Tuesday at The Table

To me, The Table isn't always a concrete surface, like in a dining room.

It's
. . . looking forward to the Tupperware of freshly baked cookies waiting when you visit your grandparent's house.
. . . gathering around the fridge, spoons in hand, to dig into the chocolate caramel poke cake, the fridge door boldly standing wide open.
. . . exploring the many options of food-on-a-stick at the state fair, sharing bites at nearly every stand so you can try more things.
. . . wrapping your grandbaby in loving arms to feed her a bottle, even though she can basically hold it herself.

　　

Right? The Table is sharing the experience of good food with people you care about.

Tuesday at The Table

There are several "foodie" things on my mind . . .

The first is a magazine that I discovered when we flew to Minnesota two weeks ago. It's kind of my 'routine' to buy a couple of new magazines for reading on the plane whenever we travel. This time I picked up Where Women Cook: The Heart & Soul of Cooking. It didn't hurt that Molly Wizenberg of Orangette was on the cover. I enjoy reading her blog and her articles in Bon Appetit, and have even enjoyed eating at the restaurant she and her husband own here in Seattle. The photography in this magazine is stunning, and I really enjoyed the articles - good stuff for someone like me, who was a baker in a former life. I was intrigued enough to back-order the premier issue, where The Pioneer Woman was featured - another one of my favorite (non-quilty) blogs.

Something I've enjoyed reminiscing about since our trip to Minnesota are the many new restauratnts we tried while we were there visiting our son. A couple we had been to previously, but most were new to us. Visiting new restaurants is kind of like our family hobby. We hadn't been together in the Twin Cities for nearly a year, and son and us both had lists of potential restaurants to try during our time together. We managed to visit (and enjoy!) eight new restaurants, plus a couple of old favorites. I go a step beyond and rate/review them all on urbanspoon.com. A little eccentric, but fun times for us.

Lastly, I'm thinking about what constitutes a great meal out. And I think the one I enjoyed last night certainly qualifies. It was a plus that the weather was beautiful last evening - finally a bit of summer had hit our city. But more than that it was a familiar, favorite restaurant; joining our most dearly-loved ones; being greeted by servers who recognize you and are truly glad to see you;  tasty and beautiful food, just like you've come to expect; and to top it off, getting the employee discount even though son hasn't worked there in two years. Now that is a great meal.

Tuesday at The Table

Today begins an occasional series on the significance of the dining table. For those readers who are interested in quilty posts only, let the word 'Table' be your clue . . .

It's been a while since I wrote about The Table. It is very significant to my family and I, and much has happened around it since my last post that I may or may not share some day. Don't worry, though, this post won't be as heavy as the last. But I've been thinking about when the table began to be a big deal for me personally. I know it was a meaningful place for my family long before I was born. But I think one of my first memories of the importance of the table being imparted to me involved Betty Crocker. Actually, a Betty Crocker cookbook. I was a little girl, and my mom would open up that cookbook and turn to the page that had a picture of a properly set table. And I would set our family's dining table according to that picture. A picture something like this:

courtesy of sugarandcharm.com

Now we never had sherry or wine glasses, or even seafood forks, but I set what we did have, and I knew that it was important and that it made my family's time around the table special. And yessiree, in the years to come I would be given a book of napkin folding techniques and cloth napkins to fold in new and fancy ways. To me, as a child, it made the whole event of sharing a meal together of unquestionable value. Thus the table was set, the tradition continued, and it continues today.