What Are You Saving the Good Dishes For?
March 31, 2008
Sometimes, on those days when my friend Betsy only has enough energy for take-out Chinese, she gives herself, and her family, a lift, by serving the meal on her mother's "good" dishes — fine china with hand-painted orange chrysanthemums. She tells her kids to be super careful, and they are so impressed that they generally are.
The other night, she told me, she served a sorry-looking winter salad (mushy cukes, wilting lettuce.) But she put it in a colorful bowl she was given years ago. This one is not so fine as the chrysanthemum china, but it's draped with leaves and butterflies, and is altogether too good for everyday.
Except on those everyday occasions when it's exactly right.
The fancy bowl doesn't make the salad taste any better, and the china doesn't change the taste of the wonton soup, but the special effort lifts a hum drum meal a couple of notches.
If you don't have family heirlooms, fun paper plates can serve the same function. Use up the left-overs from Halloween, or from last year's birthday party. You're letting your family know that, even though the food may be nothing special, the fact of getting together always is.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today. You can buy this book from our friends at Smucker's® Online Store.
