I guess all companies grow up passing along stories about their beginnings, and they often have symbols of their founding vision, as well. For example, Ford^®, has its Model T automobile, Coca-Cola^® has it’s original eight-ounce bottle, and General Electric^® has the light bulb. Well, Homemade Gourmet^® is no exception. Perhaps, fittingly, our company icon is an ordinary kitchen table—a very special one, which was there from the very beginning.

Gather around it and you will see memories captured in chips, stains and worn out surfaces. This table joined our family out of a simple need… our family had expanded beyond our “table for 4” and our budget was limited to what I could locate by searching a neighborhood garage sale.

There it stood…beat up, dark brown and looking like it had been abandoned and neglected for many years. It really wasn’t for sale ~ just being used to feature the other ‘treasures’ that the seller deemed valuable enough to actually wear a price tag. But I saw its raw potential as the perfect fit for our family! I asked the seller for a price … and as the look of surprise left his face he told me I could have it for seven dollars. Sold!

A bucket of paint, a second-hand box of tiles and a little elbow grease turned this table into a family treasure. The tiles were not laid evenly, the mortar was not mixed exactly right, but in the end we were proud to call this our family table and it has served us well. Many people would have thrown it away by now, but in this disposable society in which we find ourselves today, sometimes we need to stop and hold on to the important things in life like family, traditions and memories!

This old table is no longer the table that my family gathers around at home, it is now the table that our Homemade Gourmet^® staff gathers around for office birthday celebrations, office pot luck meals and just daily chat breaks (it seems to be our version of the typical office water cooler congregation point!)

More recently, it has become the inspiration for our new company blog, entitled, “Around the Kitchen Table.” Who knows what future role this old table will play? At the very least, it will stand in our offices as a quiet testimony to the importance of what can happen around a kitchen table when family and friends sit down and share the things that are going on in their lives.

More probably, as our talented staff gathers around to share ideas and the latest tasty food sample, it will be the scene of the “next big thing” at Homemade Gourmet^®. One thing is for sure, this now-famous table will always stand for the blessing that comes whenever people find the time and resources to gather over good food. Come to think of it … that’s our mission too!