Tuesday night dinner

Unfortunately, because our society so demeans cooking, it is hard to approach it without some resentment, without some feeling that your time could be better spent, that you are above this. To make a yoga out of cooking, first realize that this mundane activity is very spiritual, not something to get out of the way, but to approach with sincerity a

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In lieu of food, at each setting was a Zeldin invention called the “Conversation Menu” that led the pairs through six “courses” of talk. Under the heading of “Starters” were questions like “How have your priorities changed over the years?” and “How have your background and experience limited or favoured you?” Under “Soups” was an invitation to ask,

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Finally one day came a shifting-into-place, an awakening: not “right” compared to what? Oh, my word, I’d been trying to make canned Pillsbury biscuits! Then came an exquisite moment of actually tasting my biscuits without comparing them to some (previously hidden) standard. They were wheaty, flaky, buttery, “sunny, earthy, real” (as Rilke’s sonnet

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“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he told our assembled team. “I want everyone to find all the coffee tables in the house and carry them to the balcony. Next, I want you to get all the cushions and pillows from the couches, carry them here, and we’ll use them as seats under the coffee tables. Then I want you to bring twelve lamps and extension cords

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“I certainly don’t deserve this dinner, I know that.” I’m not just talking about the buffalo mac and cheese that tastes so good it should be illegal. I’m talking about the invitation, sitting here. Having a place carved out for me, no matter how temporary. Handed dishes and asked questions and folded into the easy interaction of a family that loves

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