RE: "A few questions"

Question

Thanks very much for responding to my questions. I want to apologize for the very long length of my "A few questions" post. I didn't mean to make it so long. When your father has the answer to the "dairy breads" post and what his psak is based on the idea of "breads shouldn't be dairy unless it's in an unusual shape and/or is enough for just oen day/one meal, please let me know via the forum or private e-mail. I would however like some clarification on the answer you gave to my 2nd question concerning timing of Kiddush/seudah on Friday night and Yom Tov nights. You answered: "You do it every other night, why would Fri. nite be any different." Were you talking about davening Maariv before dinner or were you talking about eating dinner before davening Maariv? Let's say during the summer months, my family does not want to wait until a half hour or so after sunset to eat dinner on Friday night or a summer Yom Tov like Shavuos. In certain parts of the midwest, sunset isn't until as late as 8:50 PM during a portion of the summer. Based on this and the fact that we can't do Maariv until at least sunset; what I'm asking is according to halachah, what is the EARLIEST time I'm allowed to do kiddush/have my Shabbos seudah on Friday nights and Yom Tov nights? Thanks so much as always for your refreshing and straightforward insights on Torah and halachah. I can't say enough just how much I enjoy learning from your father's teachings.