When is the last time you ate dinner by candlelight? Do you remember the tone it set? How those flickering lights helped soothe your soul? Why don’t you turn off the overhead lights this evening, and light those candles.
Whether it’s pizza or pasta, salad or sirloin, eating by candlelight is one of our family’s favorite things to do. It enables the hectic pace of the day to fizzle, and allows conversation to flow – gracefully. It also gives the appearance of a beautiful, calm atmosphere – even on those days or weeks when calm was the furthest thing from reality, and you house is struggling to be presentable.
This is what our dinner looks like at almost every evening meal, not necessarily the stir fry and salad, but the glowing candlelight.
It may be mac and cheese served on paper plates, but we still turn off the overhead lights and eat by candle light every time we gather as a family.
It’s become a tradition. My children have no idea that this isn’t “normal” until they have friends over.
My teen son’s friend remarked, “This is so cool. You need to tell my mom to burn her candles. They just sit all over the house and we never use them.”
So what are you waiting for? This is simplicity at its finest. No prep time involved.
Candles are meant to be burned. It may be your early morning coffee on a spray painted $0.25 tray,
or dinner in the dining room,
you will never regret the alluring ambiance that the one small act of lighting a candle during a shared family meal will do to soothe the soul.
The $0.10 dented pillar candle from a yard sale will create the same desired atmosphere.
So let’s make this Tasty Tuesday a “light your candles night,” OK? And if you really want to get fancy with that Mac and Cheese, turn on a little classical music in the background.
If your family thinks you’ve lost your mind, just tell them it’s Jen’s fault. 
Remember actions speak louder than words…light those candles, and converse.
I’ve got to try that. My kids would think dining by candlelight is the coolest thing!
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Hi Jen! I’m so happy to be able to join in. My son and I made homemade ‘Hostess’ cupcakes together. Delicious!!
-Michelle
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My DH grew up eating EVERY dinner by candle light. I should bring that back for him.
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As always, I am inspired when I read your blog!
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Hey Jen! Lovin’ the post tonight…. Tomorrow it’s dinner by candlelight at our house! Thanks for hosting us here….
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I love this idea so much! We are definitely going to have start incorporating this on a regular basis.
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Great idea! Not sure my boys would enjoy it, but I think I will give it a try!
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
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I don’t light candles, but we nearly always have dinner together at the table–I was surprised when my son told me that this is apparently unusual in this day and age.
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What a great tradition!! You have inspired me once again. I will do this tomorrow night and see if everyone likes it. I am the only girl in the family….we’ll see. I’m excited to give it a shot! Thanks for sharing!
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We love to eat by candle light here at our house too…but we should do it more often than we do.
I decided to join in this week. Thanks for hosting.
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That’s great that you have made this a tradition. We need to light candles more often!
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My kids get all “giddy” when I light candles!
sandy toe
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Ah, I WISH I could get my family to eat by candlelight – but my hubby always wants the TV on! UGH! We all “talk” and have a good time at dinner, but that darn TV is always on!
~TidyMom
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I don’t think we are ready for candles.
I am sure we would manage to burn half the house down.
Toni
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That is such a nice tradition. I love it!
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how sweet! adding candles to my list of things I want to find at yard sales
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Candles certainly do add great atmosphere. My 15 year old son tends to freak out when he thinks it is too dark and he has to be in the dark using only candlelight. When we had a storm recently and had to be without power for 5 days he didn’t handle the evenings in the dark very well.
Have a great Mothers Day.
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Candles sound wonderful for dinner tonight!! Oh, I mean WITH dinner!!
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jen, i popped back over to visit everyone’s blog and mr. linky is not showing up
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Jen,
Loved the idea of using candles. I do use them from time to time but not every meal. Thanks for inspiring me. I’m going to do that!
Also, someone commented that their kids told them it was unusual to have family dinners at the table every night. Mine have said the same thing! Now that my kids are old enough to work, it doesn’t always happen that we eat together at the table for all 7 dinners for the week, but I bet we do 5 out of 7.
btw, Michelle is right. Mr. Linky is not showing up!
