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Chef John Foster: Enjoy a special night out of course, but make family dinner your favorite routine


I would call it a lazy Sunday, but there is work to do. Meals have to be planned, food shopped for, and dinners are cooked and put away.

In an ideal world, where you’re busy all the time,it’s a no brainer to plan ahead. It does take some time, and energy to be this organized, but the alternative isn’t pretty or cheap.

As much as I’d like you dining at The Sage Rabbit every night, or anywhere a Sullivan University culinary student or graduate works, there are unique benefits to spending some time at your own dinner table. 

I’ve written on this subject several times in the past year, yet it keeps coming up in conversations. This is an issue that only grows more complicated as we continue to cram more things into our daily routine, but it’s one that merits further discussion as the simple family dinner impacts not only the family unit but our financial and physical health as well.

I may be stepping on a lot of toes when I bridge the middle ground on this issue. I grew up in a family environment that celebrated breakfast, lunch and dinner as social and nutritional endeavors. Family meals were also political discussions, current events and periodic updates served with fairly healthy, home cooked meals.

My mother was a stay-at-home Mom, probably one of the last of her group to do so. She had a farm to run, kids to raise and a husband to manage yet we still managed to have daily meals which kept the family engaged for my entire childhood. There was no dinner in your bedroom or even in front of a t.v. No cell phones, not even a phone call could drag anyone away from the table.

This is heady stuff I know because we raised two boys in much the same way.

The breaking point comes when we’re too busy to plan much, or events and work take us away from the home at mealtimes. Breakfast on the weekends, dinner on Sunday and Monday nights, a lunch here and there, times have certainly changed.
 
Is it easier just to pick something up, already made, packaged and ready to go? The answer is most certainly yes, but why not make that package something you cooked and why not spend the hours per week it would take you in a drive through to enjoy the pleasures of cooking in your own kitchen.

Consider the control you would have over things like fat and sugar, salt and additives that aren’t necessary for a lot of our food. An hour at the grocery each week, several hours in the kitchen, and an hour of menu planning, all so that most nights you’re eating at home, with family and food that you prepared.

Then the trip to restaurant or a drive through on the way to a game is not the norm, but a treat, one that you can actually enjoy with no guilt. And trust me, there are people who do feel guilty that they are not cooking at home. I won’t say that they drive the industry, that’s left for other groups. But they do occupy a space in our world, and I think they would enjoy my food more if they themselves cooked more at home. 

There is a certain camaraderie between all cooks that only grows more if there are shared experiences. The thin line between home cook and professional may be only a matter of how many people you cook for every day.

I’ve covered the how’s and why’s of cooking and eating at home in past columns, and it usually involves shopping at the market as well. The market is still very much active, I went down this past weekend to pick up some chickens from Elmwood Stock Farm. The variety of items is narrow, but the quality remains high, and the time the farmers have to chat is much longer than mid-June.

Besides the pantry, and the freezer and all the home planning, take the time now to plant the seeds of a farmer consumer relationship. Winter won’t last forever, in fact I take issue with the groundhog, I think spring is closer than six weeks.

And when we slow down a bit and cook at home, or take a trip to the markets, or even chat up a server, we might find that the simple act of communication may be a welcome break from the go go life we normally lead.

There is a saying that encapsulates what I feel to be the essence of my point; “take time to stop and smell the roses.”

For a cook and a parent that means spending some more time planning a few meals at home, pulling your kids into the process and away from the smart phone, and slowing your life down a bit from time to time. To me, this type of change, on the cusp of spring could be not only the re-boot of a failed New Year’s resolution, (remember those?) but also a life changing step off the hamster wheel.

Even a chef needs that from time to time, even I appreciate a good home cooked meal, and a re-connect with the family.

John Foster is an executive chef who heads the culinary program at Sullivan University’s Lexington campus. A New York native, Foster has been active in the Lexington culinary scene and a promoter of local and seasonal foods for more than 20 years. The French Culinary Institute-trained chef has been the executive chef of his former restaurant, Harvest, and now his Chevy Chase eatery, The Sage Rabbit.

To read more from Chef John Foster, including his recipes, click here. 


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