Dinner time - what time is that for you ?
By arkaf61
@arkaf61 (10881)
Canada
March 6, 2009 6:32pm CST
WHen I was growing up dinner time was exactly at the same time each day. Ok, maybe a little late for certain standards, but hey, I'm from Portugal, we eat late LOL
Dinner was usually at 8pm. It was actually a nice time, since many people worked until 6:30/7pm. ALso a good time, because at that time and place, life really started after 9pm :) People would have time to eat and get ready to go to the movies ( starting at 9:30) at that time, or just out for a coffee ( cafes were open until about 1 am ), and of course all nightlife wouldn't start before at least 10 pm, so it made sense to have dinner at 8. Plus people tended to not go to sleep until midnight.
I lived in other places where the costumes were different but we always kept that specific time for our diner.
Even now, that I am here for so long, I still tend to have dinner at around that time ( maybe a bit earlier 7/7:30 ) and it's still later than most people, of course.
So I'm curious, what time is dinner time for you?
7 people like this
12 responses
@angiemabute (358)
• Philippines
7 Mar 09
I usually have dinner at 10pm. That's the time my hubby leaves for work. I have to help her fix her things before she go t work and eat after she leaves. It's late for me but I can handle eating at that time.
3 people like this
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
7 Mar 09
I haven't really had a set dinner time in the past 5 years lol. For a little over a year I lived by myself, so dinner time was pretty much whenever I got hungry. The past 4 years I lived with my s/o, and dinner time was anywhere from 5:30 to 9pm. There were days he had a big lunch and didn't really want any dinner, and there were times something came up at work and he didn't get out at his usual time. The past 3 weeks I've been at my daughters, and dinner is anytime between 6 and 8pm. I did, for the most part have dinner around the same time when I was married, 6 years ago, but even then we normally ate dinner a little later in the summer months. We had horse, goats, and other animals to feed and take care of while the sun was still up.
3 people like this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
7 Mar 09
It is true that we adapt meal hours around what works best for us.
Personally when I'm alone I also tend to eat basically when I'm hungry and not at a set time, but when everyone is home, I try to make it always the same time.
When I was a kid, however, it was always exactly at the same time, as the clock started sounding 8 we were supposed to be sitting at the table and everyone should be sit by the time it stopped.
I tried to do it exactly like that once with my kids, it ended up being a rush to seat down LOL
1 person likes this
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
21 Mar 09
My dinner time is around 7:30 to 8:30. Our family always eat together at the same time. I am from Kerala a place in India. It is tradition of the people to live together and to eat together. I think it is fun to eat together as I believe that a family which eats together always are happy family. I like to take lunch around 8 to 8:30 every day as I goes to sleep late every night.
1 person likes this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
2 Jul 09
A tradition that should be considered worldwide. It is a fact that a family that eats together, that has that relaxing time while satisfying hunger and socializing with family members, does much better.
Like you, because I go to bed late, 8 8:30 is the best time.
1 person likes this
@vanities (11395)
• Davao, Philippines
10 Mar 09
hi arkaf...dinner time for our family varies actually..no specific time..depending on me i guess...
(joke)actually i prepare our dinner earlier and i eat mine at 5:30 pm ahead from the rest of the family...i dont eat snack duirng the mid afternoon...and my hubby usually arrive home at 6:30 pm..and eat immediately after he had changed his clothes(eat toagether with my mom and of course with me in the table even though im not eating but i had to sit there and chat with him )...and my daughters eat their dinner at home rarely since they usually arrive at around 8 or 9 and of course they had already eaten during tat time...if im out..then i eat my dinner and take home some food so that i will not cook anymore ..im lazy to cook i guess ...
(joke)actually i prepare our dinner earlier and i eat mine at 5:30 pm ahead from the rest of the family...i dont eat snack duirng the mid afternoon...and my hubby usually arrive home at 6:30 pm..and eat immediately after he had changed his clothes(eat toagether with my mom and of course with me in the table even though im not eating but i had to sit there and chat with him )...and my daughters eat their dinner at home rarely since they usually arrive at around 8 or 9 and of course they had already eaten during tat time...if im out..then i eat my dinner and take home some food so that i will not cook anymore ..im lazy to cook i guess ...2 people like this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
2 Jul 09
I remember a time where diner was at around midnight for me. I was working in 3 jobs and hardly had time to go from one to the other. So diner was when I used to get home.
That one was not a good idea, because it was midnight, I was starving but also tired and sleepy, so I would eat and go to bed right away. Not a good idea. |Gained some weight like that.
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
16 Mar 09
I do not have a fixed dinner time!
When I was a kid, it was around 5pm we have dinner. Or rather, I have dinner.
Then it was shifted to 7pm when I had to study the afternoon shift when classes end at half past six and I reach home around 7.
Then when I started to work dinner would be anytime in the evening. The earliest is 7 the latest is 10, maybe later depending on how late I knock off from work!
It would be nice to have a fixed dinner time. As that would mean that I'd be home by that time to have dinner with my family. Not sitting in an office or on a bus commuting home at a time when I am suppose to be spending it with family.
@danishcanadian (28954)
• Canada
7 Mar 09
Dinner time is whenever my husband and I are hungry. Tonight he made some really good meatball sandwiches on hotdog buns with the Italian meatballs in tomato sauce that we bought the other day, and some hotdog buns that I brought home from the store next to the coffee shop. They were absolutely delicious!!!!
1 person likes this
@gtargirl (5376)
• United States
8 Mar 09
It's kind of hard to eat dinner at the same time each night when my kids are famished right after I pick them up from school--one son and his friends (up to 7). So when the normal dinner time rolls around he's not really hungry. Around 9:30pm, when he's doing homework is when he gets hungry again. I guess I should try to get some kind of schedule going.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (120738)
• United States
9 Mar 09
It might be early for a lot of people, but growing up we usually ate dinner at 5pm. And that is pretty much the time I eat dinner now. My mother would get home around 4:30pm each day, followed by my dad around 5pm. My mom would have already taken care of parts of the meal before she left for work that morning. But when I was twelve I started doing the cooking for dinner, and we still ate at 5pm.
1 person likes this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
7 Mar 09
I split a prepared dinner with hubby but "beefed it up" with the additional of lots of pan cooked brussel sprouts. I had never sauteed them in butter in a skillet before but they turned out really good that way. We had dinner early tonight, about 5 p.m. Our meal times vary.
1 person likes this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
7 Mar 09
I love brussel sprouts, but unfortunately I'm the only one in here. Neither hubby or the kids like them, so I often only buy a bit for me and tend to cook them when I'm alone.
We try to make dinner time always at the same time. The kids know that they have to be home on time for diner and that it is always at that same time. Since none of us is home for lunch time except on weekend, we try to make diner a family thing as opposed to this tendency of everyone eating at different times or taking their plates and go eat in front of the tv. We like to sit at the table eat and talk about our day, but I'm noticing that more and more people don't do that anymore.
1 person likes this
@Mayuko (1268)
• United States
16 Jun 12
Dinnertime is almost always around 5:00 to 7:00PM. My father is the one who cooks dinner. He gets home after 4PM, so by the time he finishes dinner, depending on what he fixed, it will be ready at 6PM or so. But if he decides not to cook anything, or just heat up left overs, then I'll eat at 5PM.
I could and would not eat dinner at 8PM. I would have to eat another meal in that time between lunch (which I eat around noon) and dinner. And I don't have a strong appetite at night. So I'd probably end up not having a lot of dinner, and it's like I should have just eaten dinner at the earlier time.
