K is for Kitchen table

The kitchen has always been a gathering place for my family for as long as I can remember.  The women in our family have probably spent over half of their lives in their kitchens and I am no different.  I spent countless hours conversing with my grandmother as she prepared meal after meal- three meals/day seven days/week and while she baked cakes and breads from scratch.  I also enjoyed listening to her sing while she worked in the kitchen.  Our family ate all of our meals at the kitchen table and, if someone had football practice or a meeting, we waited for them to get home and we ate together.
 

People are always pushing togetherness during meals at the family table--like this is something new or perhaps they believe families have strayed from this particular type of family quality time. Meals at the table with everyone around are the only kind I have ever known (and not just during the holidays) so it is no surprise that I would continue this tradition with my own kids.  Certainly our kitchen table saw thousands of meals over the years.  Sometimes we were even a bit creative with our meals- candlelight dinners; no manners night; dessert first night; etc.  However, saying our table only satisfied family time during meals would diminish the importance and quality of the times our family shared while sitting there together.  

  

Our kitchen table provided space for creating school projects; ginger bread houses; Christmas cookies; Easter eggs; colorful art work. The girls also studied and read books there. Many a game of telephone has been played at the table as well as hundreds of hours of playing board games, card games and putting together jigsaw puzzles. The laughter still resounds if you listen carefully. This table has seen more than anyone’s fair share of Girl Talk, both serious and silly- the sharing of the deepest secrets and fears that young girls harbor as well as the silly thoughts and stories of a day in the life.  Our kitchen table has witnessed the tears and anger brought on by disagreements as well as the tears, hugs, understanding, and smiles the resolutions brought.  It heard the intense discussions of the injustices of the world and the ways to make changes.  It heard us telling our girls that they could be anything in the world they wanted to be.  The table has been the meeting place for friends both young and old as each of their friends sat and discussed their lives with me as well. How amazing it was to know their friends almost as well as I knew my own girls. They all knew that there was no judge or jury at the table, only listening and an attempt to understand.  

While I was growing up, the kitchen table was the center of our family life.  It was the same while Hubs and I raised our girls.  Now that our nest is empty, the kitchen table is still a meeting place for the two of us, every evening when we eat and share our day with each other.  We still discuss our plans right there over that same table.  And, when the girls are home, the kitchen table remains our center as it stirs past memories, and encourages the sharing of present goals and  future dreams.  

This is the 11th day of the A-Z Blog Challenge for the month of April. And this thing is getting harder instead of easier AND we're not even halfway there yet!  I guess that's why they call it a challenge.  Just click the badge on my sidebar to join in the challenge!  

And now it's time for  Wednesday's HOP.  Patrice, at Everyday Ruralty, hosts Wednesday Words of Weight Loss every Wednesday!  It's a fun HOP that offers encouragement and company on the issue of weight.  It's never too late to join!  Come on, this is your week to join in the FUN! 

 

Questions:1. Should we classify cheesecake as dairy or a dessert? I'd have an amazing food pyramid if given the chance.  I'd like to classify it as Yummy- lish to be eaten at my leisure...However, wouldn't that depend on the topping?  

2. How often do you get on a scale to check your weight? Scale?  What scale?  LOL  It depends on my mood---if I'm feeling lucky I get on; if I'm not, I don't.  

3. Do you wear an apron when you cook?  When I'm trying out new recipes or baking, yes because I can make one big mess in the kitchen!  Plus, I have ruined too many shirts to risk it anymore.

4. Do you like to work in the garden? Tell us about your garden(s).  Oh goodness YES!  We have three raised bed gardens that are all planted and set up with drip irrigation---Hubs set the irrigation up and it is fed through the rain barrels he set up- he's really good.  We also have a fenced in area that we are working on tilling up that will host squash, cucumbers and beans.  The raised beds contain green leaf lettuce; romaine lettuce; onions; shallots; horseradish; garlic; tomatoes; sweet and hot peppers; eggplant and marigolds.  Then we have three flower container gardens, a grape plant and a blueberry bush.  On the deck, Hubs brought me these cute little baskets in which I planted flowers and hung on the deck rails.  We've been busy!  You can read more about our garden here and see better pictures here.

Not the best picture, but it does show the three raised beds.

5. Did you hug anyone today? Yes- Hubs and Tucker!