What's a meal like in the U. S?

[Julie4]

For example, for the evening meal?

For example, in France, we generally start eating around 19H30 -20 H. We have starters, main courses, cheese, dessert, and depending on the circumstances a coffee, but this is usually for lunch.

It also happens that before meals, we have an "apero", i. e. a glass of alcohol, accompanied by small slices of Saucissons, Bayonne ham, or other types of aperitif. Of course, it's not every day, but almost half of French people do it once a week.

And apparently we're the OECD country that spends the most time eating.

So I'm curious to know how meals go in the USA...

[nightdrot]

It really depends on the family and the time of year and a host of other factors.

For my family, dinner typically starts at around 6:00 P. M. - give or take. The Mrs. and I may have a cocktail before dinner - at around 5:00 P. M. I'll sip a gin and tonic and talk to her about the day. She'll sip on a G&T or a martini while she makes dinner. (The kids are usually playing or what not, but if they sit at the dining room table while the meal is being prepared, they may be allowed a chocolate milk or even, perhaps, a Coke.)

(By law, given my culinary skills, I am banned from the kitchen. I may be permitted to assist on clean-up after dinner, but otherwise I have been told that the stove is a weapon and I am to stay clear of it.)

Dinner usually lasts about an hour. However, for holidays and special occasions it may last longer.

Also, there are exceptions. Friday night is pizza night. I'll usually run out and grab a pizza or two from the local carry-out and bring it home around 5:30 P. M. Dinner is VERY informal. Usually sitting in the living room in the cooler months (or if it is raining) or outside on the deck in the warmer months.

Again, this can be highly variable. Holidays and special occasions can vary according to the traditions. (Typically, we go to the grandparents for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Sunday and are bound by those schedules and family traditions. As to Halloween, with three little people who want to get dressed up in their costumes and shake the neighbors down for candy - don't get me started.)

Also, Saturday tends to be highly variable and is often "fast food" night.

This is what it looks like generally at this house. My hunch though is that if you ask any individual, you will get a different answer depending on the individual and his/her circumstances.

[Julie4]

Yes, it certainly depends on a number of factors.

Ah, you also make the aperitif, that's your French side (just kidding).

And I see that you devote time to eating, I have the impression that it's rather rare. I'd read that among OECD countries, Americans take the least time for their meals on average.

I've also heard that you Americans are the kings of the barbecue.

As for the rest, if they take you away from the kitchen, tell yourself it's for the general good of your family.

[nightdrot]

On that last point, as I say, the Mrs. argues that having me in the kitchen is a threat to national security - not to mention the health of our children.

Oh, and we do barbecue in the summer months. Not a lot, but some, particularly if we have guests. Now, care to guess who does the barbecuing? See also threats to national security.

Oh, and as far as the time we take for meals, we are a little different from the average American family in that respect. However, right now, we are trying to be.

It is the best time to get some quality time with our little Munchkins - even if they are not always the perfect examples of mealtime etiquette. It is just that we know that as they get older and get into junior high school and especially after they get into high school social life, we will see a lot less of them at meals and the like.

So we are trying to make the most of the moment. In that connection, at the risk of sounding like a total sap, the very idea that some day that they will be off to a high school dance or sporting event or what have you and not at home with their mom and dad really does make me misty-eyed.

Don't get me wrong. I want them to grow up and become independent and have great social lives as I did in high school and college. Still, they will always be my little munchkins - and having them around the dinner table is, for me at least, magical.

Sorry to get so sappy, but your remarks got me to thinking.

[Julie4]

What you have just said is very touching. You're right, time does fly and it's better to make the most of the time you can spend with them. But I'm sure that in spite of everything, they'll still come and share tasty meals with their wonderful parents, as long as you're not the one cooking (just kidding).

In France, I would say that the meal is "sacred", it's a moment that we share as a family. It's extremely rare in France to have a family where the members eat separately.

Oh forgive me for giving you such sad thoughts, it wasn't my intention. But you still have many good moments to share together.

