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| The best dish of all is conversation! |
What meal of the day to you call dinner? I learned this the hard way. In my family, although we typically called our evening meal supper, the back up description for the evening meal was "dinner" with the exception of Thanksgiving Dinner [which could happen anywhere in between noon and six o'clock p.m.] OR Sunday dinner [which was between noon and two o'clock] which was a Southern staple. I know it sounds a little mixed up, but it was simply understood.
However, and I mean a BIG however, my mother-in-law called the noon day meal "dinner." Soooo, when she asked if we would be there by dinner time and we said yes, the comedy of errors began. OK maybe we should call it the tragedy of errors. There's nothing quite like arriving to a fully set table with obviously sweaty iced tea glasses whose ice had melted hours ago, dried out food that had been on the stove or in the oven (being kept "warm"), and I will leave you to your imagination the awkward mix of joy and disappointment that hung in the air.
For future reference, I invite you to bank on this definition from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary. Be aware that you need to clarify which definition of "dinner" you are hosting or being invited to.
- 1a : the principal meal of the dayb : a formal feast or banquet
- 2: table d'hôte 2
- 3: the food prepared for a dinner
dinner>
Whatever you call your meals, stop the madness! Make sure that your meals are not just an item on your to do list. Meals are about fellowship! Meals are about conversation! Meals are about connecting. It's not about scarfing down something in record time and getting back to business. Just a little web surfing will yield a plethora of information on how our digestion can be enhanced by slowing down, sitting down, chewing slowly, enjoying our meal and, better yet, enjoying the fellowship.
Just 15 years ago, you would find my homeschooling family eating at 21 meals a week together. About 10 years ago, add in teenage drivers, jobs, sports and that dwindled to about a dozen meals together. At this point, we are down to about one --- the proverbial Sunday dinner. We are working on improving that!
We now have more adult children on their own than we do children at home, but for those who make it, we have 2nd Sunday Dinner for the clan. It is precious!
What does your dinner time look like? Let's rediscover meal time! When I visited my daughter in California, I loved it. In many restaurants there were community tables where strangers sat together; so much better than sitting alone at a table. By the end of the meal, you are no longer strangers and the world is a little smaller, a little more connected.
To connect, we have to disconnect! Put down that phone or your "screen" of choice (TV too, old school, but it's still a screen).
Dinner Tiiiime might take some planning, but its worth it. I am going to start a new Saturday morning series dedicated to Dinner Time.
So what do we need?
1. Place: It can be your kitchen table or dinner out.
2. Food: Home-cooked meals or take out
3. People: People living with you or inivited guests
4. Time: Make time; shedule time
5. Activity: Conversation and good attitudes
6. Extras: Candles and background music
What we don't need?
1. Electronics: Phone, ipad, TV, gaming
2. Grumps: Complaining /negativity = indigestion
Stay tuned for recipes, conversation starters, and tips to make meal time prep & clean up easy peasy!
Change your world one meal at a time!
Bon appetit!
Click for video:
Meals in America v. Meals in France
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