Hmmm. X is always hard to come up with in these alphabet games, so I admire the choice of Socrates' wife. Again, I was turned off a bit by Fisher's analysis of gender differences as a function of gender rather than culture. I mean, I sense that she sees through bullshit — she understands that a lot of so-called gender differences are learned, not innate — but I wish she'd be more explicit about that. I've come to think of her as sort of an intellectual Helen Gurley Brown — where the point is not so much to question or diminish sex role stereotypes as to get on the winning end of them!
If Xanthippe had been the typical Greek wife — meek, servile, unassuming — we wouldn't even know her name today, and Fisher wouldn't have her X.
Having said that, though, I do admire her notion that dinner conversation should be upbeat and polite. Sour talk spoils the food. The dinner table should be sacred, like the bed. You wouldn't offer up a bunch of complaints about your day while you're having sex, and you shouldn't while you're eating either.
Her idea of separating the kids from the adults periodically at first rubbed me the wrong way, but then I became more sympathetic, and I identified with her wish that her parents had spoken more naturally about certain adult matters in front of the children.
I want to try her scrambled egg recipe. I saw on a show long ago that you really shouldn't beat the eggs as is so often done and that they should be cooked very slowly. That's exactly how she does it.
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I want to try that egg recipe also. It makes me wonder just how much better scrambled eggs would be if that amount of care and time were expended.
I agree about table talk -- my appetite is easily vanquished by negative talk or thoughts. Many meals for me as a boy were ruined by a fight between my parents or between myself and someone.
I saw Martha Stewart make eggs like that once. They looked very creamy and fluffy.
I have been occasionally guilty of griping about something over dinner. I admit it's not something I've ever really considered before, that you should save your negativity for a time when people aren't trying to eat.
Also, I love baked beans! Fisher's recipe sounds very good. Jeannie Eblen makes the best baked beans I've ever had. I should get her recipe from her.
I have been put off in recent years by my sister and Jeff's habits of turning the dinner table into a theater to air their arguments with a captive audience of anyone who hasn't finished eating. I have no idea how they act when there's no company present.
I had a student (a minister's kid) whose family would go around the table and share one good/interesting thing that had happened to them that day, as a way to count their blessings. In some respects I like the sunny-side up of that, the way for the family to all have a chance to share and hear about each other, but it's a little goody-goody to me, too.
Oh, yum. Slow-cooked eggs work so much better for omelets. I've killed omelets while they were set on medium-high.
Also, cream in eggs is extravagant but good. Especially in a quiche. It makes a big difference in the texture.
I like the idea of sharing a good thing at the table. My father’s family did something similar at every Thanksgiving. We should do it the next time we’re at Wa. And everyone must come up with something good to say other than just how awesome the meal will be.
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