Create A Romantic Evening At Home
by: Marguerite Bonneville
You've decided to invite someone you're dating to your home for a romantic evening and you want everything to go well. Here are a few tips to help you achieve that result. There are a number of factors you need to consider when planning your romantic evening:
1. Your Physical Surroundings
It's a good idea to make sure your house or apartment is clean and tidy. It may not be anyone's primary focus but it will make an impression on your guest, even if it's subliminal.
Spend a few hours doing the cleaning yourself, hire someone to do it for you, or, at the very least, shove all that clutter into your closets or under the bed. Wipe down surfaces to get rid of dust and stains.
Apart from the living and dining areas, there are two other rooms that need your attention:
a. The bathroom Wipe down the sink/washbasin, tub and shower stall. Put a fresh cake of soap on the sink and hang fresh towels. At the very least your guest will use the bathroom to wash his or her hands so make sure it's a pleasant experience.
b. The bedroom Get rid of any extraneous clutter like clothes strewn around the room or on the floor. Change the sheets, make the bed and wipe down any surfaces. If your guest ends up spending the night, you don't want him or her racing off for a tetanus shot in the morning.
To create a romantic atmosphere in your bedroom, have some scented candles on hand and an easy-to-reach sound system. You might also consider buying a quilt cover in a rich, romantic color and a set of sheets to match.
2. Your Choice Of Menu While food can be an excellent means of seduction, it's a mistake to choose too complicated a menu unless you're an experienced cook and you don't get easily flustered. Simple dishes like spaghetti or ratatouille make a tasty and satisfying meal without spiking your anxiety levels.
The point is to enjoy the evening along with your guest, not treat the event like it's a university-entrance exam. How To Avoid Psycho-Chef Syndrome One trick is to prepare as much of the meal as possible beforehand so you're not rushing around like a pinball once your guest arrives. Have all the ingredients chopped, diced and ready for cooking.
Do this the night before or earlier that day, whatever works best for you. Salad ingredients can be prepared earlier and stored in separate containers, then added to the salad bowl and dressed before serving. You can even cheat by purchasing your meal from a favorite restaurant and having it delivered (or picking it up) before your guest arrives.
Definitely buy desert from your favorite bakery or supermarket, unless you're a wiz at whipping up a Pavlova or meringue. Another option is to prepare dessert the night before and reheat it if necessary when you're ready to serve it.
3. Your Cooking Area Make sure your kitchen is clean before you begin cooking. Yes, you'll no doubt make a mess once you start but you don't want yesterday's dishes in the way. Your guest may offer to help so the kitchen needs to meet minimum health standards.
It's up to you whether you accept this help or not, but we recommend that you do, even if it's only a token effort like tossing the salad.
Sharing cooking tasks can be a wonderfully romantic interaction as it creates a special kind of intimacy. Have you ever noticed how much more easily conversation flows when two people are doing a task, as opposed to sitting face to face?
4. Setting The Table Set the table beforehand. Use a good tablecloth, your best silverware and a nice set of plates. Use your best glasses and an attractive salt and pepper set, milk jug and sugar bowl. Show your guest that you went to some trouble to make the meal a special occasion. This is not the time for melamine dishes or chipped or mismatched crockery.
You're aiming for a touch of class. Use candlesticks on the table for a romantic ambience, or place candles on other surfaces around the room. Background music is a must but make sure it's romantic and subtle. Limit blaring rock and roll or rap to the period when you're preparing dinner, but please, no high-octane music while you're eating.
Set the sound at a low volume so it doesn't interfere with your conversation. And remember, if you don't play music during the meal you run the risk of filling any silences with the sound of people masticating.
5. Cleaning Up Later Don't let your guest anywhere near the kitchen after the meal is over. Hopefully you'll have better things to do with your time together. But all is not lost if they do insist on helping with the chores.
Many a couple has fallen in love while doing the dishes, for two main reasons:
1. As mentioned earlier, there's the ease of conversation that takes place when you're doing a task rather than concentrating on talking.
2. Doing dishes together is like playing house. It can actually feel very romantic, especially when one or both people realize, "This is what I want with this person." You won't get the same effect if you use a dishwasher, so set aside at least a couple of pots, which will you allow to suggest, "I'll wash and you dry." With a little forethought, anyone can create a romantic evening at home.
The old cliché, "the way to a person's heart is through their stomach", has more than a little truth to it. Test it yourself with someone you care about. The least you'll get is a great home-cooked meal.
About the author:Marguerite Bonneville is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) whose passion is publishing information online. She is a contributing writer at http://www.favorite-recipes-online.com,a resource site dedicated to helping visitors access the best online recipes.
Showing posts with label meal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meal. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Power of the Meal
The Power of the Meal
by: Jesse S. Somer
Since the beginning of time one aspect of human social experience has stood out as the ‘place to be’ for communication and family bonding: the meal.
In contemporary human life the evening dinner is often the only place and time that a family all sits down together. In tribal times (of course there are still tribes today) the cooking of a slaughtered animal or cultivated vegetables brought the group together to share ideas and feelings.
