Meridian Magazine : : Around the Table Archives

Which of Those Meals Made Me? My Family?
Family dinner time is like Emerson's comments on books, ‘I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.'”
By Janet Peterson

Cool Summer Suppers
Serving main-course salads provides a satisfying meal and keeps the cook cool — and happy. A refreshing salad on a hot summer night is more appealing to diners as well. Here are some savory summer salads that will be crowd-pleasers around your table — whether you serve them on the deck, under a canopy, poolside, or picnic style.
By Janet Peterson

Grandma’s Cooking: A Gift of Love
An anonymous saying, "Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies," aptly describes the role grandmothers play in their precious grandchildren's lives — feeding hearts, souls, and growing bodies.
By Janet Peterson

The Dangers of “American Food”
Because the United States is a large and diverse country, whose inhabitants draw upon ethnic foods of many countries and regions, it has been hard during previous eras to define a certain type of food as authentic American food. But we are finally getting a definition for "American food," and the definition is not a good one.
By Janet Peterson

Thanks, Mom, for Cooking Dinner
Children's memories of Mom's home cooking are to be treasured and celebrated this Mothers' Day. Cooking dinner is a significant way that mothers nurture their children, and show love through this often unsung service. Thanks to all mothers for cooking dinner!
By Janet Peterson

Relief Society Presidents Serve up Great Dishes
Latter-day Saint women are well aware of the debt of gratitude they owe to the women who have led the Relief Society organization over the years. What they may not know is that these presidents have set a precedent of excellence in the kitchen. Here is a look at some of their culinary history.
By Janet Peterson

Food Bytes 4: Media Reports on How Our Eating Habits Affect Our Families and Our Health
The news that eating nutritious dinners at home benefits a family's well-being and health just keeps coming. Eating fast food, junk food, and meals consistently away from home causes a myriad of health and family problems. Here is a sampling of media clips on these issues.
By Janet Peterson

New Year Food Resolutions
While you've been making your list of resolutions for the new year, have you included healthier eating and more family dinners?
By Janet Peterson

Cookbooks: Opening Doors to Savory Possibilities
Every good cook has a collection of cookbooks. Most of us rely on cookbooks for providing the recipes from which we cook. Cookbooks offer savory glimpses of possibilities, stir up our imaginations, and provide step-by-step directions.
By Janet Peterson

Why Cook at Home?
Sitting down to a home-cooked dinner as a family around its own table is an often overlooked and underused tool for providing emotional nurturing, developing a sense of belonging, and strengthening relationships.
By Janet Peterson

Birthday Dinners
Birthdays! Every one of us has one every year, and we all like to celebrate. And what's a birthday celebration without favorite foods?
By Janet Peterson

Family Dinners: How to Get Your Kids Talking at the Table
Once the family has gathered together for dinner, what takes places between bites is just as important as what food is being ingested.
By Janet Peterson

Grocery Shopping: Can’t Cook without It!
After a few weeks of our receiving home delivery of groceris, my youngest son said to me, "If you don't go grocery shopping, what will you do with your time?"
By Janet Peterson

"Life is Short: Start with Dessert”
Who doesn't love dessert? Here are some thoughts of happy endings, together with recipes you can try at home with your loved ones.
By Janet Peterson

Mom: The Original Food Processor
Mothers who cook nurture their children socially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Children who grow up on home-cooked dinners are indeed blessed on many levels.
By Janet Peterson

Cooking as Therapy
Cooking as therapy? How can getting out pots, pans, bowls, mixers, knives, and cutting boards be considered therapeutic ? especially when you have to not only use them, but also to clean and put them away again?
By Janet Peterson

Bread: The Staff of Life
Bread is often called the "staff of rye, life." In one form or another - rye, brioche, whole wheat loaves, or sourdough bread - it is basic to dinner in most cultures. Bread, freshly made, is one of the most welcomed foods you can offer your family.
By Janet Peterson

Soup’s On!
On a cold January night, a bowl of hot soup is a wonderful, warming meal. Even in the Sunbelt and other areas where January is pleasant, soup can provide an easy and delicious dinner.
By Janet Peterson

Holiday Food Traditions
Some family traditions are generations old, and others started recently. What's important is that families develop their own unique traditions, talk about them, and enjoy them.
By Janet Peterson

Cooking con Amore
Cooking for one’s family is an act of love and service, whether the “somethin’“ comes from the stove top, the slow-cooker, wok, or grill.
By Janet Peterson

Aroma Therapy
Recall some of the food fragrances of your childhood and picture in your mind the kitchen in your home where you grew up. Do certain smells instantly evoke good memories?
By Janet Peterson

