Fantasy online dinners

I’ve come to realise that the way to get people’s attention online (or at least on Facebook) is to write about food.  Mention your latest eating experience – or even, your anticipation of that – and you get lots of virtual joining in.

Is it the dark days of recession affecting us?  We know that in times of economic difficulty, food sales still do well, if not better, as a cheering up device.  Is it the onset of winter, hopeful that if we anticipate food, we will feel warmer, or at least better about the nights drawing in?

Maybe it’s more of the thirties malaise.  We start to realise that we may not climb the corporate ladder the way we might have thought (most corporate ladders looking pretty rickety, at this point in time); we will not now wow the world with our looks or various other talents if we haven’t done so already.  (I’m still holding out for a late-onset writing career – that area does seem to reward late bloomers.)

What’s left? Family, friends, TV…and of course food, which we can always anticipate, because of our need to refuel fairly often.  (I’m not limiting life to these alone, honest. But they do all allow quite a lot of ‘me too!’, which is perhaps part of why online stuff is popular.)

So what foods are most likely to make you ‘write in’ in agreement?  So far, risotto, peanut butter, classy macaroons and hot dogs, judging by recent comments on my Facebook wall and others.

It could be the start of a whole new ‘what’s your favourite food?’ discussion.  I would also like to suggest a ‘guess how much I paid at the Co-op for…?‘ game, which allows a spot of ethical consumerism to combine with (nearly) freegan activity, and some public endorsement of thrift…

I’m actually finding it hard to come down to a favourite food, but my inner five year old is still convinced that sausages, baked beans and chips are a good place to start.  How about you?