On August 11, 2007 we had a family reunion at Aunt Colleen and Uncle Roger’s house. I was so excited to see all the familiar faces. Besides talking and laughter, there was FOOD and lots of it. How special to eat Aunt Carol’s famous Three Bean Salad and have her sitting right there as I ate it! (This year, she grew her own wax beans in her vegetable garden).
I added some special family recipes to this post. I hope you like them!
When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.
~Joyce Brothers
Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. ~Anthony Brandt
Aunt Colleen’s Chicken Marinade
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup oil
1 Tbsp. Poultry seasoning
1 tsp. dry parsley flakes
3-4 shots Frank’s Red Hot
1/4 cup salt (or a little less)
Whisk all ingredients together until blended. Pour over chicken and refrigerate according to the following times: spiedies marinate for 1-3 hours, skinless boneless chicken marinates for 2-4 hours, and chicken halves marinate for at least 3 hours. Baste chicken with marinade while grilling.
My Mom’s Oatmeal Rolls
2 1/3 cups water, divided
1 cup of dry oatmeal (any kind)
3 T. butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar (which you may reduce to 1/3 if desired)
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 pkgs. dry yeast
5 to 5 3/4 unbleached flour
In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to boil. Add oatmeal and butter. Simmer 1 minute. Remove to a large mixing bowl and let cool. In small bowl, add yeast to 1/3 cup of warm water to dissolve. To the slightly warm oatmeal mixture add brown sugar, white sugar, salt, yeast mixture and half the flour. Beat well, until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make stiff dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead 6-8 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Add additional flour as necessary. Place dough in greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Punch down. Divide in half and shape each half into 12 balls. Place 1″ apart in two greased 9×13 in. pans. Cover and let rise until double, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown or sound hollow when tapped.
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Jyllian’s First Birthday
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Aunt Mary Ellen’s Broccoli Salad
2-3 heads of broccoli
1 lb of bacon
I cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup onion chopped fine
3 Tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
Fry bacon, drain and crumble. Combine bacon with cut up broccoli and onion. Mix vinegar, mayo, and sugar together, drizzle over cut up broccoli mixture. Top with cheese.
Aunt Carol’s Three Bean Salad
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can cut wax beans
1 can cut green beans
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced onion
1 pkg. Good Season’s Italian dressing (prepared per directions)
1-2 Tbsps sugar–or to taste–
Open and drain cans of beans through a colander and place in bowl. Do not mix any beans, etc. until the very end of they will break into mush–try to be as gentle while mixing as possible. Add green pepper and onion to bowl. Add sugar to Italian dressing in cruet and mix by shaking in jar until well blended–immediately add to salad and mix gently. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours–tastes better the next day so go ahead and make this the day before. Enjoy!
What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life – to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories. ~George Eliot
I used to babysit these two! What a fun summer that was!
Tell again the stories.
Let me hear
in your voice the joy of the child.
Let me see
through your eyes what you remember.
Yes, tell me again the stories
because I am older and sometimes forget.
-R.J.Marvel
Good to be Home 
I love it! You have a beautiful, wonderful family it seems!
What a lovely time with your family. I’m sure you enjoyed it very much.
You captured a lot of great pics =] Seeing the pics brings back some great memories. I’m glad your family was able to get together and spend time enjoying one another. =]
What special treasures these pictures are. It is something of great value to capture generations together. Simply spectacular!
Family ~ what a wonderful thing ~
Shanda!! I really enjoyed today’s post! Your grandma’s sisters could be my own family . . . they look like my relatives – although they are all long gone. What a wonderful opportunity to get together. Makes me miss having family!
The recipes were a great idea! Thanks! I mean to try a couple of them. Are the oatmeal rolls really like a sweet bread?
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<TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width=”100%” background=”” height=250 UNSELECTABLE=”off”>Looks like fun. Great recipes.
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I really enjoyed looking at these pictures! I don’t know a single one of these people, but somehow you’ve caught a little glimpse of their character in each photo. I consider myself blessed to have happened upon your site and now get to be treated to such beautiful works of art all the time.
So many beautiful smiles!
I LOVE the cake pictures the one with it all over her hands is precious. Thank you for sharing the yummy recipes
I enjoyed seeing the pictures. Looks like a fun, relaxing day. I was planning on having grilled chicken tonight, and think I’ll use that marinade, or one similar, not sure that I have poultry seasoning on hand…hmmm
These pictures are just as delicious as the recipes sound. I especially like the pictures of the older folks, they seem so peaceful and content to watch all the busy-ness around them. I’ll be using a few of these recipes (I’ve wanted to make a broccoli salad for years). Thank you.
Looks like a wonderful time! My girls saw the pictures and wanted to know what they were. I said they were pictures of a family reunion. Then I had to explain what a family reunion is. The only family reunion I’ve been to was when I was 6. It was at a camp I think. Each individual family had their own cabin. Ours was at the top of the hill. It was the first time I got to play hide and seek in the dark- with a bunch of older cousins. I made lots of memories! Hopefully my kids will get to experience a family reunion someday. I have a very similar oatmeal roll recipe and broccoli salad recipe. Yummy!
Shan I really enjoyed this post! I can see how much time this one must have taken but I REALLY enjoyed seeing all of your photo’s. I still need to do post on this too. I really enjoyed the candid shots you got and I love seeing the kids on the trampeline too! I hope you have a great weekend! Love, Lish
I loved looking at all these pictures – like some of your other readers, they bring back my own memories of special family times. I copied down some of the recipes too, and look forward to trying them! Thanks for sharing!
Those recipes look wonderful! You come from an incredibly talented and creative family!The pictures made me want to plan a family reunion! I haven’t had one in MANY years! I love the generations coming together. I think we have so much to learn from the older generations!! The pictures are all, once again, stunning!
That looks like a wonderful party in a delightful back yard — what a nice reunion! Thanks for sharing the recipes, too — I know many families that don’t share their recipes!
Great pictures shan…you will have to make me a CD of your photos from the reunion and also from your day at my house. I really like the one of Carl and Brian. They look like they are having so much fun.
Love Ya
What a wonderful day. There’s nothing like family and being blessed to be together. The recipes are a nice touch. Love your post!