A Spoonful of Etiquette

I wanted to share a new awakening I experienced during lunch the other day. I had this fabulous soup and I wanted to start eating right away but I'm notorious for burning my tongue no matter how careful I am. It's just me, but I don't think it looks good to cool your soup in public. So, before this I would suffer through the awkwardness of waiting until my soup cooled enough to eat, which would take forever, or resort to burning my tongue. So, I decided at lunch the other day to deliberately take a bite of my bread first; then I dipped my spoon in the soup letting it rest over the bowl until I finished chewing my bread. When I put the spoon to my mouth the soup it was cool enough to eat. This was revolutionary for me. I found this wonderful rhythm for eating soup that I never really realized before. It seems like I have to learn everything over about eating because I grew up completely vegetarian with really no eating challenges.

Sometimes I find eating difficult or hot foods can cause you to lose yourself in the dining process. I'm thinking of this lady that said her mother would tie her neck to the back of her chair at the dinner table leaving only a small space to move so she wouldn't lean forward to eat. Breaking a cardinal rule of fine dining. She made this revelation to a dinner guest to answer the question of how she learned to eat so beautifully. She really didn't sound unhappy about her meal time drama so I guess it all worked out. This story is a little drastic I know, but I like knowing the little nuisances of good habits. Have you been enlightened by a difficult meal at the dinner table?