A FAMILY THAT EATS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

A family that eats together stays together!

During my life one of the things that has always struck me as being important is: Family Meals.

These could be the everyday meals, or, as the years pass those,where important life occasions come along.

As a child I remember vividly that ALL meals were taken together. When we were young, the meals were eaten in silence, but, later on they became quite noisy affairs!

Once we had left home, and married, the five Wilton siblings, and, their partners would gather several times a years at my parents house for Sunday lunch, Christmas or Easter.

Imagine 5 siblings with, partners and, later children and, occasionally friends! It. was quite a mammoth undertaking………

These occasions would start around 1 pm, and, we would still be sat at the table 4 hours later, talking, arguing, drinking!

My parents deserved to be proud of the fact that this “routine” continued for many years, right up to my Mothers death in 2006.

If could have been quite easy for things to quietly fade away, but, we decided this should not happen. So after Mum died we agreed to get together at least once a year.

We do this, but, not just for a meal, but a whole week!

The noise continues, but, the food becomes more, and, more important.

Menus are drawn up for the week, and everyone has an input before the final decision is made.

We rent a “cottage” for the week,  and, after a day exploring whichever area we happen to be in, we return to home base and prepare the meal.

It is normally a joint effort, with everyone coming into the kitchen to add their thoughts, pour a drink, start a conversation, etc

I haven’t mentioned any particular dishes because, apart from the usual traditional roast dinners, we have a tendency to prepare simple meals e.g. Pasta, cottage pie etc.

The important thing is is that we are all together, and long may it continue