The older I get the more I realize all the little things that really mattered in my childhood and made it great. With seven of us and a single mother, I was never the kid who had the stories of summer vacations or winter travel. But I definitely took for granted all of the numerous little things my mom did to make our time special and memorable. The 1001 things that she did to show us love and affection and to bond us together. One of those things, that I am now incorporating into our own family is Friday night pizza and movies!!

For those who are old enough to remember “let’s make it a Blockbuster night” this was exactly what mom did. Friday night was a splurge where we would order Pizza Hut pizza (still my FAVORITE) and while we waited for the pizzas to be done we would wander next door and pick movies. As our family size grew so too did the size of the pizza order and the number and types of movies picked!

Matthew being the health nut that he is means that we don’t get to have Pizza Hut that often, but these are surprisingly good.

We also tend to “jazz” them up with other toppings. In my memories I can also track the passage of time as we went from VHS tapes, to DVDs. Having to wait to rewind the moves in the VCR and getting that “cool” VCR tape rewinder (ours was shaped like a car). Even in the Navy Fridays underway are Pizza and wings and a small break in the routine.

Now a days with my family it’s a “Netflix and chill” night or an Apple TV movie kind of night. N calls these family date nights and it’s funny to watch the “evolution of Friday night” even with in my own family: From dates with Matthew, to “family” dates with the three of us out trying new restaurants, or the SAME restaurant if N got to pick, now at home making the old new again.

What types of family traditions involving food did you have growing up? Have you incorporated any into your life now?