Monday, February 22, 2010

Serve!

Having just come back from 5:30am tennis, I am reminded of the importance of the serve. The serve gets the game going and it also sets the tone for the point. Last week, as I thought about the YouTube show on Good Table Manners(1951) by Coronet, I read Phil.2:4, "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." I realized that the family in the show were serving "family- style" with serving dishes which required patience to wait for your turn to get the food and courtesy. I had recently been impatient when the Heinz 57 was not passed to me quickly. I have not been using serving platters and I see some important lessons serving dishes can teach all of us. Serving dishes can be very pretty and the platters can be easy to put in the dishwasher. Plus with cooking co-op, if you use pyrex dishes, you can reheat your food then just set it on the table with a hot pad and pass the meat, please. Serving the food"family-style" is a daily reminder to look out for the interests of others. These daily details are important to practice- just ask the Olympic athletes- and go serve!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Reformation of Manners III

Good manners lead to more friends or so says Judi the Manners Lady. It is amazing what you can find on YouTube. The most appropriate for my 14 year old son is Good Table Manners(1951) and watch the full 10 min. version- it stresses courtesy, consideration of others and common sense. Humm... do lack of manners lead to a lack of consideration for others? Are we "machines" that just need to refuel? If your family could use a tune up of table manners, also watch Judi the Manners Lady and there is a good 10 minute Emily Post clip. Good manners will help slow down the in-take of food, enhance the table talk, and improve digestion. If, as a nation, we really want to lower childhood obesity, it starts with having 4 or more family meals a week. Make this "private duty" a priviledge. Stand back and let's see what ills this reformation of manners can alleviate.

Monday, February 8, 2010

5:30 am Tennis- All Systems are Go!

There were plenty of good reasons not to play this a.m.- 14 degree temperature, ice and snow on roads, Super Bowl. But Keith said we are playing and 12 men and women showed up to play. What a victory just being there and what a gorgeous sight driving back home and seeing the sun coming up over a field of snow. What a great start to the week! In the WSJ, an ex-Marine, corporal Hector Delgado, gave a fitness tip:"Though (he) believes a person's diet is more important than any excercise routine, he says camaraderie is the best way to get results in the gym. A workout partner, or group, can push and motivate you on a lazy day." No way I on my own would have gotten up to excercise this a.m. without those tennis partners. And that is why I like cooking co-op. I need cooking co-oppers to help push and motivate me on those lazy days to go ahead and cook an affordable, healthy meal, enjoy less stress at dinner time, enjoy my family more and the camaraderie is just as important in cooking as in an excercise routine. And with cooking co-op you address your diet and find the time to excercise(since you save time by cooking in quantity). Get together your own group and enjoy the results!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Reformation of Manners II

William Wilberforce, by studying the root of social problems, thought that if the manners(morals) of England could be reformed, then crime, poverty and other problems would decline. Wilberforce went on to say,"...the true duty of every man is to promote the happiness of his fellow-creatures to the utmost of his power." Reread my blogs- Oct.19th and Aug. 24th. For "Sully" Sullenberger, "...it was his upbringing...his sense of integrity" that helped him safely land a US Airways plane on the Hudson River. The name of the book on him-"Highest Duty:My Search for what Really Matters." Samuel Johnson, English writer who helped set the stage for Wilberforce, thought that duties, not rights were at the core of ethics. "Almost all the miseries of life, almost all the wickedness that infects society, and almost all the distrsses that affect mankind, are the consequences of some defect in private duties. Likewise, all the joys of this world may be attributed to the happiness of hearth and home." What if ...couples/family/friends sat down for 30 mins. 4 times a week to enjoy a meal together- no answering phones or e-mails? What if...Richmond Mayer Jones, Virginia Governor McDonnell, and President Obama did the same? And what if ...we all invited a friend or adversary into our homes to discuss the issues of the day? That would be a Reformation of Manners for our times.