I’m almost certain I first saw that “tip” being advertised by a company that makes aluminum foil.
Of course you did. It sells their product and generates money. But it also fills landfills, blows in the wind, and can’t be recycled if it’s covered in grease. But the company doesn’t pay attention to that. Their focus in on revenue.
Profit, not revenue. But yes, that’s rather the point of corporations.
New technologies are being developed to make recycling dirty aluminum easier. The cans are already being cleaned, they are a little easier to clean than to process random sized pieces of aluminum foil stained with random substances and crumbled up on itself. Aluminum recycling has been very successful so far and heavily supported by the aluminum industry to keep aluminum prices low while maintaining an impressive recycling rate around 40% and it is estimated that 75% of all the aluminum ever made has been recycled. Meanwhile plastic struggle at at 9% recycling rate. Unrecycled aluminum is not an environmental hazard, it can be dumped just about anywhere and cause absolutely no harm.
We could concentrate on using less plastic instead of conserving aluminum since there is only enough demand to recycle a tiny fraction of plastic. Unrecycled plastics are a rapidly growing environmental hazard because so much of all the plastic ever made is still in the environment, and recyclable aluminum can be a substitute for a lot of the plastics we use.
I did once, my wife was practicing tai chi at the time and the group held a traditional new years party with a 12 course meal. I ate everything but the chicken’s feet in the chicken’s foot soup. Nasty and gristly, no thanks!
I have once, as a showcase for the wines with each course.
The meal took something like four hours; the portions were all small (though not minuscule.) I ate everything, drank everything, was full but not overfull, and also wasn’t drunk.
That’s assuming said children are the ones in control of how much goes on their plates. Some aren’t, and are forced than they have room for.
(I remember when I was in school, how much grief they’d give us, when we had trouble finishing our lunches.)
I am convinced that my niece has a weight problem because when she was a child her mother both filled her plate and insisted that she eat every bite. The kid didn’t need to be taught portion control - her mother needed to learn to let the kid control how much she ate.
This is actually a tough lesson to learn. As a parent, they don’t tell you the sheer swings in food volume your child will eat. Sometimes, I think my child must be breaking the laws of physics with how much she’s eaten. But I learned that my job is to provide what we will eat and when we will eat it. I let her control how much she eats of what I provide.
It’s interesting how people approach this issue from very different places.
I started plating food more seriously at home 5 or 10 years ago and feel like it’s upped my game. I’m not talking about drizzles of truffle oil or anything. Just a symmetrical presentation of a reasonable portion, gravy drips wiped clean, maybe a sprinkle of chopped parsley or chives if appropriate. Cooking is a team effort, so one person plates starch/cooked veg and I’ll do protein/sauce.
This sounds more complicated and time consuming than it is. With a little practice and division of labor you can put attractive plates on the table very quickly. As the host/cook I also offer and plate seconds happily. This will be a much smaller portion, but more than enough food for anyone who isn’t a triathlete.
I really am striving to serve meals that my family and guests enjoy, and I must admit that I pay attention to how they eat. If the plate is clean I know they liked it. If the plate is wiped clean with bread or potatoes I know they really liked it.
The only meal we still do family style is Thanksgiving where everyone’s on their own.
If you spend an hour+ preparing a nice meal, six minutes at the end to serve everyone a nice plate is no big deal. And you control waste.
Our new oven has a warming drawer. As I’m preparing a meal I put our dinner plates in to heat up. If we have coleslaw, a salad, etc I’ll place bowls in the freezer to chill. It makes me happy.
I recall reading Bourdain discuss the importance of presentation - including garnish. But for me, it is usually plucking a few stems of parsley from outside to door for the serving plates.
Many of the people I eat with most often really desire control over their portion sizes - whereas I tend to eat rather large helpings. Makes plating a challenge.
An excellent suggestion. The first thought that occurred to me was to buy a set of smaller plates.