Cooking for One: Part 2

Cooking for just one or even two people is not as simple as merely cutting a recipe into halves or fourths or whatever. Food preferences as well as cooking experience and preferred style of cooking all play roles in cooking whether for one or 10.

When I went away to college, I knew very little about cooking even though I was majoring in home economics. Sure, I had taken home economics in high school, but those courses were a far cry from deciding what and how much to buy, which utensil worked best and the list goes on from there. Many find themselves in this boat when leaving home for the first time or moving into their own place.

Cooking for One: Part One

Living alone means cooking many meals a week for one person. And let’s face it: (a) most recipes are designed for huge proportions in the first place, and (b) most of us tire of a dish for six to 12 people long before we can eat the entire dish.

While it may seem strange, I choose the week of Valentine’s Day, a special day set aside each year just for lovers, to begin a series of devoted to cooking meals for just one or two people. In response to many requests from my readership, that is precisely what I am going to do.

Every time I see someone at the grocery store stocking up on television dinners, frozen meals made for one and any number of other pre-prepared foods, I conclude that person is either raising a family on pre-cooked and fast foods (how sad) or lives alone. There is a third possibility—that soul simply doesn’t know how to cook, such as the assistant Rick hired to help me when I was catering. Why would someone apply for a job as an assistant cook while not knowing even how to turn on the oven? Beats me, but that is another bag of worms to be opened another day.