Eating With Friends

"All's well that ends with a good meal." Arnold Lobel, illustrator & children's writer

I just got off the phone with my best friend, L. Each morning we touch base to discuss the headline news of the day, our husbands, our kids, our lives. We complain, laugh, and--always--we talk about what we are cooking for dinner.

L and J have been our closest friends for over 20 years. Our husbands are colleagues, and we first met over the table at a business dinner. When I later invited them to a dinner party at our home, that clinched the deal--and we've been eating together ever since.

When our children (1 son for me, 2 daughters for L) were young, our families ate together almost every weekend. Family vacations taken together included good food and a lot of laughter. L and I like to think that this time around the table had an influence on our children's lives.

Now our 20 somethings have apartments of their own. Each one is an adventuresome eater that enjoys good food and wine, and each one enjoys sharing his or her table with friends. I guess you could say that they paid attention.

Now the only time we all still come together, along with our extended families, is around the Thanksgiving table--and it's as if we haven't skipped a beat.

Here's to eating with friends.

Come back to the table

Welcome to the very first installment of my new blog. Many of us already have busy and sometimes frantic lives; but in these stressful times, it seems we are being bombarded almost hourly with new reasons to believe that the sky is falling. What better time to gather your family and friends and bring them back to the table?

Cooking dinner may not be the first thing that leaps to mind at the end of a long day. But, really, you have to eat. Let's face it, cooking at home is healthier and less expensive than eating out or grabbing take out every night. Now, I'm not saying that you have to make a five course meal every day, just a fresh, favorful and healthy one.


With whom you share your meals is just as important as the food you eat. Sitting at the table gives family and friends time to reconnect and unwind. In fact, recent studies have shown many beneficial side effects to eating together.


Over the course of this blog, I'd like to explore those benefits. I'd like to share with you what I am cooking and eating; and I'd like to know what you are cooking and eating. You'll get to know my likes and dislikes, and perhaps you'll share yours.


So join me, and come back to the table.