Eating is one of the basic necessities of life for a human being. There's a list of basic needs a human requires which goes as follows: Food, shelter and warmth, and in the more modern era, sanitation, education and healthcare could possibly be added. I guess its relative to what standard of living one wants. Back in the day cavemen didn't need the latest iPhone so food, shelter and warmth were probably about it. That probably doesn't cut it these days though as materialistic desires are becoming more important for many people.
My wife and I like food, I mean who doesn't right? I wouldn't go as far as saying we are foodies but we appreciate quality over quantity and have a fairly varied taste when it comes to food. I eat just about anything and my wife also except she won't eat meat at all although she does eat seafood. We're not fussy eaters.
We can be reasonably private people and so maintain a small friends group by choice and we love how that works out for us. Having said that though, one of our favourite things to do is share great food with great company and every so often we host a gathering of a few close friends and we eat. Sometimes we all prepare the food together and then eat. It's all very social, relaxed and a whole lot of fun!
The meal you see below was prepared by us on the Easter weekend when we hosted a few friends for dinner to celebrate and commiserate over the ending of daylight saving time. It's Mexican Fajitas in case you were wondering. It consisted of steak, Mexican beans and rice, capsicum and onions, salsa, chips and of course flatbread. We made everything from scratch except the tortilla and the chips which we bought. My mate and I slaved over the hot BBQ plate to cook it up after an hour or so of cutting, chopping and preparing and the result was bloody awesome! We plated it up on wooden plates as you can see below and served it up to the waiting masses (there were 3 couples at the dinner). We were going to serve sangria as well to keep with Mexican theme however ended up with red wine and some Corona's which worked a treat. We made an eggplant version of it for the two weirdo's [I mean non-meat-eaters] in the group of six people.
There's something special about a group of friends or family preparing, cooking and sharing food together and whist it's a lot of work for the poor suckers who have to do the cooking it's one of the most social and bonding things a group of friends can do in our opinion. We spent the late afternoon and night swapping stories, telling tall-tales of times gone by and sharing food, the dinner we prepared and then a pretty amazing cheese and fruit platter the girls put together.
The night made me recall my youth always surrounded by people from many different cultures. My parents would host evenings similar to ours over the weekend in which people would all pitch in and help prepare food, bring dishes from their respective cultures and all socialize together. They were good times and moments that helped shape me as an adolescent and adult later in life.
Breaking bread with other human beings has been taking place for thousands and thousands of years and as man gained cognitive thought, became farmers, created tribes, towns and cities sharing a meal with other people has been an important part of life. These days the act of breaking bread with others may be done differently but the importance hasn't diminished. We are social creatures in general and the shared experience of eating is one that highlights that more than anything else in my humble opinion.
With the weather cooling down we'll soon be holding these gatherings around the fire pit in my yard and we are looking forward to them and the memories created each time we combine food, friends and fun!
[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default -]