What about eating issues?
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What about eating issues?
| Fri, 06-10-2005 - 2:24pm |
We have debated sleeping issues to death once again....so what about another one of the issues of childhood....eating and/or not eating?
My kids eat just about anything and have a pretty well rounded diet.

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I share your fascination. What I don't get is why you wouldn't want to go out of your way to please guests. Why bother to have them over if you aren't going to consider what they might like to eat?
I have friends who don't like shrimp, don't like fish, don't eat red meat, don't like avocadoes, don't like capers, don't eat hydrogenated fats, and so forth. I rarely have all of those people over at the same time so it is no big deal to plan a meal around "no shrimp" or "no red meat." And if it were too complicated to plan a meal for any of my friends, I would simply say, "Let's go out to eat." I don't want anyone sitting at the table at my house unable to enjoy the meal.
It is a common practice when having guest over for the first time for dh and I to ask if there are any food allergies or accomodations we can make for them. We like to know if our guests like red or white wine, if they like food on the grill, if they like seafood, chicken, red meat. I just don't get why I would want to serve salmon to people who don't like fish or serve expensive wine to people who don't like wine. I can have salmon any other night of the week and save the bottle of wine for those who will appreciate it. If I really chafe against preparing a meal for a particular guest and accomodating his or her preferences, it is unlikely that person would become a regular guest. (But I don't have any friends like that anyhow. My friends go out of their way to be gracious guests.)
Its not
Dj
"Now when I need help, I look in the mirror" ~Kanye West~
Whell. First off. I've never read anything called Star Magazine. In fact magazines are my source of just about no information. I read an entertainment rag maybe 2 or 3 times a year.
Second, yes you can live off potatoes these days.
Third MY point was that while you can now and could in the past live off potatoes for years, that diet would not predispose one to live a particularily healthy existence for very many decades. Its going to take a toll. And it always was.
We don't take vitamins "these days" becasue fruits and vegetables produce fewer vitamins than they used to! Heck, even if they did, we wouldn't need to take vitamins. The relatively newly aquired constant year round year to year variety and availability of fruits and veggies, and derivative products of such, would more than make up this. We take vitamins because 1)someone published some scientific research indicating that failure to maintain specific levels would be undesirable and too much not such a problem and b)someone figured out how to make vast quantities so cheaply and easily that just about anyone can afford them. Thats why. Not to address some shortcomming in modern produce.
I agree that you can accomodate picky eaters without knocking yourself out. I've had guests over at the last minute and ordered Thai food. I've had guests over and asked them to teach me how to cook something.
It doesn't have to be so fussy and diffult to be gracious. Katherine Graham once lost power the day of a black-tie party at her house. So she lit a bunch of candles and served Kentucky fried chicken out of buckets. The guests raved about her hostessing skills.
What does it smack of to accept an invitation to a home that you know doesn't follow your own eating guidelines, where you know others who don't share your guidelines will be in attendance, and show up expecting to be accomodated? Quite frankly, I think people I know deserve to decide for themselves whether they want to accomodate a dining environment that doesn't cater to themselves - or not. If I invited someone who kept kosher, I would expect this conversation to be initiated by the guest
"You know I keep kosher"
"Yes but I have no idea what your limitations are."
"Well its like this - I can't eat pork".
"Oh, I figured that. Not a problem."
On the other hand
"I can't eat anything that isn't kosher approved, I can't have meat and dairy on the same table, I can't I can't I can't"
"You know what, we probably aren't going to be a good match for the social dining scene. I can't cook in your genre, and I'm not going to toss together something I make up, and hope it strikes you as better than going hungry, (been on the other side of that). Want to go see a concert?"
A former boss of mine, let's call her Anne, claims to be vegan because of allergies. She can't eat meat, dairy, fish, or eggs or she ends up in the hospital with anaphylaxis. She is tall and gaunt and lives on french fries.
Now, it's possible that she's exaggerating. But when you're a host, you accept your guests, warts and all, and make them feel welcome. Question your friends' food choices some other day. When they're over for dinner, you try to make them feel special.
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