Where do you eat dinner these days?

No, this is not a question about your favorite restaurants. I'm talking about the dining habits of those of us who started out in a two-person household, then were invaded by some hangers on (= kids), and now are back to two again (at least sometimes).

When the Man Who Cooks and I met all those years ago, the preparation and consumption of food was a shared interest, dare I say, mania. Because we were students we lived in a small apartment, with a table in the tiny kitchen to serve as a dining table. Occasionally we would turn the tiny "living room" into a pretend dining room. Oh, for the day when we'd have our own house which would of course have a separate dining room.

That eventuated, and we always set the table nicely, including candles, a ritual that has even become a habit with our sons when they were old enough to understand. Dinner was the time when everyone was present, none of this trend of each person heating up their own meal at various times (our household is one of the last holdouts in the developed world NOT TO HAVE A MICROWAVE). There was always conversation, catching up with everyone's day, maintaining that family togetherness. (Sidetrack: recent research has pointed to decreasing time children spend talking with adults as a possible reason behind the fall in children's language development and that the fact that modern families often don't eat meals together means less opportunity for adult conversation).

Now things are changing in our household, especially the first half of this year with Techie Son studying overseas. Number One Son is now in a job with odd hours which often has him working from late afternoon to midnight, so he too is often missing from the dining table. That dining table, and the dining room, now appear way too large and lonely! And although I would have never thought this would happen, the two of us find ourselves gravitating back to our comfy and cosy kitchen for the evening meal.

I guess a lot of people have gone through this...

Some photos from our student days in our apartment. This must have been a special occasion. A tablecloth on a card table does wonders! (I've just figured it out: These first two photos were taken in August 1973, so that was probably my 28th birthday)

My sister made my dress, with a beautiful appliqued animal (?) on the front. Unfortunately I outgrew this dress years ago.

An early photo of the Bread Nazi!!

We still have that bread board, made by my brother in his high school workworking class.

Breaking news

I decided to have a slipper day today (after going to my early morning aerobics class, of course), so we decided not to go to the Flower and Garden Show after all. It's the perfect day for staying indoors and trying out some computer scrapbooking. (Also, I wanted to be able to watch a bit of footy).

Jellyhead mentioned in her comment to my last post that as she had never seen a photo of the Bread Nazi, she pictured him as a "vague loaf-shaped figure", which drew a guffaw from me (yes, librarians do occasionally guffaw). That has given me an idea for a fun project to try with various photo-editing programs, which will probably take up an inordinate amount of my time. However, the Bread Nazi has appeared on these pages, most famously(?) as the man who cooks. Not very loaf-like, more your pretzel stick shape really, or maybe a baguette!

So sorry to all of you wanting to see photos of the garden show. That will have to wait until next year.

The bread nazi comes a cropper

Readers of this blog will know that I live with a bread nazi (also known as the man who cooks). No distance is too great, no inconvenience too inconvenient to thwart the bread nazi in his constant quest for a new/interesting/dare I say it-the perfect bread.

So you can imagine the excitement, as we are heading for the start of our bushwalk on Sunday, when we pass the Beechworth Bakery as we leave Bendigo. This bakery, in its native Beechworth in northeast Victoria, is well known for its quality products. The wheels have been set in motion: THIS will be where we pick up our well earned lunch after our two hour bushwalk. No matter that this would be retracing our steps, taking us back into Bendigo and away from the direction of home. (Note that this grates against the very being of she who navigates = me).

So, bushwalk finished, pleasantly tired, appetite whetted. She who navigates at this point would settle for your average sandwich as long as it's accompanied by a nice cold drink. But no. That will not do. We need to wend our way back to the Beechworth Bakery. I opt for an interesting looking Chinese spiced salad wrapped in flat bread. The BN goes for egg and salad on white bread, a strange choice I think at the time.

We drive to the so-called Botanical Gardens at Kangaroo Flat (not true to its name, but pleasant enough) where we have our lunch. My Chinese spice wrap tastes as good as it looks. The BN is oddly quiet - normally I would be treated to a full analysis of texture, flavor, freshness, regardless of quality. Finally I ask how the bread was. In funereal tones he informs me that it was as bad as the worst bread he has ever eaten. Oh dear.

International House reunion

Today there was a reunion of people who had stayed in International House while studying at the University of California at Berkeley. This is where Mel and I met in 1969, and so is an important part of our personal history. I-House, as it is commonly called, is a world under one roof, and we have great memories of our time there and people we met. Just can't believe it was that long ago!

Here I am with Donna Rosenthal, who was at I House when Mel and I were there.

The man who cooks

Although I live with a bread nazi, this same man also is a fabulous cook. And he has more than able assistants, namely our sons. Here is Mel turning these massive veal shanks, in our beautiful French casserole (how did we live without that for all those years?)

Don't you love how he is wearing his workman's overalls while cooking? He's also a great handyman. Am I lucky, or what? Also lucky for having that walk-in pantry you can see in the background.

Time goes by...

Where did the first half of the year go? We are now mid-winter and past the winter solstice. At uni we're enjoying a relatively student-free campus as the mid-year exams are over and no classes are on. However, that means that our own two uni students are home, and as Mel usually works from home, the house is no longer "mine". So off I go to work, happily and in the knowledge that I will arrive home to a beautifully cooked meal - husband is a great cook, and the boys are developing good skills. Last night Ben prepared a lovely roast chicken and potatoes, with a salad and homemade dressing. No bottled stuff in this family! The boys may not turn out to be foodies but they do appreciate well cooked food. So sad to witness families not sitting down to meals together, instead heating up something in those dreadful microwaves at odd hours to suit the individual. They're even building houses these days with minimal kitchen facilities (can't call them kitchens) as people move more towards fast food, prepackaged food, eating out a few times a week, and so on.

Well, this post has taken an unexpected turn, but this does fit into the title "Time goes by..." Food: it has been the recurring theme of our courting and marriage, starting in 1969. How much we have shared our pleasure in preparing, serving and eating food, with each other, and with family and friends over the years. The enjoyment of food has been the cement in our relationship, we have great memories of past meals, although Mel's memory for specific dishes eaten years ago has always amazed me. But it's all part of our history, even the pots and pans we bought as students in Berkeley are some of the ingredients of our family history (ok, so the boys laugh at us when we reminisce about how long we've had this or that kitchen utensil - are we crazy, or what). But it's a shared history, and so much fun to look back on.

This was taken at our 10 acre block last year. We're having breakfast (see faithful coffee pot on the table, bought in Alice Springs in 1990 - yawn). We tend to spend as much time as possible outdoors, which is another recurring theme of ours. Look at that sky, can't see that sitting indoors. Ditto the stars and moon in the night sky. Glorious.
Click on picture to enlarge.