[nightdrot]

Oh, not at all. They are not sad thoughts. It's just that you got me to thinking about our mealtimes - and even if they are not Hollywood picture perfect, I would not change them for the world.

In fact, you brought up a lot of great memories... and now, let's go listen to some rap music. You know, just to keep up the mood!!

[Sixgunsound]

When the French submarine Amytheste came to visit the base I was stationed at, we could smell the bread cooking at 1km away. It was divine. Our bread was merde by comparison. Meals in the US are typically made quickly, eaten more quickly, and not generally thought of much more than that. Special occasions vary considerably, but as a rule we are kept so busy by employers, schools, or other demands on our time that actually enjoying food is literally a foreign concept. Due to my wife being Italian I am partial to Italy's food culture, but French food culture is still something a lot of Americans could learn to enjoy life a little more by embracing. We are always so busy for someone else's benefit, and I don't see the advantage of living like that to the people at my position on the economic ladder.

[Julie4]

That's why you're rich and France is poorer than the U. S.

[Sixgunsound]

If I had to guess I would say that the quality of life is better for the average person in france than the average person in the united states. Look at heart attack numbers in either country? Americans are so stressed out about making somebody else a profit that we don't have time for self care like most other countries where life is slower do. At the end of the day. At the end of the day is it more beneficial to the average Person to be so busy that they work themselves to death for someone else or to have less money but have a longer more enjoyable life?

[Sixgunsound]

I don't see the benefit of making more money but being so stressed that we die sooner to the people doing the making. It's great for the people who own everything, but for almost everyone else it's a bad deal.

[comekitty]

I try to have dinner ready between 5:00 or 5:30 pm.

If we don't have company we eat at the kitchen table, if there's company over - then we eat in the dining room.

Devices aren't brought to the table so Time is spent talking.

Then I send my husband out to play outside with our son while I clean-up.

As mentioned, holidays look much different. 🙂

[comekitty]

Oh, and Friday's are eat out day

[Julie4]

Friday night seems to be a good time lol. Very interesting. You eat really early in the Usa

[CrimsonAngel09]

Even though I was born in the U. S., I grew up German. So most of the time it's German food such as Rouladen, saurkraut, weißwurst, damphnudel, etc..

[Sixgunsound]

My grandmother made Rouladen every Christmas dinner. I'm so happy to see someone else who knows what that is. With so many people who have German heritage here in the US I still have not met anyone who knows what that is in real life.

[AaronKrieger]

The U. S. is very broad and not everyone eats the same things. For lunch, some people get fast food, some go out to an actual restaurant, and others eat homemade food. I feel like a common homemade lunch for work or school in the U. S. is a sandwich and chips.

[Iron_Man]

If you’re eating out a classy restaurant in America, primetime is after 10 o’clock at night 10 PM we have five course meal’s fine dining with white table cloths and candles from appetizers to salads with bread and butter along with the main course and anything you want to drink

[exitseven]

In the US meals usually consist of something fried that is served in a paper bag. To really get the full effect you have to eat it while you are driving to some work related function.

[midnightmoon05]

What? Seriously?

[Sixgunsound]

You articulated it better but I agree with your sentiment.

[xColinx]

Sad but spot on for a large majority of US population.

[xColinx]

To add a bit more context: The fried stuffs is typically labeled as some type of 'meat'. Which is sorta accurate in that a lot of it starts out as some sorta meat-based thing, from large slaughter houses where conditions are horrible for animal and workers alike, and eventually makes it into some nasty processed form of 'meat' that includes a list of additives that is literally as long as this message I'm posting.

[xColinx]

But if you add ketchup, taco bell sauce, etc... now you've got a tasty meal.

[Anonymous]

Lol more than half the country is at McDonald’s, Burger King, some other fast food place eating hamburgers and pizza full of grease and fat.. it’s a pig sty over here

[msc545]

That's unfortunately an accurate description.

[DaBiggestBird]

Anything you want