Rules for Dining at My Table

Hopefully there will be a point in 2021 where we can entertain guests safely in our home again. Here are the rules for dining at my table.

If you don't eat with gusto, the gastric juices are not going to work properly... You just won't digest your food properly. So don't eat meekly!

Julia Child

Between our recent move and generally not being able to see people for COVID safety, something I am particularly looking forward to in 2021 is hosting people over for meals at our new place.


I think one of the terrible things today is that people have this deathly fear of food: fear of eggs, say, or fear of butter. Most doctors feel you can have a little bit of everything.

Julia Child



Other than the new environs, I have further decided that in 2021 I will be instituting rules for dining at my home. There are a couple things that have brought about this decision:

  • It is January, and often in January we hear a lot of talk related to diet changes, diet goals, and health. I find this both tedious and generally toxic. 
  • My mother-in-law gave me a cute little book of quotes by Julia Child for Christmas, People Who Love To Eat Are Always the Best People and Other Wisdom. I was inspired anew by her approach to food, eating, dining, and cooking.

So here are my rules 

1. We won't apologize for eating

I have spoken previously about this being an important paradigm shift for myself, but when I have other people in my home, I will gently remind them it is not necessary under my roof to apologize for eating (if said future guests ever do in fact apologize).

If I have someone over for a meal, the purpose is to eat and visit.

On a more basic-human-needs level, we all need food to survive. We shouldn't ever apologize for something we must do in order to continue living, like breathing.

The pleasures of the table - that lovely old-fashioned phrase - depict food as an art form, as a delightful part of civilized life. In spite of food fads, fitness programs, and health concerns, we must never lose sight of a beautifully conceived meal.

Julia Child

2. We won't police what others are/not eating

If you are dining with other adults, what they do or do not eat in the meal you serve them is their choice. 

As a hostess, you might think it rude to yourself if someone declines something, however, I'm assuming that if you are hosting a meal, you will of course already have taken care to prepare something your guests can/will eat, and you have also explained what you are serving (ex, if there is a certain sauce for a certain dish, if one element of the meal is particularly spicy, etc).

I have been guilty of raising my eyebrows at people who put butter or soy sauce on their rice, or people who season their food with salt or pepper before they have tasted the meal in front of them. Now that I have confessed, I won't be doing that again.


The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.

Julia Child



Other thoughts on food & diet on the yak occidental

Tips for Adding Vegetarianism into your Diet

20+ statements I have on fatphobia

Read this next:

Cake Is Never Just Cake: The Fraught Politics of Fatness, Desire, and Eating Your Feelings by s.e. smith over at Bitch

Popular posts from this blog

9 Reasons Why Zack on Gilmore Girls is the Worst

Image
Of all the men in the Gilmore Girls world, I think Zack was the worst. Here's nine reasons why. I'm currently re-watching Gilmore girls for the umpteenth time, and once more I find myself loathing Zack in particular. Normally we all get caught up in Luke vs. Christopher, Dean vs. Jess vs. Logan, etc, but I think these debates distract viewers from realizing that Zack is the worst Significant Other of all the women in the show. I think the actor Todd Lowe does a great job portraying Zack, so my critique is def not his performance , my issue is the  character of Zack   who is sooo contemptible. In a way, Lowe's performance of Zack is all the more remarkable - when it comes to the Bad Men of Gilmore Girls, Zack rarely tops the list. I think it's because his many flaws are so *shrug* boys will be boys. As viewers I think we're meant to be distracted by the explosive incidents related to Logan's elitism, Mitchum's tyranny, Dean's cheating, Marty's obvio
Read more

VIDEO: Tips for Better Dailies Notes

Image
Here are 11 tips for taking better notes in dailies. If you’re in Production, good note-taking practices are essential and it never stops. As a coordinator, you might take notes for dailies. As a Production Manager or Producer you might have Production reports, all of these tasks rely on good note-taking.  A huge part of our role is data entry and management. Getting specific, let’s take a look at what you can do to take better notes in lighting/comp dailies. Even if your artists are in dailies, still make sure your notes are as specific as possible, don’t leave it to them to take their own notes, let them have that time to answer their supervisor’s questions or to focus on the feedback.  Let me be very clear: if you are in production and you are taking notes in dailies, it is your job to take accurate, efficient notes. Wherever possible, give the frame range.  Don’t just say ‘near the beginning of a shot’, say F8-12 if you can. If there are multiple characters in a scene, use their na
Read more

2 New-ish Perspectives on Work-Life Balance

Image
Who needs work-life balance when you can 'Drop the Ball' or put your priorities 'in conversation' with one another? With the onset and endurance of the COVID19 pandemic, there have been many hot takes and disturbing changes in work-life balance. All over North America at least, we have seen women drop out of the workforce at such an alarming rate that many experts are calling this pandemic-induced trend a “shecession”. In animation, we have fortunately been able to work from home, though the balance between work and life has become a lot more blurred, if existing at all. Production staff and supervisors have observed a rise in ghost hours - people quietly logging on and working on their shots or assets at all times of the day, night, weekends because our work is well, there . This is a very complicated issue, and as I am neither an economics or business expert, I wanted to offer two specific takes on work-life balance, one from Tiffany Dufu and the other from David Why
Read more