Home cooking is not just about getting an applaudable meal on the table. It's also about invitation, conversation, and helping guests feel comfortable.
We are not sure whether or not whipping out this box of questions would help our guests feel more comfortable, but for those of you with bigger households or an apartment full of roommates, this box of questions designed for mealtimes might be an interesting conversation starter. Read on for sample questions and more on the story of how this little box came to be.
This box and the others in its series were designed by two moms with six kids between them. They started asking questions to help keep their offspring entertained at the table. From their website:
The questions didn't rely on trivia like the latest on ESPN, Brangelina or American Idol. They delved into serious, thought-provoking issues including ethics and morality, charity and history as well as a strong appreciation for the bonds that tie together family and society.
They gathered questions into these boxes. They can be used one question a week for a year, or mixed up and used ad hoc to jumpstart dinner conversation.
We're split on these - we love the idea of being intentional about good dinner conversation. But a box of questions does feel a little uneasily like camp or bad party mixers.
What do you think? Would you like a box of dinner questions?
We do really like that a portion of the proceeds from every box goes to a great cause: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, which is working to research and treat addiction
• Family Dinner Box of Questions, $19.95 at The Box Girls
Related: Best Foods for Conversation?
This is a little too obvious of an icebreaker for me. The 2 example questions make me think of prompt cards for a bad dating service (excluding the "family vacation" reference).
During a recent vacation, we played Foodie Fight while preparing dinner, and that was a lot of fun. If you like food and suck at normal Trivial Pursuit (darn that Sports category!), you'll enjoy Foodie Fight. We got ours from Amazon.
(Not trying to push Foodie Fight, just a foodie-ish person who was thrilled at not sucking at a trivia game!)
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Ami, I might have to track that down!
These feel too contrived to me. My family never had problems coming up with topics at dinner and often lingered for hours chatting and laughing. I absolutely hate those kind of questions, too. They feel too "ice breaker" ish. Friends and family shouldn't have that much trouble thinking of something to talk about.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
They remind me of questions from a "journal jar" I got when I was about 12.
view Sarahj's profile