Every season of the year is filled with opportunities to gather with friends and share a meal. This is true across the world. Summer is filled with opportunities to gather and barbecue. The fourth of July, in the US, is the most popular holiday for barbecuing followed by Memorial and Labor days. Barbecuing is one of those ways of cooking which transcend social and political classes. There is a history of barbecuing at the White House for example, since Thomas Jefferson. Each President has had their own favorite. For example, Lyndon B Johnson was a lover of Texas style barbecued ribs. The most popular flavors of barbecue sauce are hickory, mesquite, honey and spicy hot.
While making plans for these holiday get togethers one is probably thinking most about who to invite, what proteins to make and what beverage and vegetable to pair with them. Rarely, do we think about how spiritually rich these gatherings are. In South Africa, for example, these gatherings are braai and they are more then just a chance to gather and barbecue, they are just to celebrate cultural and spiritual traditions. Gathering with others is about more than cooking and creating memories. It is about honoring the feast, the friends, and the ways foods and wines pair up with each other. It’s about understanding how these pairings brings out the best in conversation and camaraderie for those gathered. There is a richening of community when we gather and share a meal together.
This is part of why I love working with Pampered Chef. The company, understands the power of mealtimes in the same way South Africans understand braii. They understand that mealtimes have the power to “become something more: a way to transform relationships, to create traditions, and to build happier and richer lives.” The products we offer are not only unique, but time saving. As we share them with people, we also share visions, dreams and possibilities with others. Through our interactions with others. ”we are enriching lives, one meal and one memory at a time.”
When folks gather for braii in South Africa they are committed to bringing out full potential of each product by what it is paired with. Pampered Chef does the same through its recipe creation, but also through realizing and remembering that these communal meals allow us to tap into the fullness of a person’s human potential.
Just as South African families are committed to remembering and celebrating the deepest of cultural and spiritual traditions, Pampered Chef, through the sharing of meals, is about creating the opportunity for each meal to be a spiritual experience and to help people individually and communally develop all the gifts they were created to own and use in their journey. Those of us who have hosted parties for us (virtually or cooking show, have come to experience the joy and blessings of being a part of these multi-dimensional cooking experiences. We, like the South Africans, are creating gatherings that are about more than what we cook, they are about what we create.
https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/sharonjacobson