Up From the Basement
August 18, 2008
Because we are doing major work on our house, my husband and I have moved into our friends' basement for the summer. Their two-room apartment is not legal, so, although there is an area that looks like a kitchen, it is missing a stove.
Still, their place is two blocks from our house, and the price is right.
The arrangement has worked remarkably well. I bought a hot plate, microwave and toaster oven. Joe and Maggie have a barbeque in the back yard. And it's summer. Everything is forgiven.
We have ended up sharing many dinners. Sometimes we go upstairs to Joe and Maggie's. Sometimes they come out to the yard, and we are the "hosts." A few times, they have brought what they were cooking, and we have brought what we were cooking, and we mixed and matched.
Because this situation is only a temporary, it feels like fun; reminding us of our young adult years, when everything was ad hoc. But Maggie is already sad, thinking about the end of what she is calling our commune.
We have told them how easy it will be, come fall, for them to walk over to our house for meals. But we all know it won't be the same.
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. You can buy this book from our friends at Smucker's® Online Store.