If anyone wants to come see my post, it’s about making dinner rolls in the bread machine:
http://jerralea.blogspot.com/2009/05/sunday-dinner-rolls.html
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http://alisa-thesweetlife.blogspot.com/2009/05/perfect-dessert-almost.html
Mr. Linky isn’t showing up so I just put my link above.
I love the ideas for creating some ambiance!
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I think that is a wonderful idea.
I am nannying for this week while their parents are in Key West, but I’ll try it tonight.
When I see my boyfriend again I think I’ll try it. I mean I suck at cooking, but hey maybe if it’s harder to see the food then it’ll taste better. On second thought, pizza by candle light sounds great!
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I think this is wonderful. I know my hubby would love it. We are going to try it very soon. Thanks!
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http://www.insertgracehere.com/2009/05/another-tuesday-recipe-for-those-who-love-mexican/
Here’s my sister’s Mexi Cornbread link until Mr. Linky decides to show up for the party! How very rude of him Jen. I will let him know for you…ha! Meanwhile, if he pops up, please add this link and let me know. Otherwise, will add again next Tues. for others to see.
Ginger
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What a fabulous idea! We eat by candlelight for the whole month for Advent and love it.
This is totally one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” ideas. I guess we don’t really need a special occasion to do this. I am going to dust off the candlestick holders and put them out!
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Thank you for encouraging us as well as giving us hints and tips on how to make our home more peaceful for all. After all what is more relaxing than a nice relaxing dinner.
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Love the idea! I love candles, but haven’t lit them in a while since its so hot outside! Here’s my link-http://thetwittykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/cinco-de-mayo-rainbow-cake_05.html
Its a cinco de mayo rainbow cake!
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I like the idea of dining by candle light! I will definitely try this and note the effect it has on our four children. Tonight, we dine on Taco Soup! I am a Costco shopper, so I am making use of my bulk Taco seasoning and the deal we got on ground beef. I love your tips and ideas to inspire those of us trying to be good stewards of our household budget! Please keep up the good work!
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Oh, Jen! Your table looks so inviting! I really need to make it a point to clean the papers off my kitchen table and make it a “sacred” place.
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Jen – this is such a great idea! I will have to try the candles. We have tried the music and it makes such a nice difference.
I linked up the dessert memories post that includes your dessert memory!
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Hi Jen! Thank you for your comments!!!!!
Mr. Linky is confusing! At this point I think it would just confusing me more to try to get it off…so I just added your website
I’ll get it right next time!!
I started the blog a long time ago and am trying to do things to get more people to read it… Right now there is a major prayer request that goes with it….Grad school… I’m supposed to be moving in three weeks… and the money fell through.. HUGE prayer request… I know this is the path God has chosen for me… and it is truly my hearts desire… I’ll take all of the prayer and ideas I can get
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That is so neat. Sometimes my family eats by candlelight, but very often. You have inspired me to create more ambiance for them.
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What a neat idea to eat by candlelight! The last time I did? The night my husband proposed…outside…with the Hamburger Helper Chicken Alfredo he prepared.
It is time this happens again. Thanks for a great idea!
Melissa
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This is such a great idea! My husband has been working so hard the past few weeks that a little candlelight might be just what he needs! I love the ambiance of candlelight…even if it is when we have “breakfast for dinner” night!
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Every now and then, we light an oil lamp and have what we call “Little House on the Prairie” Night. We love that show and their mealtimes with the oil lamp in the center of the table stands out to us I guess. Anyway, when we have those nights, it really makes me reflect on simpler times.
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candles. Of course. The perfect cure for grumpy kids. I’m doing it from now ON!
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This is such a lovely idea! I’ve used candlelight in my dinners before, but not every day. I love this! I’m off to check out some cheap candles and holders. Thank you for linking up with Homemaker Monday and I hope to see you next week!
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