Here’s To Celebrating National Days

Having a National This or That Day for every single day throughout the year is helpful when planning all sorts of things from family dinners to outings and events. Things like National Beach Day to promote cleaning up our beaches at the end of summer or Earth Day as a great day to plant the family garden are examples.

And then there are all those open-ended Foodie Days such as today – National Lobster Day. Doesn’t say if we should adopt a lobster for our fish tank or find a great restaurant serving my personal favorite, Lobster Thermidor. It’s also National Family Day. How great is that? It’s a whole bunch of other National Days, too. Right now all we care about are Lobsters and Family.

National Family Day is an annual day set on the forth Monday of September. It was designed to encourage families everywhere to gather round the table and enjoy a meal together. Doesn’t even need to be home-cooked – just so long as you are together. I have two things to say about that. First off, too many families no longer have home-cooked meals. And that’s sad because the art of planning and preparing the family meal is fading away. When I was growing up, that was a Saturday morning event. We would gather round the kitchen table, Dad would plan out his meals and leave three days open. One for each of us girls to plan and prepare a meal. Some days we would even do the shopping, but most days our parents did that while we had other Saturday chores.

Studies show that families who eat three or more meals a week together reduce a teen’s risk of tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse. That’s interesting. I think it also teaches values, responsibilities and the importance of family. These are life lessons that need to be passed on from generation to generation. The key to family dining is communication. Talking with our family helps in so many ways. National Family Day has been around since 2001, and yet I’d be willing to wager that most families don’t know it exists.

As long as we’re gathered round the table, and it is National Lobster Day, what could be better than a Pasta Supper? Let’s face it, when it comes to family tables, no one does it better than Italians. I’m not even sure it’s possible to cook an Italian dish for 2. Seems whenever I make something truly Italian, I get the same question from Kiddo or Hubby – when are the neighbors arriving? That’s okay, Italian suppers make for the best lunchtime leftovers. I mean, spaghetti always seems to taste better the next day, right?

Happy Lobster Family Day! Enjoy and remember to count your blessings every day.

Lobster Linguine
8 oz Linguine
1-1/2 cups bite-size cooked Lobster Meat, including claws
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/4 cup Parsley
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Butter
1 Lemon, juiced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook linguine according to package directions in lightly salted water. Reserve a cup of the pasta water before draining. Keep pasta warm until ready to serve.

While the water comes to a boil and the pasta cooks, tear or cut lobster meat into bite-size pieces. Set aside. Peel and mince garlic, set aside. Snip parsley for garnish, set aside.

In a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter with olive oil. Once melted, add garlic and sauté for one minute. Add lobster meat; stir until heated through.

Add drained pasta to the skillet, toss. Cut lemon in half, juice over the pasta. Add Parmesan Cheese, toss again. Drizzle with enough reserved pasta water to make a light sauce. Garnish with parsley, toss one final time.

Divide among warmed plates, serve and enjoy. Great with a simple salad, warm bread and a crisp Autumn wine.

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The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed