Happy Memorial Day!

It's Memorial Day and a reminder to say thank you to the men and women in service. And a time to remember those who fought throughout our history for freedom. Yesterday, after church, we packed a picnic and drove to Westover Plantation between Richmond and Williamsburg- best kept secret in this area. The home is beautiful and the view of the James River is breath-taking. Thanks to cooking co-op, I had an easy family favorite to quickly put together-Double Decker Turkey, Bacon and Havarti cheese sandwiches(see youvegotsupper for the recipe). I rounded out the meal with a marinated bean salad(thank you Costco), slices of watermelon, chips and cupcakes. Especially delicious eating outside in such a beautiful setting. This area is part of the cradle of our nations history as it is very close to Jamestown. So we stopped at many of the hisorical markers on the way back. My 21 yr. old daughter would read as the 14 yr. old son listened. We overshot Nathaniel Bacon's marker- perhaps because I asked nicely and perhaps because we just had bacon in our club sandwich- my husband turned around and we learned about Bacon's Rebellion. History and food go well together!

The Plan

Do you wake up one morning and then decide to leave the next day for your summer vacation? I don't think so. You need to plan. I recently saw this quote: " A fool with a plan is more effective than a genius with no plan. " I took that to heart as I recently was asked to play 2 singles tennis USTA matches- first I laughed as I am no young "whipper snapper" but then I came up with a plan- play on clay which slows down the hard fast strokes of the younger players and lob to their back-hand. There were times it did not look like it was working but I stuck with the plan and won both singles matches against better players than myself. That is what I like about cooking co-op - usually I have 1-2 months of menues planned with the help of others so it is easier to shop and cheaper since there are fewer left overs. We eat more natural food and less processed food when we have a plan for dinner. You need to plan. Nutritionists and weight programs encourage the same thing - plan. So one big topic at your dinner table tonight could be guess what- not who- is coming for dinner- guess each family members favorite meal and put it on the calendar.

Memories

That's what you are creating when you set aside time for family mealtime. Instead of junking my old breakfast table, I found a talented mom to creatively and colorfully repaint the 21 year old table which was the setting to hear many family discussions. Food is the WD-40 which loosens the jawbones and it's amazing what you can find out. "Hum...you said earlier you did not have much homework but now I am hearing about 2 big tests tomorrow." We had asked to hear all about the prom, but only sitting at that table, eating food did we hear how our daughter got home from the prom- by canoe. The dad(a lawyer) insisted they wear life vests. I am not a gourmet cook. I just love cooking co-op because it helps me do the things I want to do- take time out to hear the stories and create memories.

Rosie the Riveter

What did you enjoy most about Mother's Day? Having your family together and enjoying a good meal you did not have to plan, cook, or clean up? With cooking co-op, you enjoy the same benefits of Mother's Day week after week. How expensive and what type of car would we be driving today without Ford's invention of the assembly line? Cooking co-op is a type of assembly line. WE CAN DO IT! That was on the WWII poster of "Rosie the Riveter." As the American men enlisted, our government appealed to the women to "man" the assembly lines to produce goods vital for victory in the war. Women worked in aircraft assembly plants, operated heavy construction machinery, worked in lumber and steel mills etc. Our troops are fighting a war in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have a war right here to fight...obesity and the need to eat natural foods verses processed foods... and we are fighting for our national health. And as many of us found this week-end, there is so much more to mealtime. Children that eat 4 or more meals/week with their families are better students and less involved in risky behavior. In part because of Norman Rockwell's cover, America fell in love with "Rosie" and the Saturday Evening Post circulation almost doubled. These women, young and old of all races working during WWII, took pride in the fact they were helping to win a war. Yes it takes effort to fix a home-cooked meal but with cooking co-op we are forming an assembly line to win an important battle. As women did in WWII, let's step up to the "plate."

More Data- The Importance of Family Meals

Great article May 1 in WSJ-" Our Big Problem" by Anthony Daniels, a British physician. "Obesity is spreading- and eating away at America's economy and health...For most of the population, family meals are a ritual of the past:36% of British children never eat a meal at a table with another member of the family or household...In the homes of the poor,the unemployed and the single parents that I used to visit as a doctor, I would find no evidence of cooking ever having been done there...There was not even a table to eat at: an absence that was not the consequence of raw poverty, since the flat- screen television would have been large enough, turned horizontal, to serve as a dining table...Family and social meals are among the most powerful teachers of self-control in the human repertoire...It is hardly surprising that those who do not experience family or social meals early in life exhibit the lack of self-control that underlies so much modern social pathology in the midst of plenty." The reason we, as a society are not cooking boils down to a lack of planning and our own lack of discipline or method of practice. A doctor sets up a practice. Go set up a cooking co-op practice!