Supper/Dinner/Lunch

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

csalt

Sous Chef
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
909
:ermm: Supper/ Dinner/ Lunch

Is supper your main meal of the day or is that dinner? We call our main meal dinner.

Lunch and supper are usually something lighter.

e.g. today we had toasted sardine sandwich for lunch 12.noon ish. Often we have soup and either crackers or toast.

for dinner 5.30 ish we had fish, broccoli with parsley sauce and oven cooked chips.

We rarely have supper. Usually a cup of hot chocolate around 9.00p.m. ( sometimes with a biscuit)
 
Growing up, our heaviest meal was the last meal and we called it supper. I still do. However, I must clarify that for those of us living in the south (Some may argue that Kentucky doesn't qualify. I'll disagree if for no other reason than the attitude here is much more "southern.") the term for the mid-day meal is called dinner. Historically, that came because the farmers arose early in the day, worked very hard all morning and, by noon, needed refueling and came in to have their big meal.

Many city folks will call the evening meal dinner and I agree with Uncle Bob, Buck and I go out to "dinner."

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!:LOL:
 
Well, even though it shouldn't be our biggest meal is the last of the day, which is supper - unless I'm going "out to dinner" :angel:

Katie - for some reason I've always considered Kentucky as a southern state more than a northern state.
 
Growing up it was always, breakfast, lunch and supper. Sunday Dinner was served after church about 1:00. Now Married - Its still supper for me and DH will say whats for dinner. But we go out to dinner !! Strange huh !! Lol, Lets eat - whatever !! :LOL:
 
mudbug said:
csalt, but you're in the UK. What happened to "tea"?

Oh, do you mean the wafer thin cucumber sandwiches and Earl Grey?
As far as I know only the Queen has time for afternoon tea!:LOL:

We have mugs of tea ' on the hoof!'

Maybe children who have Nannies have 'High Tea'

We obviously don't move in the right 'social circles!':ohmy: :rolleyes:
 
Not at all, csalt. I meant "tea" as in that late afternoon thing that might include actual mugs of tea or something else. Sometimes substantial fare as well. Kind of a substitute for what we Yanks (non-farmers) might call dinner.

And a "cream tea" is an entirely different animal.

Obviously I've been reading too much Jane Austen lately.
 
I used to have family in Kentucky, and I'm here to tell you that the state is definately below the Mason Dixon Line. My dear Aunt Ruth was born and raised there, and she was quite the Southern Lady.

According to etiquette, It's breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper, which is a small, late night repast.
But I'm like Uncle Bob...It's breakfast, lunch and supper, and I go out to dinner.
Let's don't forget "Sunday Dinner", which we always had after church when I was a little girl. It was usually pot roast or fried chicken at our house.
 
Last edited:
Growing up outside of Boston, it was breakfast, lunch and dinner... except Sunday... the big meal was usually early afternoon, but called Sunday dinner.
 
I eat continously, all day, at least 6 times, so I have two breakfasts, usually Ovaltine and Metamucil capsules before 30 minutes of cardio at the gym, then maybe oatmeal or cold dry cereal mid-morning. Week day lunch is normally leftovers from my big Sunday dinner; some type of protein, a starch, and a vegetable, so that is my big meal of the day. Mid afternoon I will eat some fruit, a proetein bar, a couple of handfuls of mixed nuts, or popcorn, something to give me a small sugar rush to keep me awake for the drive home. Once home it's a 30 to 45 minute nap, a salad of some kind, and off to the gym again for weight training. Finally, before bed, I have a carton of light (no sugar, no fat) yogurt and two cookies. My favorite cookie is peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolate chip.

Spryte? Donda esta frijole, chica?
 
Strictly speaking about the weekends (because during the week, around here, it's every man for him/herself, and I don't give a good hoot what it's called:ohmy:)

Breakfast is the first meal, and my preference is hot coffee and pastry or danish.

Lunch is mid-day and usually light, just enough to hold you till...

Dinner - about 7-8pm, usually 3-4 courses.



I seem to recall calling the 6pm meal 'supper' when I was a kid, and calling a big 2pm meal 'dinner' on Sunday afternoon.
 
mudbug said:
Not at all, csalt. I meant "tea" as in that late afternoon thing that might include actual mugs of tea or something else. Sometimes substantial fare as well. Kind of a substitute for what we Yanks (non-farmers) might call dinner.

And a "cream tea" is an entirely different animal.

Obviously I've been reading too much Jane Austen lately.

Oh, a cream tea is a wonder treat. Especiallyt here, all round the coast. So many lovely tea rooms etc.
I think life styles have changed the meals somewhat.
Mum and Dad working and children off to all sorts of clubs, so it's a case of eat when it fits in with family commitments.

Very different in Victorian times!!:)

Here in the UK there is a season of Jane Austen plays coming soon on TV. At last something worth watching.
 
kitchenelf said:
Well, even though it shouldn't be our biggest meal is the last of the day, which is supper - unless I'm going "out to dinner" :angel:



Well now I'm totally confused..........:ermm: . Used to date this guy from Chicago and he thought it was weird we called our main meal supper. It was always Breakfast - Lunch - Supper for us. He said that Supper for them was a celebration type meal....hmmmm. Well now that I ponder it I guess whenever we go out we call it going out for Dinner.....didn't realize it till now that you pointed that out kitchenelf.

Any hoot........our main meal is our evening meal, which is usually between 5pm and 7pm..... if were home its supper and if we go out its dinner.
 
My DH and I go to storytelling festivals, and one of our favorite tellers is a gentle Southern lady whose name is Ms. Katheryn Windham. She often mentions that it makes her peevish when people call the evening meal "dinner". She says dinner is at noon and supper is the last meal of the day. She is very adamant about that.

I still call the last meal dinner and we have lunch at noon.
 
in our household as a little girl, we called dinner supper. "supper's ready" was what I'd hear. my mom's family was all from Minnesota, "the Norwegian" state.:LOL: So that's what they always said. In my house, it's dinner
 
Back
Top Bottom