I Am a Socialite - Attending Omnilore's Forum Luncheon

Four times a year our Learning-in-Retirement organization, Omnilore, hosts a Forum Luncheon at Los Verdes Country Club in Palos Verdes.  It is a social event that allows us to gather with like-minded friends we have made in our classes to enjoy a luncheon and a speaker.  We encourage guests to come and get to know us and maybe choose to participate in our educational pursuits.

This month was a rousing success.  We had a packed room with about 148 attendees.  The meal was tasty and the speaker was engaging.

We were invited to join our friends, Blanche and Chuck at their table, along with John & Lynn and Mary & Larry. 

Chuck and Blanche are long-time friends who live at the other end of Los Angeles and we appreciated having a chance to catch up with them over our mealtime conversation.  Helen and Nancy were also at our table.  

And talk we do! What do we talk about?  The latest, greatest book we just read.  That article in the recent Economist.  The itinerary of a trip we are planning.  How did Mary and Larry meet?  The new list of topics for next trimester's classes.  We talk about life!

After the luncheon, we had a chance to hear Richard Foss, a local author, food critic and culinary historian share some of the challenges facing Culinary Historians as they attempt to use anthropological evidence of food to learn more about various cultures of people…our ancestors…what they ate and why it matters.  He has an entertaining style of weaving humor in with fact and holding our attention.  We learned about an Ancient Sumerian beer that had actually been replicated by Anchor Steam and about recipes with directions so unique that you were told to stir a pot of ingredients for as long as it takes to sing a particular song through two times.  The song is now long forgotten and even if you did remember it, how many verses would you sing?

The message I took home is that "the times, they are a changin'."  It used to be that if you told someone what you ate for dinner they could tell you who you were.  

“I eat spaghetti every Thursday night.”   Oh…your family is Italian-American.

“My mom makes the best enchiladas.”  Oh…your family is Mexican American.

In today’s world, we have embraced diversity and are just as likely to eat sushi as spaghetti.  We have lost the traditional "taste of home."  He reminded us that our family recipes are links to the past and to try to keep those food traditions going.  I was pleased to raise my hand when he asked who among us had given family recipes to their children.

I rejoice that I am from a heritage that values its cuisine and the tradition of the family meal that is the centerpiece of all celebrations, even if we are only celebrating Thursday!  Now I will go into the kitchen and put on a pot of sauce.  Even the smell of the tomatoes simmering tells me who I am!