Food and People

Two hungry, expectant boys.

What is food without the people with whom we share it? Not to say that I don’t enjoy my quiet, solitary lunches at home but really, food is mostly interesting and worth talking about and most enjoyable because of the people around the table, or the people who helped make it (often the same crew) or grow it.

We attended the bar mitzvah of a good friend recently. During the ceremony his father told about how come dinner time he often says to his parents: “Who’s coming to dinner?” and if no one is he  says, “Well let’s call someone!”

So as our dinners on the porch come to an end for this year and we see a bit less of our passing neighbors and friends who come up for a taste or a sip of something I want to make sure I keep the conviviality, the community around food going all fall and winter. We have so much to share and my guess is we will all be healthier and happier if we eat together as much as possible.

And I don’t mean in the dinner party vein–though those are wonderful too–I mean in the throw another couple of eggs in the frittata vein and toast an extra slice of bread. Fancy is not a factor here.

Happy cooking and eating and I’ll be back with a recipe next week!

P.S. What are your favorite soups? I’m in soup class development mode and while I already have enough candidates to fill several class menus I always am interested in other people’s old and new favorites.

And finally. . .  a few shots from this summer.

Feeding lots of people!

Summer dinner at the beach.

Ellis fishing for crawdads on the Nehalem River. We did catch one but not with that "pole"!