Recently, I went with some friends to the local Taco Bell on the White Horse Pike. I'm sure you all know where I'm talking about. I've only been there one time before and decided to give it another try. I really stepped out of my comfort zone, ordering steak quesadillas instead of chicken. The food was all right, but, as I'm sure many of you who are familiar with "Living Mas," I prayed I wouldn't have any... adverse reactions.
Fortunately, I was fine, but this really got me thinking: Why on earth would I gamble with my stomach when I have perfectly good food at home? I continued thinking, about not only quality, but also price. Sure, fast food has a reputation of being both fast and cheap, but is it really? Let's take a second to examine that. I spent about $7 for a sub-par meal that hardly filled me. If I were to go with my family for fast food, we would likely spend upwards of $8-9 a person, because let's face it, you'll get more food if the 'rents are paying. For my family, that comes out to about $27 a person. When we go to Sam's Club or even Wegman's, we can get 3 pounds of incredible steak and a bag of potatoes for homemade fries, all of which would be absolutely fulfilling.
This brings me to my next point. Why don't more people cook at home? Home cooked meals often have a negative stigma attached, like having liver or Mom's got awful pot roast. But what if people took just a little more time to cook together or at least try to cook together. There are some of you out there who do cook at home together, and for that I applaud you. For those of you that don't, I recommend that you give it a whirl. You don't need generations-old family recipes or a dusty old cook book. Think of something you like, Google a recipe, and try it out with your family. It can't hurt and might bring you all closer.
Lastly, I've always been taught that the kitchen is the center of any home (we're able to eat in our kitchen and this is not a coincidence). You eat here, talk here, and clean up here, and I'm not talking about a dish-washer. We wash by hand I know we're closer as a result. Hand washing dishes gives us a chance to talk and simply be together.
Here's a suggestion for you guys: try it sometime, whether it's cooking, cleaning, or both. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.
I agree that more families should spend time together making, eating, and cleaning up after meals. Growing up, family dinners were an important part of my day. Dinner was the designated time to fill my parents in on what was going on in my life. Today, my family isn't so lucky. My parents both work full-time jobs while my brother and I go to school, I have a part-time job, and my brother is a volunteer fire fighter. Family dinners are rare, occurring maybe once a week, and it's clear that we appreciate the little bit of time we have together; more families should take advantage of this opportunity. Great post, even if it doesn't have anything to do with English. (;
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Sarah. Family time is really important, and cooking, cleaning or making dinner are great ways of doing so. When I was younger, there was family dinner all the time. we would make dinner, set the table, eat, cleanup, have dessert, and just talk. Even though I'm older now and have other things to do, we still make it a priority in my family to have our family dinner. We normally have dinner together twice a week, but depending on everyone's schedule, Sunday is the day when we get together no matter what. Family is the msot important thing, in my opinion. If you lost everything, family will always be there. By doing a simple thing, such as having dinner together, the family's tight bond remains strong. We get to hear about what's going on, what we need help with, what we're succeeding with, all the crazy things that happened, and most importantly, share quality time with our loved ones.
ReplyDeleteMy family always has him cooked meals. Always! I can tell you this doesn't always bring the family together. I usually eat in my room, whereas my siblings eat in the living room, and my mom eats at the dining table. Thursday is when my dad's home, so we all sit together for dinner, in complete silence. Why? It's because Bengali people (my mom mostly) feel that it's rude to talk while eating. I usually won't be present at these dinners. Cleaning up is very annoying, because my mom hates the dishwasher. My parents don't wash the dishes, because they're older, and they get us the food. My sisters are "too small", but they're 10, 9, and 6 respectively. Okay may be the six year old can be excused. Still, the others are old enough. My brother is a boy, so he's excused from the "feminine" work. That leaves me, even though I didn't even have dinner. When we go out to eat at fast food places, it costs about $50, for a family of seven. These visits are limited to once or twice a year. Yet, we are forced to sit together, and we all talk to each other and have a great time. I cherish these moments, even going out to eat with friends is great. So, Ben I would have to say I disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting and well-written post, but it doesn't relate to language, literature, or story. Be sure that future posts center on one of these three things. *Topics like food, family, etc. aren't off-limits. The challenge is to find the intersection between, say, food and language, food and literature, or food and story, and to make that intersection the main focus of your post.
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