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    Come to the Table

    Come to the Table

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    A Celebration of Family Life

    by Doris Christopher

    Review from Chinaberry Books and Gifts

    Order from Chinaberry Books and Gifts

     I once read that the only thing all Rhodes Scholars have in common is that they grew up eating with their families. It made me wonder . . . is this so rare? Eating together as a family seems like such a normal thing to do. But then I remember how often I ate alone when I was a child, my dad at work and my mother otherwise occupied. (At least now I know why I wasn't a Rhodes Scholar...) And I know how difficult it is to get all of my own family together at the same time so we can eat together. I also remember how profoundly affected I was by the occasional family dinners I went to at my grandmother's home. These are the memories I treasure now, especially since all these relatives so dear to my heart are now deceased. Doris Christopher, founder of The Pampered Chef, Inc., has written a heartwarming book about how we can recreate the joys of family life around the table, even if we can't do it every night. Reading this book, I felt as if a warm and loving grandmother was nurturing me. Christopher's words inspire and inform. They and the memories they brought back to me filled my heart and brought tears to my eyes. She covers a wide range of topics all related to the family table: bringing teens to the table, what to do with small children, winter ideas, summer mealtimes, holiday celebrations, Sunday dinners and entertaining. You will probably have thought of some of the ideas in this book already, but I doubt that you will be familiar with all of them.

    Every once in a while, I find it important to read a book such as this. It's not that it encourages me to do anything radically different (I know dinner in the car can never replace the power of the whole family eating together). Rather, it gives me the fortitude I need to really fight for what I know is best in a world filled with soccer games and violin lessons, parent meetings and orthodontic appointments - things that are all clamoring to grab my family's time. And if I, the mother, don't put the family first, I know that for certain my children will never learn to do so. COME TO THE TABLE is the kind of book you get as a gift for yourself, but ends up being a gift for the whole family.

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