THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609150053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: 68 lines
A group of women from St. Paul's Episcopal Church think they know what's missing in most people's lives these days: sweet 'n' sour pork chops, mock pan pizza, Marina chicken divan and a beef dish known as Locust Grove layers.
And the key ingredient to a good meal, they say, is one that may be the hardest to fix: the family dinner hour.
``Nobody ever sits down for the family night,'' said Susan Wood, an expectant mother with a 3-year-old who is the first to admit her own family rarely eats together at a specific time each day.
``It's hard when children have games, or whatever, at night,'' Wood said.
And yet, Wood and her friends say, it is the children in a family who stand to gain the most by returning to the traditional dinner hour that has fallen by the wayside as more women enter the work force.
``Children no longer have a place to communicate as a family,'' said Martha Leary, a grandmother who contributed to the church women's cookbook, which is part of the effort to promote family dinners.
``I remember someone telling me the two places you talk to your children are in the car and at the dinner table,'' said Anne Ellis, a mother of four.
Based on experience and research, the Edenton women have come up with some suggestions for harried households tired of dinners on the go.
First, they all say, pick a night when the kids and spouses don't have to be somewhere else. Make it a priority, and try to be consistent with the hour dinner is served.
``Make a point to turn that television off,'' suggested Susan Dixon, mother of a 9- and 11-year-old.
Evenings can also be enhanced by creating a warm atmosphere, which can come naturally from the aromas emanating from the kitchen.
``There's absolutely nothing that conveys love more than mama cooking,'' Leary said.
Ellis agrees. ``I think cooking is something that will bring it back. If I cook something, everybody wants to see what's for dinner.''
Dinners also teach children table manners and allow young ones' taste buds to become acquainted with a wider variety of foods.
There's also the joy that comes when everyone leaves the table satiated and smiling.
``It's very self-satisfying when they do eat your favorite foods,'' said Lindsay Hornthal.
As for what to serve, the women have plenty of suggestions - 405 of them in a 254-page, handsomely illustrated, hard-bound cookbook they've been promoting for months.
Published by The Wimmer Companies of Memphis and Dallas, ``Take the Tour: For a Taste of Colonial Edenton'' was compiled a couple of years ago as a way to raise money, improve community fellowship and increase interest in Edenton.
Five thousand copies have been distributed to bookstores and souvenir shops across the country, particularly the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions. Another batch will probably come off the presses within the next year or two.
The recipes come primarily from parishioners at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built in the 1700s and now part of a highly touted historic district, perhaps the best known in eastern North Carolina.
``It's primarily people from our church, but an awful lot of people in the community contributed, too,'' said Geordie Robison.
With recipe names like Green Olive Tapanade, Cornmeal Bops, Blueberry Bisque and Marketplace Chicken Madeira, a reader might think the meals complex.
Not so, say the women, who bill their cookbook entries as ``elegant, but easy.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by ANNE SAITA
Seated around the dinner table, from left, are Anne Ellis, Susan
Dixon, Susan Wood, Martha Leary and Geordie Robison. by CNB