GB
Chief Eating Officer
Oh I do not disagree with you guys. I just think that those who are not as comfortable cooking find it more challenging.
Eating Alone
- Thread starter Calya
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
ChefJune
Master Chef
no doubt about that!
I fall into the category.
Cooking just one serving seems to be such a waste of time for most things. I know I could cook just two porchops, but what's wrong with three or four? Then if I'm extra hungry or want to eat dinner again for lunch the following day, I'm all set.
PanchoHambre
Washing Up
My folks always insisted that our (large and blended) family sit down for dinner no matter what you were expected to be at the table at 6... not sure it helped we are still quite disfunctional.
Ovreall I do enjoy eating with and cooking for others but I also do sometimes enjoy cooking for myself and eating alone. I need some personal time and sometimes there are things I want to eat or cook that other people dont. When I am cooking for others it is always more about them. I try to make something I know someone else will enjoy but when its just for me its all about what I want.
I do not in particular like eating in restaurants alone though.
When I used to travel a lot I didn't mind eating alone. If you stop at smallish diners or truckstops, you'll find a lot of over the road people eating alone.
Then you won't feel so alone.
I guess if I eat alone, I get this feeling that everyone around me will think I have cooties or something!!!
I have this friend at work that will go with me anywhere I want to go to eat, but he does not eat. He just sits, provides conversation, and tells me that my choice in food looks good! I'm quite happy with that because I get to try new things that my DH would not even give the time of day to.
Fisher's Mom
Executive Chef
I rarely get the chance to eat alone so when I do, I enjoy it. I generally choose a restaurant that the rest of my family wouldn't be enthusiastic about, but I would like to try. (I never actually thought about whether or not people would think it's strange to eat out alone.) I don't think I'd like to eat alone all the time, though.
miniman
Executive Chef
My DW gets home late and also wants particular high veg stuff as she is trying to lose weight. We make this up a week at a time, so I don't cook for her. I will cokk something to share with the boys, but out tastes do not always mesh and I want to lose weight as well. So I will often have something very light and just cook for them - their kind of food.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I ate alone/cooked for one for almost ten years. I didn't find it that difficult at all. It's not difficult to buy and cook for one.
I would make a large batch of some items and freeze individual portions. Foods such as, chili, soups, tomato sauces, etc. That made it very easy to defrost one serving and dress it up with a few sides and have a meal.
I'd buy a package of meats - steaks, chops, chicken, etc. and freeze the pieces in meal sized portions. Then I could defrost a meat portion and add a starch and a veggie or salad and have a nice meal.
On occasion, I would buy a whole pork loin and cut it up into chops and one or two small roasts.
Add a couple of glasses of wine or beer to any of these meals and you were all set.
When eating alone, I often read or watched TV while eating and could take as much time as I wanted that evening. If necessary, I could be in and out of the kitchen in an hour or spend a couple of hours relaxing through my meal.
The rest is attitude. If you hate the thought of eating lone, you will hate eating alone. I looked at it as an opportunity to eat anything I wanted and to experiment with all kinds of new stuff.
That was the same period when I was learning to cook so it probably was a very good thing I was eating alone!
I would make a large batch of some items and freeze individual portions. Foods such as, chili, soups, tomato sauces, etc. That made it very easy to defrost one serving and dress it up with a few sides and have a meal.
I'd buy a package of meats - steaks, chops, chicken, etc. and freeze the pieces in meal sized portions. Then I could defrost a meat portion and add a starch and a veggie or salad and have a nice meal.
On occasion, I would buy a whole pork loin and cut it up into chops and one or two small roasts.
Add a couple of glasses of wine or beer to any of these meals and you were all set.
When eating alone, I often read or watched TV while eating and could take as much time as I wanted that evening. If necessary, I could be in and out of the kitchen in an hour or spend a couple of hours relaxing through my meal.
The rest is attitude. If you hate the thought of eating lone, you will hate eating alone. I looked at it as an opportunity to eat anything I wanted and to experiment with all kinds of new stuff.
That was the same period when I was learning to cook so it probably was a very good thing I was eating alone!
ChefJune
Master Chef
I guess if I eat alone, I get this feeling that everyone around me will think I have cooties or something!!!
I have this friend at work that will go with me anywhere I want to go to eat, but he does not eat. He just sits, provides conversation, and tells me that my choice in food looks good! I'm quite happy with that because I get to try new things that my DH would not even give the time of day to.
I don't let that worry me. I know I don't have cooties! I'm more often alone when dining in France, and there a lone diner is treated like royalty. No table behind the swinging kitchen door, rather a center front table, and often get visited by wait staff, sommelier, even the chef... they want to make sure you don't feel alone!
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
i have to admit that i enjoy eating alone as much as i enjoy good company at a meal. maybe more. like andy said, it allows you to experiment freely, both cooking at home and dining out.
actually, part of the reason i ended up becoming a foodie was from working a lot of 4-12m shifts, and dining alone. since at least one of us had to cover the office, the others on duty each would stagger our dinner hours (and sometimes stagger back). so, i ended up going out to a lot of restaurants by myself. in this, i found that i was able to concentrate on the enjoyment of the food, and learned to slow down and relax, at least for that hour (ish ).
also, i got to analyze the dishes better than if i was in conversation with someone. that helped me learn to recreate some of them at home. from that, my love of cooking was borne.
i never thought much of it, but i know a lot of people who would rather die than go out somewhere by themselves.
i've never had a problem socializing, so for me, good food and good friends can be mutually exclusive.
or, in other words: for the most part, i'd rather have a great meal alone than a crappy one with mediocre company.
(so if you ever invite me over, you'd better cook like our iron chef, or be really really funny!)
actually, part of the reason i ended up becoming a foodie was from working a lot of 4-12m shifts, and dining alone. since at least one of us had to cover the office, the others on duty each would stagger our dinner hours (and sometimes stagger back
). so, i ended up going out to a lot of restaurants by myself. in this, i found that i was able to concentrate on the enjoyment of the food, and learned to slow down and relax, at least for that hour (ish ).also, i got to analyze the dishes better than if i was in conversation with someone. that helped me learn to recreate some of them at home. from that, my love of cooking was borne.
i never thought much of it, but i know a lot of people who would rather die than go out somewhere by themselves.
i've never had a problem socializing, so for me, good food and good friends can be mutually exclusive.
or, in other words: for the most part, i'd rather have a great meal alone than a crappy one with mediocre company.
(so if you ever invite me over, you'd better cook like our iron chef, or be really really funny!)
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Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I think you're funny enough for all of us here at D.C., and you get to decide whether or not I mean funny-haha, or ...
Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the NorthFisher's Mom
Executive Chef
Hey BT, what about a crappy meal but delightful and fascinating company??? (If you answer right, I'll invite you for dinner.)
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
can we get pizza?
Fisher's Mom
Executive Chef
Yeah, that would probably be best.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I'll bring the root beer, and my harmonica. Hey! Just whadaya mean by "leave that noise-maker at home!". Are you implying that I'm a noise maker, or my ability to play the blues is somehow lacking; Hmmmmm?
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
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