Tuesday, October 12, 2010

What Happened to the Jello?


 Photo courtesy Veilles_annonces, Flickr

 Recently the Emily Post Institute was talking about the tradition of the Sunday dinner.  Back in the day, nuclear families used to trek to the grandparents’ homes for traditional Sunday dinners.  It was a time for all the generations to be together and share in the events of the past week.  It was a time of bonding and the joys of breaking bread as a family.   Sometimes there would be a game on the television to watch after the meal, or just a rousing round of board games.  This predominantly western tradition seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of our 21st century lives.  Face to face contact is no longer the preferred method of communication.  Now the credo is “have Blackberry will travel”.  We have instant messaging and plenty of instant foods available to us so why spend the time and effort to organize a grand family meal except at holiday times?

As we’ve disconnected physically from each other opting for technology to be our messaging medium, we’ve also disconnected from invaluable bonding time with extended family.  Grandparents seem to have lesser roles in today’s society.  Simple, wholesome foods like a good roast and Jello desserts have been forgotten.  Remember those cute kids in the old commercials excitedly promoting the fun and delicious qualities of J-E-L-L-O!

My in-laws still try to have those Sunday dinners but busy schedules always seem to get in the way of everyone being together.  Do we miss it?  Should we miss it?

Here are some kitchen aids if or when you are planning your next 'Sunday Dinner'. All now available. 










 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Whats Jello?

Brittany_Va-VoomVintage said...

This is such an inspiring post. My step dad's grandma used to have "sunday" dinner every Tuesday night and it was so wonderful just sitting down at the table to relax, talk and eat a delicious home-cooked meal. My husband's mom or sister often invites everyone over for a middle of the week home-cooked feast and I love it! I must admit that in my house, many meals are inhaled while sitting in front of the tv instead of being enjoyed while at the dining room table. We have made an effort to turn off the tv, turn on some vintage tunes and sit down as a family. When we do, it seems like the troubles of the day fade away, we are more relaxed and we all sleep much better. Lately, we have gotten out of the habit of sitting at the table. I think tonight, I'll reinstate our sit-down goal!

Stefanie Valentine said...

I miss Sunday dinners! We used to have them every weekend when I lived at home with my parents but now I live with my other half and his mum and we have such different and sometimes busy schedules that we don't often get the chance to all sit down together for dinner, but we should. I've always said that when we have our family I am definitely going to make sure that we all sit down together for dinner!