Aug. 16, 2008 - Dinner Table vs. Refueling Station
OK, so we just finished dinner. The family has been asking for a meatloaf, but the weather has been quite warm and we have no central air, so I've been putting it off until cooler temperatures arrived. Well, today has been beautiful! A lovely breeze found it's way through the kitchen all day long, so I figured this was the perfect evening.
Now, I realize meatloaf is not rocket science, but it does take a few minutes to mix up and an hour or so to bake, and it requires a cooling period so it can be cut nicely. (I've skipped the cooling period before and ended up serving "meatcrumble" instead.) All told, a nice meatloaf dinner can take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to prepare from start to finish, right?
Which brings me to my next point: Our dinner table is more of a refueling station. It's just a necessary stop between the action. Conversation (worth having, that is) is minimal, and more often than not it ends with Mom and the baby of the family sitting alone at one end of a long, empty table about 20 minutes after the meal even began. Where did everybody go? Helloooooo.............
I'm thinking of setting up some sort of docking station right off the kitchen. Instead of setting a dinner table, I could just mix up a giant meatloaf smoothie (all the sides included, of course), and then at the designated refueling time, my little army of go-getters could line up with a segment of garden hose, slurp up their allotment of fuel, and be back out the door within 2 minutes. Oh, I know! Here's an even better idea: I could take it outside, run up beside them and do a mid-play refueling kind of like military aircraft. Then they wouldn't need to slow down at all.
Hmmmm....I'm going to need to give this some more thought. The problem would come when we go somewhere else to eat. Friends could surely accomodate us, but are you allowed to take your own blender into Bob Evans?
I'll look into it.
Comments
Aug. 16, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Mom,
You make the best meatloaf, even though all the ingredients are from the store and all you do is mix it up!
Love you!
Snugglebuns
Aug. 17, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by OldSchoolMarm
Oh yes I can remember those days well when we still had one in the highchair after everyone had left the table. Reading this also made me visualize those marathon runners that are given drinks while they're running...that could get a bit messy though.
Your post before was really good. I think I'm going to check her website out more thourougly, I'm not real happy with my lesson plan format and need some help with that. Thanks for mentioning her link.
Blessings, Julie
Aug. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by ArrowsInOurQuiver
I just wanted to drop by and say hello...so, hello! Reading your blog for the first time, has been an encouragement to me. My husband and I desire to have a big family...in fact, we are leaving this area, in our opinion, the greatest area of our life totally in God's hand. He knows better than we do what we need and each child is a gift from Him. So thanks again for the encouragement. Can't wait to read more about your family!
