Ahhhh, the new year. Families tend to adhere more to a school year calendar, so August is a time to re-organize and re-commit. I have spent the month cleaning out closets and drawers and moving furniture to freshen up a room here and there. This inevitably leads to a perfectly organized closet or chest with a pile of “unmoveables” nearby. Back in the closet or chest go the “keepers”, clean and refreshed and arranged in a helpful order. Off to Goodwill go the “out-of-heres”, retired and recycled and becoming a part of someone else’s life. But stuck in the middle are the “unmoveables”. These are the things we can neither give away nor re-assimilate easily. They are the things that we cannot move until they have “a place”, and yet that place never really shows itself. This stack or pile should be easy enough to conquer using my friend Sallie’s rule. Sallie says that when you are thinning out your home, as we all must do from time to time, a good rule of thumb is this – “The item may stay if it is a) USEFUL or b) YOU THINK IT TO BE BEAUTIFUL.”
This is a reasonable code, I think. Why is it, then, that I still have stacks and piles of “unmoveables”? I would blame it on being left-handed – I’ve never been terribly orderly. This usually works. (Orderly? Well, no. But creative? Yes!) My husband, however, is right-handed. His problem is this – At some point in time the item(s) in question were paid for with cold, hard cash. When he sees a stack of “unmoveables”, or even a stack on its way to Goodwill, he sees a pile of cash. This is Brock’s corollary to Sallie’s rule – The item c) COST MONEY. So now we’re stuck. The combination of my natural sense of disorder and Brock’s natural respect for anything that cost money at any given time, no matter how useless or ugly, will inevitably lead to a struggle. Before the struggle, though, I employ yet another seemingly left-handed trait. I have the gift (affliction) for being able to fully ignore things and pretend they are not there. This buys us some time before the struggle. With school starting next week, though, it’s coming.
Where was I going with all this? Oh, yes, the new year. With my house in perfect order (ignore “unmoveables”) and a new year upon us, a feast is in order. What could be better than sitting down to dinner as a family to ring in a new year?
I always loved the beginning of school. It was not school, actually, that I loved but more the preparation and renewal that went with the beginning of school. New notebooks, fresh textbooks, renewed goals, the occasional new friend, the first-day-of-school outfit that was carefully hung in the closet – back to school fever was real in our house every year when I was growing up. Of course, it would not be long before my new notebooks were a mess, the textbook bindings were broken due to improper stacking in my locker, the new friend stabbed me in the back and the first-day-of-school outfit was all played out and no longer hanging at the front of the closet – let’s ignore all that (along with the “unmoveables”) for a bit.
A back to school feast to ring in the new year is a must. It is an integral part of the back to school routine and a part of the back to school order of things. This year, our family table will yield a roasted chicken, creamy and delicious mashed potatoes, a classic gravy and some yummy braised vegetables. A special dessert will make the meal complete. I will set the table using pretty linens, grab some flowers from Central Market and scatter some candles about. I will go the distance for this new year’s meal because even with all the excitement that can come with the first day of school, whether it is your senior year of high school or your first day of kindergarten (and I happen to have both of those this year), anxiety comes with the first day of school too. What if my teachers don’t like me? What if I can’t keep up with the work? What if I don’t fit in? Even the most popular and accomplished student has those fleeting thoughts.
I find myself now going back to Sallie’s rule of things being useful and/or beautiful. It certainly applies to the back to school dinner we should all start thinking about and planning. It is our last chance to linger around the table in lazy summer mode. The following morning will bring the sound of school bells and a return to regimented life. The night before should be comforting, encouraging, loving and strengthening. A homemade dinner does that without words. A homemade, back to school, new year’s dinner tells those you love without measure that where there is anxiety, at home they will find comfort; where there is doubt, at home they will find encouragement; where there is cruelty, at home they will find love; and where there is a challenge, at home they will find strength. I can think of nothing more useful, nothing more beautiful.
The Hudson Family Table Back to School Dinner recipes and preparation plan will be available by week’s end at www.hudsonfamilytable.com. To receive an email version or RSS feed, simply subscribe, free of charge, on the website homepage.