40 years since I saw them...

Last time I tried to meet my sister for lunch, she preferred going to the dog park. She did come to Thanksgiving at my place a few years ago.

Family can be overrated 

I have a large family in Metro Toronto. I haven't even mentioned that I have over 40+ other relatives --first cousins, 2nd cousins, several of their children, spouses, etc.  These 40+ relatives I only see at weddings, funerals in Metro Toronto. My immediate family is who I will be visiting ,are 18 people in total.  A sister and my father are no longer alive.

Petite, you probably a few select great friends.. 

1 hour ago, Zephyr said:

It is so engrained in our family that my daughter wants her wedding reception this summer to resemble our family lobster dinner so her new in-laws can experience an east coast family feast

Happy for your daughter and memories your extended family have cultivated over the years that she wants this as the best type of celebration for her wedding.  

[shootingstar]

Doing other "stuff" with family members...is not totally useful for me nor them 'cause we don't see each other face and face ..except every few years.. Is to chat with one another, to speak at length...and eat food they would like to share with me. My relationship with siblings....tends to be...a friend (not necessarily super close in knowing each other's lives so detailed) for life.  Sure we get yell at each other, call out on one another for something truly wrong...but still a friend for life.  I'm sure someone will bitch at me..for not being around to look after mother's needs.  Can't help it.....over 3,000 km. away.

[ChrisL]

26 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Doing other "stuff" with family members...is not totally useful for me nor them 'cause we don't see each other face and face ..except every few years.. Is to chat with one another, to speak at length...and eat food they would like to share with me. My relationship with siblings....tends to be...a friend (not necessarily super close in knowing each other's lives so detailed) for life.  Sure we get yell at each other, call out on one another for something truly wrong...but still a friend for life.  I'm sure someone will bitch at me..for not being around to look after mother's needs.  Can't help it.....over 3,000 km. away.

My siblings are grouped by age and there is really little interaction between the 3 age groupings. I see the oldest 3 and middle 3 a couple of times a year maybe.  I talk to and see the two closest in age to me weekly.

When my mom needed a lot of help the ones closest (geographically) did the heavy lifting.  I was the closest so was there 3-4 times a week.  I accepted the responsibility and didn’t blame others for living farther out.  I did resent one particular sister (bitch sister referenced earlier) who lived relatively close and would tell me that’s what I get  for living so close so go check on her.