Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Z is for ZKC


Here we are at the end of the month, the end of the A to Z challenge, the end of the alphabet. And to be quite frank, at the end of my desire to crank out one more mandatory post.

Don't get me wrong; I always enjoy the writing process, and have enjoyed this theme I chose (food memories and lessons learned from them), but I am ready to pull back from the keyboard and throw myself into other creative and productive callings.

ZKC--Zubrowski Kids' Cafe. That's what we named our kitchen once upon a time. When the kids were 8, 7, and 5  (long before our last child came along), I thought it would fun to host special brunches for grandparents, elderly neighbors, and a couple (beloved friends of ours) who were, at that time, childless. 

The idea was to our dining room as a restaurant and our guests as guests who didn't have to pay for food or service!  

The kids would dress up as waiters and waitress. Paul would cook.  I would manage both the "front of the house" and the "back of the house." To be clear, the distance between front and back was five  feet.

We had a menu and always a theme, of course.

Valentine's Day Love Brunch









Columbus Day  Brunch


    


. See our choices of "Nina," "Pinta," and "Santa Maria"?  



 

A New Year's Day brunch in 1998. 




Somewhere in an album I have pictures from these events, but I neither took the took earlier, nor have the time now, to pull them out to scan or shoot. But the memories are precious.

Grandparents tipped generously, which made grandchildren smile generously.

Kids learned some serving skills. Widowed guests felt honored to be included in family social gatherings.

Friends without children enjoyed looking forward to the day when their table would be full of children (and it is). Paul got to stay behind the scenes doing the task of cooking and playing chef  (one of his little passions).

Lesson learned: Theme or no theme, I've always loved a creating a memory from start to finish with the people I love most in the place I love the most. 










3 comments:

Joyce said...

How fun! Congratulations on crossing the finish line in the A-Z. I loved your theme!

Lea @ CiCis Corner said...

I've so enjoyed you and Joyce and your A-Z posts. I'm going to miss them but have no idea how you kept up everyday.

What a cute idea with your cafe. I sometimes felt like I ran a short order grill but it wasn't nearly as cute as your cafe. What neat memories for your family.

Nel said...

What a fun idea. I bet your kids have wonderful memories of it too. Well we did make it didn't we! I enjoyed the A to Z this year, which I had mine written ahead of time so I was not on a crunch. I think I enjoyed it though because with my theme I had to do some research and I feel like I learned a little in the process. Enjoyed all of your posts!
until next time...nel