Peace.

Schedules are hectic and demands are pressing. As we budget time to meet deadlines, what is removed to clear space? Most of us know the answer to that. Appetite is not to be ignored, so we get our food on the run.

Consequently, food choice is often rushed and thoughtless. When we buy food that is processed and pre-cooked, it is a toss-up as to what we are getting. Processed food has become so common, most don’t even think about what this means.

The purest form of food is the least processed. This means, buy a potato and cook it. Better yet, grow your own potato and cook it. Fast, easy, cheap. But somewhere along the way we’ve accepted the notion that the fastest and cheapest food is that which is processed by industry and sold ready-to-eat.

The food comes in bags handed to us by teenagers. We may take the food home and serve it as-is at the dining table; more likely we may eat the food right out of the bag in the car on our way from here to there.

The word on the street is that unprocessed and whole food is too expensive. The fact is, the very cheapest food, as one who has been poor as a church mouse, is unprocessed and whole. And at a time when times were hard, a large part of my dignity, joy, and self respect came from my control of and health surrounding nourishment.

With an investment in herbs that will last a very long time, and totally excluding salt, I was able to cook delightful meals that were filling and provided leftovers for a day or two beyond the initial meal.

When I considered food for the week, fast food seemed a luxury I couldn’t afford. It was true I couldn’t afford fast food, but in time I realized the luxury was my home cooked diet. My weight has been healthy for years, muscle tone has maintained, and I love to cook.

Along with this lifestyle, table setting has been interesting. The variety of settings are endless. Depending on family size, it is fun to have the fewest settings that is workable for the family, but with a range of diversity that will make meal-time an exciting ritual.

Ritual is the activities to which one must pay attention, and in so doing, slows us and provides space for peace. A professional career spanning decades transformed me into a person who was tense and who could never do anything slowly.

My whole-food cooking provided a space where I could move slowly and thoughtfully. This process was never a chore. I would look forward to the ritual after a chaotic day of work. The cleaning, chopping, choosing of herbs, cooking and then serving was a joy. Planning cooking allowed leftovers for the days when I was simply too busy or preoccupied to indulge in cooking.

And here is the dirty little secret of whole-food cooking: not only is it cheap, one can also eat satisfying portions without negative weight consequences. Also, probably due to the use of herbs as flavoring, leftovers are tastier after resting into the next day.

And what one can do with table setting!! We all deserve exploration of mood. Mood is the herb of life. They are each so different and serve different purposes and are not to be denigrated. They are the varied stepping stones that will be our path through life. There is no avoiding the pain and the joy, but each can be honored.

Honoring and exploring mood can be accomplished as easily as playing with table setting. Whether you are a lone diner, or are hosting a large dinner party, table setting can be as involving as is the actual food.

Designate a theme for the gathering such as peace. Use your inspiration to create the mood using settings, candles, plants or flowers, and beautiful napkins. Color is fun and probably is as important as anything in setting mood.

Food doesn’t need to be fancy. Again, the best tasting and most nourishing food is often the cheapest such as a bag of potatoes, fresh herbs, beans, cheese, and a colorful range of fruits and vegetables. Oil is healthy, and don’t overlook nuts; walnuts being one of the healthiest foods one can eat.

And tea, tea, tea---what a variety of serving can be invented. Tea is healthy, tasty, beautiful and can be embellished with lemon and lime. Experiment by using tea as an herb in a food for the benefit of the herbs and the flavor. Just use the dry tea from the tea bag, broken into a food preparation.

Fruit juices, if 100% fruit, are beautiful and interesting.

A collection of pitchers are a joy, the shapes, colors, and varieties are endless.

Dinner parties can be fun, but you must do this only for you. This will honor your humanity, and provide the permission modern people seem to need to get off the hectic treadmill. And if you have guests, your involvement and enjoyment of the process will rub off on the party.

The resulting good health and well-used food budget may be the best reason for your mood of peace.

　

　

　

Joy.

Ritual can be given short shrift as modern people strive to achieve their life’s dreams. Competition and official demands have created a life that may be anything but.

When I noticed life had become a list of “to-do’s” and compliance requirements, I also noticed my level of stress and preoccupation with matters that were quite unimportant to me were absurd.

I wanted to turn attention back to basic emotions and activities. Slowing down was the first challenge. Ritual seemed to be a time-honored tool of humanity that can be found in the farthest corners of antiquity.

Because food is essential second only to air and water, this seemed like a wonderful place to start. I wanted to create an emotion through this ritual, and chose joy.

The relationship between food and joy is inescapable, and who would want to escape it anyway. My conception of heaven is wind and sparkle; yours may be different. But using this thought, I began to bring together ideas for the table setting that would suggest this emotion of joy. Consider what your personal abstract idea of joy may be. Half the fun is imagining the physical manifestation of the internal conception.

 

 

I decided on exuberant color and plate of silver or gold. I found place mats with an exquisite gold scallop edge that picked up the glow from the candles that were tall, thin, and red. The Spring season suggested lilacs that were blossoming in my yard, along with tulips. But I’ve found magnificent silk flowers that last throughout years, and are fun and easy.

Don’t forget the elegance of table cloths. Fine dining in restaurants typically includes lovely cloth and napkins. You can purchase beautiful napkins and table cloths, but I enjoy purchasing material and making my own. It is fun and easy; and if you enjoy embroidery, throw on a few petal-stitch and French knot flowers, all the better. Perhaps you can use applique, if that is your talent.

And of course, the food. You can’t cook? Oh, contraire! If you can eat, you can cook. I assume most people reading this can cook with the flair of a chef. It has been my experience this is the case. But don’t suppose you need to overdue the cooking process; unless this will add to your joy.

In fact, the less cooking is often the healthiest. This is about the presentation of the food, and the enjoyment of its consumption. I have found the most exquisite colander into which fresh fruit such as strawberries or blueberries can be washed, drained and presented on the table. This beautiful porcelain colander includes a matching dish---nothing could be easier or more beautiful.

Serve with a crystal bowl of freshly whipped cream. This is one of the simplest and most delicious foods imaginable. Your taste may be different, but served with iced mint tea, and the senses will soar.

From Herkimer, New York, you can purchase a wonderful bread that is beyond delicious, and contains no chemicals and only about 5 ingredients. Butter, jam, and cinnamon, all served on plate that one can find anywhere, is so simple, but so beautiful.

And how about experimenting with nuts, a most nutritious food. Find a unique and interesting nut-cracker. They are a culture statement in and of themselves.

Play with color, and my concept of joy, influenced by my interpretation of heaven, is about sparkle, color and airiness. I adore wind and the energy that is generated---not so good during meal time. So my interpretation is for lightness, space, and fresh air. Creation of this aura is a challenge. But remember this is ritual which is a part of the process and the means of inspiring atmosphere.

Don’t be afraid to explore your own dream of what joy will imply. Working off my concept of wind, sparkle, and color, I’ve used mirrors as table tops. This is unusual, beautiful, and simple. According to mood, I will use the mirror as is, or with a lace crocheted table cloth. Along with candles, small and colorful lanterns, or a lovely lamp, the result can be breathtaking.

In particular with a mirror-topped table, one can use candles floating in a crystal dish. Floating candles are easily obtainable and crystal or colored glass is fun and beautiful.

In my world, the food should be very healthy, simple, and as integral and vital to your lifestyle as air and water. The modern population has only been indoctrinated into the idea that there is no time or energy for such fundamental everyday joy, by the requisites of the outside world.

Slow down and smell the roses and the toasting bread !!