Oh. My. Friends.
Like I’ve said before… in the survey you took (or still need to take) back in April… I found out that we have a lot in common. So, what I know… is that you are yearning for connection. Yearning to love on your people through food and hospitality. Yearning to sit down to a meal with friends. Yearning to pull up a seat at your favorite restaurant and share an appetizer!! (will we ever share appetizers again??? or blow on candles in a cake???)
I AM TOO. All of those things. So, today, for your Sunday Offering I wanted to give you some ideas on how to continue practicing hospitality during a pandemic. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
- Send someone a card in the mail. Good ol’ snail mail… letter, envelope. and stamp. Receiving letters and cards in the mail create so much joy. For the sender and the receiver!
- Have a treat delivered to someone. My favorite delivery is Tiff’s Treats!! Warm chocolate chip cookies delivered to your door?!?! Now, that will spark joy and make anyone happy and loved and seen! I’ll even give you the link https://www.cookiedelivery.com/
- You can even make your own cute little treats and leave them on friends front porches. Back in March, we made “Quarantine Cookies” and left them on all of our friends porches. Need a good chocolate chip cookie recipe? Here’s mine! http://melissatatetx.com/national-chocolate-chip-cookie-day/
- Prepare individual meals for those that you know are having a hard time. Maybe without a job or missing a loved one. Last month, I prepared meals for our friends at Double Wide and Single Wide… two bars in Dallas owned by a friend of ours. Can you imagine? Being out of work yourself and knowing your staff is out of work… and you can’t do anything about it. We wanted to make sure that our friend and her staff felt loved, seen, missed and acknowledged in this hard time. Isn’t that what hospitality is? The meals were simple… Tate Farms salad, spaghetti with Tate Farms beef, roasted vegetables, a garlic roll and Mimi’s Strawberry Cake.
- Invite a friend over for a social distanced picnic. If this is our “new normal” we have to figure out ways to meet with friends. We were made for connection. We were made for community. I have started inviting one friend over a week. To make it smooth and easy, here are the things I say… Hi friend, I’d love to have you over if you are visiting friends. And then I ask these questions… •Do you feel comfortable visiting at a distance inside or do you prefer outside? •Do you feel comfortable eating in the same space? •Do you want to wear masks? •Are we going to hug? The scariest part of this whole thing is the unknown… so let’s make it all known! Let’s ask the questions ahead of time and go into a visit with our friends in peace. Ready to enjoy each others company!
- If you are doing porch picnics or patio hangs, I suggest having a tray of individually wrapped items. I know we want to make a big spread and touch and share it all… but maybe now isn’t the time! Little individual containers of hummus, small pretzel pacs, trail mix pacs, fresh fruit, individual beef jerky sticks, fresh fruit packaged popsicles.
We can do this, y’all! We can get through a pandemic and still love our neighbors.
I hope these tips help and I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
