A few weeks ago I sat, once again annoyed, in a booth opposite two girls engaged in some sort of imaginary game instead of eating their meals. Not only was it [i felt] age-inappropriate and poorly behaved, but wasteful ... spoiled even. In this moment I made a decision; one that had been coming for some time, but one not easy or even convenient for me to maintain: we need a break from dining out.
Our family -- primarily for a lack of my own planning -- has fallen into the practice of grabbing something on the way, stopping in, even going out of our way instead of eating in our own home. I read some claim in The Washington Post a few years back that in the DC area on any given night nearly half of it's residents are dining out. Half!
It has happened for years. How fondly I recall half-price-enchilada-night when we lived on Capital Hill. Then there was the ease of our local Asian/fusion vegetarian diner (we're on a first name basis with the owner and manager, you know). When faced with a struggle over what the kids will eat I can always count on pancakes from Eggspectation. And then there's my Chipotle addiction, and the Starbucks thing. So the story goes that my children have not only become accustomed, but they take for granted the luxury of the restaurant opportunity.
I'm struck by the decadent reality of my own words as I describe this here, at how horribly glutinous and extravagant it all sounds, and is.
Who has money to waste like this? Not I. As I reflect on this, I realize that the entire thing goes against the very grain of my frugal nature. It's completely out of alignment with the way I want to be living. I wonder, is this just another example of looking in the wrong places for a fix, rather than creating a solution from within?
Our next door neighbors are self-described "urban homesteaders." They have transformed what used to be a rough gravel drive into a sizable vegetable garden complete with raised beds, pathways between, and a small cutting garden bordering the produce. As they approach the delivery date of their first born, they plan to stock a winter pantry with canned goods from their summer harvest. The recent salmonella scare won't get in the way of their enjoying a proper tomato salad.
Seeing the hard work they put into their own eat local effort is nothing short of inspiring. On any given evening they can reach for a handful of fresh organic greens and have something very sustaining in more ways than one. It's reminds me of my Grandparents who also enjoyed the bounty of their own garden on a small, city plot.
[page from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave. - a really lovely book]
The crazy thing about this is that I really like to cook. The colors and textures or the rhythm of whisking together a vinaigrette ... it's all so good. My kids enjoy helping and I have let them down in this department lately.
Now that summer is here -- today is the last day of school (hooray!) -- we've decided each of my daughters will pick a night to be in charge of making dinner. They get to choose [with some stipulations] a menu, and enlist the help to get dinner on the table. They are into my cookbooks today and have even remarked that they want to try meatloaf. I'm not reminding them that I made meatloaf a few months ago, much to their dissatisfaction. I'm just going to present it on a lovely blue platter just as the professional photo-stylist did.
Though we may not have a garden to reach into, we do have many potted tomatos, a nice Sunday farmer's market and freezer full of fresh fish. Not to mention a Mom determined to bring the homemade back into our family, our home (and our summer picnics) at meal times.
Off to make the guacamole!