HONORING EATING ALONE

The woman at the local Edible Landscape meeting brought, not the usual plant clipping to share, but a book, The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones, the editor for Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  

It's a lovely book with lush pictures and based upon the philosophy to which I aspire that cooking and eating alone should be a way of honoring ourselves.  We deserve a pretty place setting, a well-prepared dish and the time to enjoy it.  If we are not treating ourselves well--why not?  For me, preparing food that I love with the seasonings that suit my taste is a pleasure.  Often, we don't take the time to prepare food well when cooking just for ourselves.  In reality, it's the exact time when we should take the most care and attention.  

I also thought of another book that has a completely different take on eating solo:  
What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes, by Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin.  Parts of this book include hilarious confessions of some of the bizarre combinations of food that people consume when eating at home when no one is watching.  

Either book is available through your independent bookseller, in a Kindle edition, and probably at your public library.   If you would like to read more from Judith Jones, here's her blog.  

Now, go cook something amazing for yourself!

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