We in the UK work the longest working day in Europe according to many sources. In this present time of credit crunch and soaring prices it is hard to keep the family quality time alive and kicking. Where have the time gone for instance, where we would all sit together as a family to eat, catch up with each other and discuss the days events. I hear this so often from friends and colleagues.

Did you know now according to the daily press only 50,000 of us in Britain actually sit down to a family roast on a Sunday. A British tradition so influenced and now in decline since we opened the shops to 7 day trading.

‘The Sunday roast’, is a traditional English main meal served on Sundays (usually in the early afternoon), and consisting of roasted meat together with accompaniments. It is popular throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Other names for this meal are Sunday dinner, Sunday lunch, Sunday Tea, Roast dinner, and Sunday joint. The traditional Sunday roast can be traced back to Yorkshire, England during the Industrial Revolution. It is believed this tradition arose because the meat could be left in the oven to cook before church on a Sunday morning (and was cooked by the local baker in their ovens then). Your roast would then be ready for you when the family arrived home at lunchtime after attending the Sunday church service. The meat would be used throughout the week to feed the family.  Even down to the vegetable water being used in tea, there was no waste. Part of the tradition was to serve the Yorkshire pudding first.  This would fill the men of the house up so that less meat would be consumed during the main meal and then more meat was left over then which could be used in a further meal the next day.

To serve up a superb Sunday Roast Dinner make sure you have a selection of serving plates and dishes to display your prepared Sunday Roast in all its glory.   Meyer do a great range of insulated serving dishes . The Meyer oval 3.0qt Prestige serving dish shown above with divider, has double wall insulated stainless steel and is finished in a mirror polish effect which is great for keeping your vegetables warm for your dinner guests to serve themselves.

Do you still sit down as a family to a Sunday Roast Dinner?