The Lehrmann Family
How do you make a meal “special”?
Special meals at our house usually have a theme – we are festive like that. The build-your-own pizza bar when kids are in abundance, spicy margaritas and mariachi music for street taco night when we are entertaining a big group, and “fancy” hotdogs when we come home from a day on the lake or swimming at the beach. Nights often end on our rooftop deck, watching the sunset, counting stars, and roasting s'mores.
What is your food tradition?
My husband Kurt’s Christmas Prime Rib! It’s a meal we prepare together, with a homemade seasoning from my sister-in-law, rosemary from my mother-in-law’s garden, timed to a tee by Kurt. The only time the house is silent on Christmas is when dinner is served.
Do you use old family recipes?
My aunt created a cookbook filled with family recipes accompanied by personal notes. I’m from the South and enjoy cooking our family’s French-fried shrimp, punch bowl cake, and Mississippi pot roast.
What’s your preferred dinner music?
Guests will often hear country music at our home. When we built our house, we put speakers in the front yard. Friends feel it sets a great mood to pull up and hear music to get everyone excited for a fun night.
The Russo Family
How do you make a meal “special”?
Our family has always prioritized being together for meals, particularly dinner because making it together is a big part of the “specialness.” The kids always help make the food and harvest ingredients from our garden.
What is your food tradition?
Taking a seasonal approach to food is part of our tradition – picking blackberries as they ripen in the summer or harvesting tree fruit to preserve from our original Kirkland homestead trees.
Do you use old family recipes?
Bolognese Sauce or “Nonno’s Meatballs” from our Italian (great)grandpa’s recipe book are popular choices. At holidays there are culturally expected dishes on the table – for example, manicotti and lasagna for Christmas.
What do you prepare for large gatherings?
When we’re not in a pandemic, we invite about 120 friends for a big summer hog roast. You definitely need a lot of mouths to feed if you’re going to cook at that scale and it’s become a huge party and cherished tradition.
What’s your preferred dinner music?
We listen to music in non-English languages, or instrumental so we dont' get distracted by the lyrics and can all chat at dinner. Gypsy Kings Radio, Marisa Monte Radio and Eros Ramazzotti Radio on Pandora all get a lot of play.
The Drammeh Family
How do you make a meal “special”?
A “special" meal should gather family and/or friends together. A meal is not only food and beverages, it’s all about ambiance. I always set the table with beautiful dinnerware, napkins, candles and flowers.
What is your food tradition?
My family and I are from Sweden so every Christmas, Easter and Midsummer we eat a traditional Swedish Smorgasbord with smoked salmon and herring, etc.
Do you use old family recipes?
In most of my cooking I don’t use recipes. I have a fully stocked pantry with everything I need and I usually don’t plan my meals until I start cooking each day.
What do you prepare for large gatherings?
I either like to go for a theme like Spanish tapas, Italian delis, Mediterranean small dishes or a large dish like a traditional Spanish Paella, or in the fall a rustic Beef bourguignon. We are a big family of seven, so cooking for a large party doesn’t scare me at all.
What’s your preferred dinner music?
While I’m in charge of cooking in our household, my husband is the dinner music DJ. He mostly plays lounge music, which probably matches the ambiance I try to obtain, the feeling of being in a place and a tranquil setting.
The Haas Family
How do you make a meal “special”?
In our family, we never need a monumental occasion to celebrate with a nice meal! For guests, I prep ahead of time with a lovely tablescape, a certain cuisine for all the dishes, and a bottle of wine waiting.
What is your food tradition?
My husband and I spent our five-year wedding anniversary in Italy, so Italian food is special to us. We installed an authentic wood-fire pizza oven from Italy in our backyard which is fun to light up when we have larger groups over. My homemade pasta is always a hit as well.
Do you use old family recipes?
Every Christmas my grandmother would make a dish called pastys. They are flaky meat pies similar to pierogies. My aunt has the recipe down perfectly but my skills are still a work in progress!
What do you prepare for large gatherings?
A go-to is herb encrusted beef tenderloin, twice-baked potatoes and roasted veggies. Simple but elegant. I also love to make flavorful soup such as pozole with all the toppings. If you ask my husband Ben, he will always request pizza!
What’s your preferred dinner music?
Currently, Lake Street Dive is constantly playing in our kitchen. Van Morrison and Etta James are some classic favorites.