Mealtime Traditions Quotes

This is what a family is all about - one another, sitting around the table at night. And it's very, very important, I think, for the kid to spend time not only around the table eating with their parents, but in the kitchen.

Cooking is all about people. Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people get together to eat.

Sharing food has always had a central place in civilized societies; it's no accident that so many of our cultural, religious and patriotic rituals are involved with eating.

I didn't grow up in a traditional family, and I never had a family dinner around the table, so whenever I actually had a dinner 'plan,' it meant a lot to me; it made me feel excited and safe.

When you got to the table you couldn't go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn't really anything the matter with them. That is, nothing only everything was cooked by itself. In a barrel of odds and ends it is different; things get mixed up, and the juice kind of swaps around, and the things go better.

For my parents it was all about getting a deal, my dad came to America and he heard of this concept of brunch. He didn't quite know what it was. And he thought it was this other meal that existed between breakfast and lunch. He was kind of like - I remember he sort of was like America has so much food that between breakfast and lunch they have to stop and eat again. They have brunch. It was completely legal it was, like, a legal meal that you could have. I mean, clearly it wasn't the only reason he came to America, but I think it certainly sweetened the pot for him.

Food is a great way of communicating.

[Never underestimate] the power of dinner.

I love seeing what people are eating. It's a great way of looking at what is similar and what is different about people. It's sociology and anthropology and history rolled into one.

My husband and I have a deal, which has worked out well: He cooks one Sunday, I cook the next. The kids set the table, and we eat in the dining room together, just as I used to do as a kid.

For me, cooking is very connected to my family and friends.

Food is such an important part of our lives, and sometimes we tend to diminish the importance of that, because we rely on conveniences or because our lives are so complicated. We forget about those moments that we can actually share around the table with our family, with our friends, with our loved ones.

I'd like to see kids learning to cook and families sitting down to dinner together.

When my children were growing up, we began every family meal - which included breakfast and dinner every day - with a prayer. We are Jewish and so it was the prayer over bread, when we were having bread, or the catch-all prayer for everything when we weren't.

All the women in my family were superb cooks.

The dinner hour is a sacred, happy time when everyone should be together and relaxed.

A dining room table with children's eager hungry faces around it, ceases to be a mere dining room table, and becomes an altar.

I wanted to keep that message of food and family alive, and how it brings people together and builds relationships and communication.

'Big Night' is the best food movie ever made. It's such a celebration of food, and the Italian tradition of celebrating people. Plus, everything looked delicious!

Let the progress of the meal be slow, for dinner is the last business of the day; and let the guests conduct themselves like travelers due to reach their destination together.

Having a sit down, no screens, home cooked dinner is one of the most powerful things you can do as a parent and I believe it's the most important activity you can do as a family.

Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love.

I cook and I really believe in the family dinner, I think that's a nice time to bring the family together.

My family... always had the value of the family table and these cultural influences of growing up.

When I look back on my childhood, my fondest memories are those surrounding the dinner table.