Follow the Prophet: Cook Dinner at Home
At 95, the prophet still fixes his own meals--and has his children over once a week for lunch.
By Janet Peterson

Creating Your Own Family Cookbook
Preserving family recipes in a cookbook is a wonderful way to collect favorite recipes, share anecdotes about the food and family members, transmit cooking knowledge to the next generation, and unite the family.
By Janet Peterson

The Blessing on the Food
One important practice common in LDS homes is that of offering a blessing on the food before meals are eaten. Even babies in high chairs learn to fold their arms and bow their heads though they do not yet understand the purpose.
By Janet Peterson

Anyone Can Be A Good Cook
Cooking is not a talent sprinkled among the population like singing well or the ability to draw. Even then, artistic skills have to be developed and trained. Cooking is a skill that can be learned by anyone who can read.
By Janet Peterson

Food Bytes 2: What the Media Are Saying About How We Eat
Family unity and health problems related to obesity are two key issues reported frequently in various magazines and newspapers. Here are some highlights from recent publications.
By Janet Peterson

Cooking for One
"There are advantages to being the captain of your own one-person culinary ship. You can decide what to cook and when. And you get to choose the ingredients — no need to pick out the mushrooms."
By Janet Peterson

Tasty Picture Books
If reading about food satisfies certain cravings, then reading and seeing colorful illustrations of food is like having two desserts.
By Janet Peterson

Good Food Reads
Maybe reading about chocolate mousse cheesecake isn’t quite the same as eating it, but it’s definitely low-cal and low-carb. And it gives you food for thought.
By Janet Peterson

The Gift of the Kitchen Table
If there isn't a table in a home or apartment, how can family members gather around it?
By Janet Peterson

I Can’t Cook: There’s A Snake in My Kitchen!
Invite, encourage, and even insist that your family eat together more often than they do. And, “If you cook it well, they will come.”
By Janet Peterson

Those Old Favorite Relief Society Recipes
If you want to take a culinary journey through history, browse through a couple of old Relief Society or ward cookbooks.
by Janet Peterson

If Cooking Is So Easy, Why Not Do It?
If cooking is so much easier today than in any other time in culinary history, why do so many avoid it?
By Janet Peterson

Food as Family Metaphor
Some foods are more than just for nourishment. They unite the family by their repetition and create an emotional bonding that reminds everyone what it is to be a part of this family.
by Janet Peterson

Preparing the Next Generation of Cooks
Homelessness is not just about being without shelter. It is having no sense of security and rootedness. The family dinner does more to make a place a home than we ever suppose.
by Janet Peterson

Serve Dinner and Be Immortalized
Lovingly prepare nutritious meals for your family and be forever cherished for this gift of time and energy.
By Janet Peterson

Empty Nesters: Back to Dinner for Two
Once the kids leave home, all too many of us stop cooking. Given the benefits of home cooking, you may want to reconsider and here are the perfect recipes to get you started.
by Janet Peterson

Cooking with Children
How many of the future generation of nurturers are learning to cook these days? Isn't it about time they learned?
by Janet Peterson

Comfort Food
“Say the words ‘comfort foods’ and what comes to mind? Can pasta and mashed potatoes be Mother Nature's answer to Prozac?
by Janet Peterson

Thanksgiving Feast Part II
Stalks of corn, fields of pumpkins, candles flickering, family and friends gathered AROUND THE TABLE . . . these are the cherished images of Thanksgiving.
by Julie Jensen

Thanksgiving Feast, Part I
It is the only American holiday officially centered around a meal.
by Julie Jensen

Supersize? Downsize!
Restaurants are giving us gargantuan portions, and we are living up to it! The results are disastrous. Here are some recipes to change the trend--at least at your house.
by Janet Peterson

Men at Work----In the Kitchen!
The kitchen the sole province of women? Nonsense. Some of our great cooks out there are men - and they love it to boot!
By Janet Peterson

Sunday Dinner: Feeding Hearts and Souls
Sunday dinner is a special time for Latter-day Saint families. It has a quality all of its own and can enhance the spiritual feast of the Sabbath as a whole.
By Janet Peterson

Summertime and the Cookin’ Is Easy
Ah--–sweet summer when the world is brighter and our lives less scheduled. Summer eating is more relaxed and more fun as well. Lighter foods appeal, and easy recipes fit the bill.
By Janet Peterson

Strengthening the Family at the Dinner Table
The kitchen clock chimes 6:00 p.m. at the O’Bryan household, but no family members are home. They are at soccer, at the gym, at piano lessons. Does this scenario in one version or another sound all too familiar?
by Janet Peterson