Friday, September 12, 2014

For the Love of Home-Cooked Meals

Fair warning:  There’s a bee in my bonnet. I’ve got a bone to pick.  My dander is UP.

Why?  THIS.  Apparently, some folks believe that home-cooked meals are a terrible burden and more trouble than they’re worth.

Which, in my humble opinion, is big, fat load of malarkey.

We know better.

(Frankly, I hate to give the author of said article any more airtime but I think this whole thing deserves a conversation. I really want to invite her over to our home, cook a meal for/with her… )

Shortly after her article hit the inter-webs, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms wrote a fantastic piece for Mother Earth news that, in part,reads,

Soccer moms driving their kiddos half a day one way to a tournament, stopping at the drive-by for "chicken" nuggets, and then dismissing the kitchen as "too stressful" is an upside-down value system.”

I’m not looking to make any enemies here but I think that statement is spot-on.

Some simple truths:

-We know that our best conversations usually happen during a meal.  Not the kind that’s eaten out of a bag in the backseat of a car, but the kind where folks are sitting together, gathered around table.

-We know that when we get together to break bread our ties are strengthened.

-We know that the act of preparing food for family (and friends) is an act of love.

-We know that “fancy” is not always necessary and that simple meals are sometimes the best.

-We know that one of the best and most immediate way to provide comfort to someone (aside from a hug) is to make them a meal.

-We know that the kitchen is the center of the home for good reason.  That’s where all the important stuff happens.

We believe that the dinner table is the altar of the home, a place to reconnect, reenergize, and debrief with one another.  The conversations at the dinner table help us grow as individuals and galvanize us as a family.


I'd love to hear about the importance of home-cooked meals and your family... Please comment!

3 comments :

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Anonymous said...

Right on. My girlfriend and I eat together at the table every night, even though its just us. We both grew up with daily family dinner. You didn't miss dinner in my house. You couldn't. You wouldn't have wanted too, anyway. We're both great home cooks from the years of experience in the kitchen, and we're both very conscious about where our foods come from. Now, I wouldn't miss these dinners for the same reasons I wouldn't miss my family dinners as a child. But now as a grown-up, I understand that eating at home we have fun and express ourselves creatively, control our diets, eat foods from sources we know and trust, and are able to serve each other. It's too bad that the author of that article hasn't had the opportunity to learn that.

Unknown said...

I love nights were all my kids are home, and we can eat dinner as a family. It's true, the best conversations happen while sitting around the dinner table. And I could not agree more, "fancy" is not always better. I know when I try to go over the top, my kids would rather have one of my simple, classic meals.

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