"The Good Old Day"

I remember when I was a kid we, as a family would go out to eat as a special treat on the day my parents got paid. And it was great. What a blast, going in to a restaurant and having someone greet you, take you to a table, and then after asking for whatever you wanted, they would bring it right out to you. And yet another person had to wash your dishes! Bonus! It was like an adventure eating the things my dad couldn't or wouldn't cook.

What happened to that? Something has changed. We as a culture have re-prioritized. Dining out was a treat, but now not eating at out is like a punishment. The last ditch, cant afford to eat out, now we have to eat at home, like you did something wrong. If you spent wiser, you should have been able to eat out today too.

And my folks would have people over at least once a week for a meal. they would get there an hour before dinner and everyone would mill around the kitchen, helping, laughing, talking smack, and laughing some more. It was genuine fun. I as the child, was right in the thick of it. I was laughing and learning in a wonderful environment.

Eating in the home has become the necessary evil.

To much work
To much time
To much money

Wrong wrong and wrong.

Cooking with and for your friends and family is quality time well spent. The television, is not a social opportunity. You interact better and grow closer to those you actually are performing a task with.

You get to control what is going into yours, and your friends bodies. How it is prepared, how it looks, smells, and tastes, is in your hands. But as you cook with those you cook for, you can ask questions, make suggestions and cook it just right, to please everyone there (beware there is always that one guy who will never like it, tell that guy he gets to wash dishes or cook next time.)

The act of cooking together and sharing a meal is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to spend actual quality time with your friends and loved ones. Think of how much a night out costs. Dinner out for 4+movie=$$$$$$. Think of cooking with your friends as the ultimate interactive dinner theater. If cooking with your friends is not a blast, get some new friends, cause something is broken.

Have fun