Food: A Social Occasion...

Real dining, for me, must be a social experience.  Although I enjoy good--quality food--my true enjoyment comes from smiling, friendly faces around the table.  Gilly, is the same.  He'll leave his food for hours when I put his dish in the corner of my study next to his water.  But when I set the dish down near where I am, he'll eat immediately.  Remember we're talking here about a social occasion.

nyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_thanksgiving.html#hp0uULjJS13R6f3R.99

My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.
Phyllis Diller

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_thanksgiving.html#hp0uULjJS13R6f3RRemember, we're talking here about a social occasion.

When eating alone, I can be found at my computer, watching a movie, standing at the kitchen sink as children board the school bus in front of my house.  In warm weather, I sit on my swing or a rocking chair on my patio.  But NEVER at the dining room table.  That is the place for laughter, stories, enjoying connections.

Two days ago, my table was full of family and friends.  Ideal dining!

We can only be said to be alive in those moments 

when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

---Thornton Wilder