Congratulations Are In Order
May 18, 2009
My daughter is getting married this summer. We like him, we like her, we are happy. My friend Eve, who has known Mirka since she was five, hosted a shower. It was a brunch, and the theme was the kitchen. The only problem is that Mirka's New York apartment kitchen is miniscule -- a half refrigerator under the counter, enough cabinets to hold, well, almost nothing. So we asked people to bring family recipes – especially those with stories.
We ate together at one big table. We offered advice, told tales – about Mirka, about cooking, about families, about marriage.
What recipe could I contribute? I found the stained index card which I had used, eons ago, when I trailed my beloved grandmother, Mirka's namesake, around her kitchen. The recipe was strictly Old Country: ("Use a crystal glass; fill it with half milk and half water...") Now I think – why would she have been using a good crystal glass for baking? But it's decades too late to ask.
On this sunny day, we have given Mirka recipes, advice, and the knowledge that she can always ask us for more. Marriage is not always easy; luckily, some recipes are.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today.