Family Dinner Times

Posted on October 25, 2019 by dragonspitapothecary

One of the best parts about fall is the hearty food. I have a list of favorites I actually enjoy making and having for dinner this time of year. These are foods that taste best when it’s chilly outside and the darkness of early evenings brings us inside together. It’s a time of heaping pots of steamy soups, warm tea and hot fresh baked bread. It’s a time when we seem more hungry and in need of that warmth that settles into our bones against the growing coldness of the days.

Our family eats dinner together regularly. It may be a simple meal of grilled cheese and canned soup or even eggs and pancakes for dinner but we sit down together to eat at least one meal as much as possible. There’s something special about talking about our routines that gives even a simple meal the possibility of being the best moment of the day. While I appreciate these times immensely I also enjoy the times when our meals are more hearty and there’s asks for seconds.

Simplicity

The family meal table can simply be gathering around the kitchen together. There is grace and beauty in this ritual of coming together after a long day at work or school. We can feel reconnected to something bigger in life and reset from the challenges of our day. We can be comforted, soothed and encouraged while also being filled with love.

The center of the home in the kitchen ties our families together with food and love. It gives us that place of safety and comfort that anything outside those walls can be dealt with but for now we can rest and reflect, be comforted and strengthened by those we love. That is a simple grace of a family. That time together may be short each day and preparing a meal after working all day a challenge but these are precious moments that can truly replenish our soul if we let it.

Dishing up some chicken pot pie or hearty chili and enjoying the warmth from these types of dishes warms us. It gives us that sense of all being ok in the world and we can take a time to rest while we prepare for another round the next day. It is a simple connection of us to food and us to others that gives us that strength to carry on. These heartier dishes bring us to a time when what was on our table for a meal was hand grown and made and we lived in a simpler time of working with own hands to make our way in the world. These dishes represent generations of people before us who also shared in a simple meal after a long day.