Dining Alone: It's Really Not So Scary

The question was raised this week whether I'd ever eaten anywhere alone (not at home). And the answer is "yes". I have eaten alone and not just as a single girl.

To be honest, I think I've eaten alone more times while in my last relationship than I do now. Now I have my family and girlfriends to dine out with, and I don't have plans, I eat at home. Occasionally for lunch do I eat alone. But then, I do out of necessity. Sometimes you just need alone time, especially when you work in a five person office the size of your bedroom. That's just what happens when your staff grows faster than the physical office. It's not a bad thing; we are busy. Good thing we all get along so well.

But as I get older, I think I value my "me time" more and more. I don't feel like my world stops when I'm by myself. And I certainly don't feel awkward about eating alone in public.

I do sort of have one guideline, which is if I am at a restaurant with a bar, I always opt to sit there over taking up a table. I patronize the bartender; I don't waste the servers' time with my party of one. These people rely on tips to live.

I sit here at Central Market thinking about the different occasions I've dined alone and how it really isn't embarrassing like I once thought. When I was much younger, I thought being alone meant that people would think I didn't have any friends or that something was wrong with me, even  if I did and even if there wasn't. But today I'm sitting alone as I write this. I am sitting at a table by the Roburrito's truck because I just ate a Burritodilla. Yum. Before that, I was sitting alone at the Jr.'s Fries counter eating fried pickles (which I recommend). But I don't feel like people are staring or judging. And I suppose if they are, then screw them. I don't have time to worry about that.  Everyone needs their alone time and I guess I'm just happy to have mine with some good food.

Cooking with Love: Cooking for One

One of the greatest joys I get out of life comes from feeding people I care about. If I care about you, you can probably assume I either have already or am planning to feed you at some point.

More recently, I spent much of my cooking time feeding my boyfriend, his family, or my family. But most of the time was dedicated to cooking for the two of us, planning meals, grocery shopping, and cooking.

After we broke up, I was faced with a number of new challenges including finding my own place, living alone for the first time, paying all my own living expenses, and (God help us all) facing being single and dating again. Scary stuff. But one of the challenges I didn't consider was feeding myself.

How do I feed myself without cooking enough for a family or living on frozen dinners (which I absolutely will not do)? Sure I can eat chicken nuggets, cereal, or pizza, but none of these are really very good solutions. It is certain that if I do not figure out the answer to this dilemma, I will die a slow and painful death of preservatives, junk food, and a dusty kitchen.

It got me wondering, how do my other friends do it? What do they do? Some of them don't cook (not an option for me). Some of them do cook, but it scares me. And some of them may be onto something by cooking for their non-cooking friends who would otherwise be destined to live on MTO.

I can't stand not to cook. I love food. I love being in the kitchen. And I love all my pans, gadgets, utensils, and bakeware too much to let them just collect dust. I refuse to stop being able to cook all those great meals that I love just because I am only feeding myself. Looking ahead, I think this could be an interesting project, Single Girl Cooking.

And, on the positive side, at least I won't have to cook Hamburger Helper any more.