Our weekday routine is so hectic – with work, school, swim practice, and random errands that must get done – that we rarely sit down to a real family dinner during the week. I have a wonderful babysitter who picks my kids up from school three days a week, and on those days, the kids eat dinner with the sitter before my husband and I get home from work. By the weekend, my maternal guilt has usually set in nice and strong, and I feel the urge to bring everyone together for at least one good meal together.

Sounds lovely and peaceful, right? The four of us seated at a beautifully set dinner table, a home cooked dinner on our plates, pleasant conversation about life and the issues of the day. Smiles and happy faces all around. Add some violin music, and it would be perfect.

Of course, it rarely – if ever – happens that way. Not in my house, anyway. Our version usually involves less peace and harmony and more whining and complaining from the kids, begging and pleading from me, and general annoyance and frustration by about ten minutes into it. The meal usually ends with me wondering aloud why I even bother.

This past weekend I attempted the family dinner again. I made a recipe from the August 2009 issue of Gourmet for cumin-scented beef kebabs. The recipe turned out great. The marinade was incredibly flavorful. The combination of the oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic, and cayenne was delicious.

The family dinner did not quite go as I had planned.  Our gas grill ran out of gas as the meat was finishing up. When the gas ran out, the steak was only cooked to medium rare, a bit too rare for our tastes. The beef cooked a bit more as it rested, so most pieces were cooked just right. My kids refused to eat the roasted red pepper and pine nut dip that I served on the side. It was a great sauce for the beef and the mushrooms, but Madeline and Oliver wanted no part of that. The grilled mushrooms were so tender and wonderful, but I couldn’t get either child to try even the smallest bite.  A small consolation was that they did eat the jasmine rice and the beef.

But I will still continue to try. I’m determined that if I make a habit of the family dinner, the kids will eventually forget that they don’t like eating non-brown, non-hot-dog-shaped food. I’m a believer that one day they’ll look forward to the ritual of it. And hopefully they’ll look forward to my food, too.

Since I followed the recipe exactly, I won’t duplicate it here. If you’re interested in trying it, this is where you can find it. I thought it was really tasty, definitely worthy of making again.