family meals - analog for responses in group psychotherapy?

I'm way over due for submitting a new posting - it has been very busy with lots to figure out which made it feel hard to write. However, in my psychotherapy group last night there was a synergy in the topic that reminded me of something I was told years ago - and it finally made sense.

So, in group we revisited a frequently visited topic of the dynamics in their families of origin. We started with another frequent topic - the relationship of feelings and food. But last night they came together in an interesting way. We talked about how food and those early relationships were handled together. Specifically, what happened at the dinner table. Who did the cooking, what was talked about (if there was talking), what were the overt/covert messages one "consumed"? Very rich stuff. What I remembered was a from a former supervisor who told me that when she screened people for group , she also asked about their family's dinner times as this gave her a sens of how this person might handle themselves/react in a group.

So, the next step in group is to tie their interactions together in group to these earlier patterns. Can't wait to see what's cooking.