Bring your own Rules and Rituals
to our mid-winter Potluck!
Midwinter in the northern hemisphere is a time for fire and feasting, but we all have many different ways of marking moments of change on our lives, whether joyful or sad, public or private, spur-of-the-moment or following traditions so ancient we can no longer untangle their roots.
Let’s get together around our virtual kitchen table in anticipation of the year's turning for a big, joyous, inspiring potluck of memories, stories, questions and maybe even some answers....
If sharing a meal is the simplest and most straightforward way to bring a community together, special significance is also attached to the dishes and their recipes. While midwinter's rules and rituals are closely linked to the return of the sun - lighted candles, blazing yule-log, greenery brought indoors to sprout in the warmth of the hearth - preparations are often just as important as the meal itself. Some of us have childhood memories of being allowed to help with edible decorations and gifts, cutting out and decorating cookies and cakes, and above all for northerners, hovering over the preparations, the fragrance of spices - cinnamon, cardamom, cloves - as a promise of warmth to come.
Please think ahead about what you'd like to share! The shape will be informal, though as usual we'll have plenty of expertise on hand.
We aim to keep contributions short and sweet - three minutes at the outside, and very informal. Bear in mind, too, that your contribution doesn't have to be seasonal or stuck in midwinter, and that the rules for remembering absence are as useful to your fellow guests as the rituals of joy - we intend this gathering to get us all thinking about potential papers for next year's Symposium, when the topic will be Food Rules and Rituals.
PS In the old tradition of setting a place at table for the unexpected guest, there won’t be a fixed ticket price for this Kitchen Table. So when you register, please pay as much or as little as you feel you can. We're always grateful for all contributions as they enable us to keep our Kitchen Tables alive and thriving!
