The Family Table. Pt 2. Megan Morton.

Welcome to this week's Family Table.

A couple of years ago when I first started writing this blog I thought about what it was that I wanted to share.

It started as a way of me sharing my food knowledge and my passion for preparing real food for our families.

More importantly though I like to think that I give people the confidence to appreciate that the magic that is the Family dining experience is NOT just about the food.
While the food is what draws us to the table it should be considered but ONE of many things that are shared and indeed NOT the most important one.

LOVE to me should always be the single most important ingredient that is shared at our family table.  Without LOVE the food and the entire dining experience is just another meal.  But with it our souls as well as our tummies are nourished.

It is with this in mind that on Fridays I will be sharing with you my new series- The Family Table- where super special guests share their family dining experiences with us.  It is a way of appreciating that there are infinite ways of dining together.

My wish is that every single one of my readers makes The Family Table part of their own family life.

I am so excited about this series and have some of my very favourite family sorts lined up to share with us their Family Table experiences over the coming weeks.

This week's guest is Megan Morton.
Megan makes houses homes.  Her magic touch helps create places filled with personality & stories of the people that live there.
She is a super creative, passionate and generally awesome mumma of three.  She is a published author & super generous sharer of her talents & skills with others through her classes at 'The School'.

She has most recently made a book about Kids spaces called "I LOVE my room". You can purchase a copy here.

images via The Design Files

I am very grateful to Megan for joining my Family Table.

Over to Megan ~

1.) Can you please share a little about how your family shares food? 
We only eat at the table or in the summer we have wonderful picnics in our garden with friends that require very little preparation. I am not a fan of over preparing anything and like to be ready to invite all and sundry over if I feel like it. In Sydney a lot of entertaining has to be so pre-prepared and arranged and scheduled. If you come to my house you won't starve (but you won't ever have your mouth on the floor!) and you will possibly have a table concept guinea pigged on you! I also like to put sparklers in all my desserts - a visual distraction to a bakery store bought  dessert!

The table setting at Megan's daughter's birthday Party

2.) Do you have hard & fast eating rules?

I am against anything rules or otherwise that give children anything but a good-time relationship with food and eating.

3.) Can you share with us where your cooking influences/inspiration are from? 

I really don't cook, not because I don't adore my family and want to feed them delicious things but because I do love them and want to feed them delicious things!!! 

A great meal is just one of the ingredients to a family coming together. The food is the cherry on top and the family at the table is the glue. I have food made but I refuse to have a microwave and am going to try and go without a freezer in my next kitchen! So let's see... 

The feast of Megan and her colleagues (cooked by her friends) to celebrate the  publication of 'I LOVE my room'

4.) Do you have a favourite cuisine?

I love strong flavours so am naturally drawn to European style cooking. We love Mexican and Japanese as a family and recently moved house from an area that totally spoilt us with Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Cantonese. We all are round appreciators! Our eldest son and daughter can make their own hand rolls and sushi. 

5.) Can you recall a super special meal or eating experience that has stayed with you forever?

Yaccout - a restaurant  in morocco - pre children with my husband. Best. Meal. Of. My. Life.  And more recently I sat inside the kitchen of Alice Waters incredible Chez Panisse in San Francisco. No words can describe what I ate and what I saw. 

6.) Would you please share the recipe of your favourite family meal with us?

I get Icecream (made by kids in Icecream maker), bookend them in digestive biscuits and dip one end in chocolate and crushed violet crumble. I told you I can't / don't cook! 

7.) What song would be playing at the dinner table?

At the moment Blurred Lines - the teenagers have dinner controls of the iPod.  I did take my son to the Wilco concert - one of my favourite bands - and he loved it to, so probably some Wilco after Robin.  And I love a bit of Jonny Cash. He covers so many moods he really is a reliable dinner soundtrack. 

Thankyou Megan. x