Family Meal

It's been a while since I managed a full, nice family meal--with place settings and all.  Anyhow, I was inspired yesterday by seeing that Michelle Obama was giving 'etiquette classes' at the white house, and I originally intended to focus more on etiquette, but it was just SO nice to have flowers on the table (small vase of pansies from out front), multiple small courses, a sit-down meal, placemats, starting our meal together, etc.  Actually, without ever bringing up the word 'etiquette', I feel like it was a lesson that way.  As I put my napkin in my lap, so did the Michael and the kids (we've been over it before).  We all waited to start eating together after our mini-grace (what we say?  Generally a simple, "For every cup and plateful let us be truly grateful.").
Anyhow, it was pretty lovely, and, at the same time, a way to consider what we're eating a little bit more.  The kids approved, and I hope to make these sit-down nice family meals more of a regular thing again. :)  I actually incorporated some left-overs into the meal--which was a nice way to use them up, since my crew will often ignore leftovers until they've gone bad.  So, we had leftover soup and bread for the first course, then leftover black-eye pea burgers (I make in batches and freeze) and a steamed veggie and our own non-dairy, non-gluten mac and cheese.  Scoops of watermelon in little bowls constituted dessert.  It was pretty simple and nice--and welcome to the kids after a long, hectic day, as it was on the table when they arrived home!