Cooking is something I used to enjoy when my kids lived at home. Even though we had a tight budget which included “goop” at least once a week it was fun to be creative with little and to have people appreciate what they got.
Since then it has become a bit of a chore and now, living alone, it is complete drudgery. I would escape to a restaurant every night of the week if I could manage it but that is not in the budget.
It’s not the actual cooking I dislike. There are lots of down sides to eating alone. I don’t like eating in front of the TV but some nights it’s just nicer than feeling completely isolated. Then there is the issue of having to learn to cook for one after spending most of my life preparing meals for crowds between 2 and 10 on any given day. Not having anyone appreciate the work is something I should have gotten used to over the past few years but there isn’t even hope for gratitude when you are alone.
This past weekend I decided I was sick of not having real meals. Stir fry and omelettes begin to get old after a while and a person longs for some of the great things eaten in the past. A roast perhaps, or chicken and dumplings. My solution was to spend some time cooking for myself and I discovered what is perhaps the most discouraging thing about cooking for one’s self. It’s the darn dishes. It takes as many pots to cook a nice meal for one as it did for five and just to add insult to injury there is no dishwasher.
I’m not sure about the rest of you who are alone, but I think it’s time for a solution. I’m open to options but for now I will suggest “One Pot Wednesday”. My house first. I’ll cook the meat in one pot and you bring only one pot with the extras. How is Valentine’s Day for all of you? Good chance we might be alone anyway. We can all chip in and do the dishes after and it will be fun to hang out. No snapping of tea towels.
I’ve made a private event for this on FB so if you are interested let me know and I’ll put you on the invite list. You can invite others from there.
Spilt Milk 