This post serves as an entry to win an 8-day trip to Greece, courtesy of Fage Total and the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. The team invited featured publishers to create blog posts illustrating the Greek concept of “good living”, combining good food and fine taste for a positive, healthy life.
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When I think of good living, I think of family rituals. It may be that it is the peak of the holiday hustle and bustle, but there’s something about repeated habits around this time of year that puts goodness into any ordinary day — into life.
Growing up, setting the table with placemats, napkins, and utensils each night for dinner was a part of our normal routine. Every other day, the responsibility traded from my chore chart to my brother’s. As simple as it was to put four cloth mats and four sets of silverware on the table, it was the dreaded task and avoided until the homemade spinach soup – my favorite, believe it or not – was served up.
At age 22, with five years of good living away from home, I am thankful for this aspect of my upbringing and value its importance in my relationship with food.
Many rituals and aspects of my family life have changed since I was the 9-year-old gymnast picking out the prettiest placemats in my leotard, while some things – the cheery Crate & Barrel place settings – have stained stayed the same.
When I come home after 142 days away as a college foodie on my own, I don’t hesitate to set the table – a picnic table handmade by my great-grandfather – and make my parents a well-deserved dinner in appreciation of the hundreds of healthy meals they put on our table night after night.
Tonight I made a light, yet festive and filling, salad with local ingredients and a lot of love.
Maple Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Salad
recipe adapted from: Two Peas & Their Pod
organic mixed greens. butternut squash + red onion roasted w/ olive oil, pure maple syrup, cinnamon, s+p @ 400F – 30 minutes. local Pippin apple, sliced. dried cranberries. raw pepitas. local, creamy chevre. dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, “grainy” mustard, garlic, pure maple syrup, s+p
Good living, in my eyes, is a collaboration of many healthy habits; setting the table was a part of the collaborative effort of putting a good dinner on the table that positively influenced my healthy outlook on life.
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As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You, too, can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway.