Think about it these days; when you want to take someone out for a romantic date, meet business colleagues, get together with old friends and acquaintances, we go out for a bite to eat. What is it about sharing some food that puts us in such a relaxed and communicable state?
Could it simply be science, and the fact that if you are tense when you eat, the food doesn’t digest as well? Or, could it have some psychological basis having to do with the idea that you are sharing some life-giving sustenance with your fellow species instead of warring over it?
Subconsciously do we recognize the facts that we will be able to live another day as well as sew healthy seeds for future generations?
Think of all the problems in the world today. Maybe if we all got together for a feast we could work out some practical solutions, say while sipping on coconut milk, or chewing on a loaf of bread.
The current (14th) Dalai Lama is quoted as having said, “I sometimes think that the act of bringing food is one of the basic roots of all relationships.” There is also the idea of food as being a medium for the transferal of emotional energy.
I am currently living with a friend who is very adept in the kitchen. He uses high quality ingredients and professional techniques, but he also follows the belief that what mood you are in, the amount of effort and awareness you give the cooking process, and the love and gratitude that you feel for the ability to eat is imperative to making a good meal.
I have read in a famous Hari Krishna cookbook as well as Taoist teachings how the actual emotions that the cook feels when making a meal is transmitted into the food via chi energy. Feelings and food are both forms of energy.
Native Americans believe that all thoughts and emotions are ‘alive’. You may have seen the recent film, ‘What the bleep do we know?’ Read about it at whatthebleep.com. In this film world-renowned scientists discuss the idea that all thoughts and emotions are actually physically material in the sense that they are produced by chemicals and are transmitted in electrical forms.
Therefore, a happy chef truly spreads happiness by enjoying the preparation of a meal. So, next time you sit down to a meal with friends or family, or cook for guests, remember the significance of this often undervalued experience.
For hundreds of thousands of years our distant relatives’ whole way of social life was based around the acquisition and sharing of food. It is often the main time to communicate to the ones you hold most dearly, so please don’t take it for granted or think that just because it is necessary for survival that there aren’t any meaningful and mysterious aspects to the experience.
Relating to each other is one of the most important elements in a social creature’s existence; the meal is a time and place for relationships to sprout and grow. That’s just some of the power of the meal.
About the author:Jesse S. Somer M6.Net http://www.m6.netJesse S. Somer is a creature that eats a little bit too much food at times, and needs to share more meals with other organisms that he loves.
by: Jesse S. Somer
Since the beginning of time one aspect of human social experience has stood out as the ‘place to be’ for communication and family bonding: the meal.
In contemporary human life the evening dinner is often the only place and time that a family all sits down together. In tribal times (of course there are still tribes today) the cooking of a slaughtered animal or cultivated vegetables brought the group together to share ideas and feelings.
Think about it these days; when you want to take someone out for a romantic date, meet business colleagues, get together with old friends and acquaintances, we go out for a bite to eat. What is it about sharing some food that puts us in such a relaxed and communicable state?
Could it simply be science, and the fact that if you are tense when you eat, the food doesn’t digest as well? Or, could it have some psychological basis having to do with the idea that you are sharing some life-giving sustenance with your fellow species instead of warring over it?
Subconsciously do we recognize the facts that we will be able to live another day as well as sew healthy seeds for future generations?
Think of all the problems in the world today. Maybe if we all got together for a feast we could work out some practical solutions, say while sipping on coconut milk, or chewing on a loaf of bread.
The current (14th) Dalai Lama is quoted as having said, “I sometimes think that the act of bringing food is one of the basic roots of all relationships.” There is also the idea of food as being a medium for the transferal of emotional energy.
I am currently living with a friend who is very adept in the kitchen. He uses high quality ingredients and professional techniques, but he also follows the belief that what mood you are in, the amount of effort and awareness you give the cooking process, and the love and gratitude that you feel for the ability to eat is imperative to making a good meal.
I have read in a famous Hari Krishna cookbook as well as Taoist teachings how the actual emotions that the cook feels when making a meal is transmitted into the food via chi energy. Feelings and food are both forms of energy.
Native Americans believe that all thoughts and emotions are ‘alive’. You may have seen the recent film, ‘What the bleep do we know?’ Read about it at whatthebleep.com. In this film world-renowned scientists discuss the idea that all thoughts and emotions are actually physically material in the sense that they are produced by chemicals and are transmitted in electrical forms.
Therefore, a happy chef truly spreads happiness by enjoying the preparation of a meal. So, next time you sit down to a meal with friends or family, or cook for guests, remember the significance of this often undervalued experience.
For hundreds of thousands of years our distant relatives’ whole way of social life was based around the acquisition and sharing of food. It is often the main time to communicate to the ones you hold most dearly, so please don’t take it for granted or think that just because it is necessary for survival that there aren’t any meaningful and mysterious aspects to the experience.
Relating to each other is one of the most important elements in a social creature’s existence; the meal is a time and place for relationships to sprout and grow. That’s just some of the power of the meal.
About the author:Jesse S. Somer M6.Net http://www.m6.netJesse S. Somer is a creature that eats a little bit too much food at times, and needs to share more meals with other organisms that he loves.
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