Gathering Around the Table: Where the Stories Are Told

 Visits from family always remind me how gathering around the table is a meaningful ritual we engage in many different places.  It doesn't matter if my sister and I are surveying the coupons Mom just cut out for us while tasting a new french toast recipe, trying my favorite Indonesian Ginger Chicken recipe while relaxing on the deck,

 sampling wine at China Bend,or moving to another outdoor table this evening surrounded by home grown green beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It is all about gathering around the table. ( Above are JEJ and Mom at China Bend)

Our family could have conversations that revolve around food and drink for a whole day and more and never run out of stories. An old recipe takes us back to dinner at 516 W. Cameron in Kellogg twenty years ago. Having a special Brandy Alexander reminds us of how our dad had finesse when he mixed drinks. Simple green beans with bacon can bounce us around from Grandma Woolum's to Grandma West's to Auntie Lila's,then back home to Mom's house. Bloody Marys now hold a newer special memory of the Cousin Reunion in Orofino last summer.

Tonight at dinner RP and me discussed food we liked as kids, didn't like as kids, and what foods we want to have now. We recognized that we are pickier.... not in what we eat, but more in where it is purchased or how it is prepared, baked, or stirred. He may want a better cut of meat or a fresh baked bread from a favorite local bakery. I  want homegrown tomatoes, peaches from the orchard up the road, and eggs from my chickens.

As we remembered food and formed opinions about our recent eating habits, Mom's voice crept into my head. She is always reminding all of us to read the ads, cut the coupons, and buy on sale. " I was a Depression Baby you know!" (Above is Mom in a deep discussion as we enjoyed lunch at the White Bird in Northport.)

 My  brother must have heard the same voice in his head today when he went to town shopping. He found the shrimp on sale at Safeway, got free Starbuck's Via Iced Coffee attached to the Pike Street Market Roast, and used his Club Card.

Whether we drink coffee that was a bargain, enjoy corn on the cob regular price, or have top shelf brandy in our Alexanders.... it is really more about what happens while we gather around the table. The table can be in Kettle Falls, Orofino, Kellogg, or a restaurant in Northport. It is around the table where the stories are told.
( SVG and RP solving world problems at the White Bird)