My Family Table

What started as an idea to create a cookbook for our family led me here instead. Why am I unique? Why will my approach to cooking be different? I’m not sure I have the perfect answer but I would like to tell you the story of my family and why I continue to be excited about cooking.

I am a lucky person. There are many reasons I can say this. A long and happy marriage to a man that loves me and that I love, two great children (three counting my son-in-law), a beautiful granddaughter and exceptional friends are more than enough reasons to count myself fortunate. I say, “I am lucky”, because a large family with a great passion for food has always surrounded me. First it was my two grandmas, my mom and my aunts. I have said goodbye to all of these “chefs” and now it is my sisters (and sister-in-laws), nieces, cousins, and my daughter. (Note: none of the men in this big amazing family really cook, at least not enough to include here – but they love to eat!) Ours is truly a food obsessed family – and I mean this in the best sense.

One of my earliest memories is being in the kitchen with my mom watching her cook. I was always really small for my age (the youngest of four) and I would stand on a chair on the opposite side of the counter where she was working just to watch the magic that she made. We grew up with a “U” shaped kitchen (a very tiny work space) with a large table and chairs to the side that held the six of us for our meals. And oh what meals! I cherished sitting around that table watching everything. There was a lot of eating, almost an equal amount of arguing, great discussions (these were different from the arguments) and jokes – it was the heart of our home.

At every meal we started talking about our next meal. Not in a casual way but in great detail. When would we eat? Who would be there? Where would we eat? And of course, most importantly, what would we eat? If the meal was happening at a restaurant there would still be great discussion. Once the restaurant was chosen, what would people be ordering? I have passed this continuous reel of meal speak on to my own family. Now, if we are just making a meal out of snacks utilizing whatever we have on hand, I still think about it and form a plan. Do I have enough salami and cheese (is there ever enough of these!)? Do I have something that my husband will consider a meal as part of these snacks (he’s not big on snacks for dinner)? And when a meal is complete and the next meal planned, we still talk about the food we just ate like when I was around my old family table. We critique it, praise it, relish in it. Are you getting the picture - we are a family who spends a lot of time talking about food!

When I was young I thought every family was like this. I believed that mealtime was an experience. When I started going to friends houses’ for meals I realized that we were the more unusual ones.  Not everyone did, or was able to, observe the “family table” ritual like we did. Now you are beginning to understand why I say, “I am lucky”.   

I have a rich family history of excellent cooks who did a great job of passing down recipes and techniques – which was difficult when almost nothing was written down.  As I have grown and had a family of my own I have tried to do the same. Today it is even more difficult to gather around the family table and, although we may be on different schedules or live in different cities, we embrace that table every chance we get. It is a true gift to prepare a meal in your home (even if it is “snacks”) and serve it to those you love around whatever you call your table. I hope you enjoy my recipes and use them to keep this wonderful tradition going! 

This was one of my mom’s favorite poems and speaks directly to what I hope to share with my blog:

The Greatest Table
The greatest table isn’t set inside a single home
Oh no, it spans the continents and no one eats alone.
The table in your dining room, a picnic bench, a tray
a party tent, your beach blanket, a small sidewalk cafe.

A banquet hall, breakfast in bed, a lunch box, take-out sack,
The circle at a campfire roast, or any tea-time snack.

Where all of us can help ourselves, and all of us are fed.
And no one has been turned away with jus a crust of bread.

The greatest table like a tree is growing leaf by leaf,
And widening its canopy to welcome more beneath.
Its table cloth is flowering and covers all our knees,
Its branches bend with every fruit from pineapple to peas.

Who hasn’t eaten? Join us here, pull up another chair.
We’ll all scoot over, make more room, there’s always room to spare.
And always in the company, there’s someone we can toast,
An elder, infant, long lost friend, an honored guest, the host!

an excerpt from The Greatest Table by Michael J. Rosen
This poem in its entirety has been beautifully illustrated by Becca Stadtlander and made into a wonderful children’s book