As many of you know, John and I took our only child, Jack, to college last weekend. It was so sad, and of course I didn’t want to cry in front of him and be the cliché Mom, so I waited until I got in the car. I miss my kid terribly. Whining you say? No I am not! I just want Jack to know how much he is missed! The most touching thing he said to me when we were dropping him off was, “Mom, I’m really gonna miss your cooking. You know the food on campus isn’t nearly as good.” Yes, I spoiled him….just a little bit. Of course we miss him, but we know it is the best thing in the world for a young man to come into his own and grow to be a stupendous human. Wait a minute….we did a good job raising him, he is already stupendous!
Now that our merry three-top has become a slightly more somber two-top, how do I return to cooking like I did when we were young? I HAVE NO IDEA! I can’t remember back that far. For years I have cooked for at least 3 people, more when there is company, but now it is just me and my main squeeze and we don’t want to gain weight eating just ‘cause the food’s there! Moment of truth: I am a member of the “clean the plate” club, because after all there are starving kids in China that would be happy to have that food….thanks Mom.
Here are the facts:
• Most cookbooks that tout “cooking for two” suck.
• Some recipes don’t work well if you try to cut them in half
• Even the most patient leftover-loving human gets tired of the same food all the time
• Cooking for two is boring for me
• There is a limited amount of space in the freezer that can be devoted to leftovers
What to do? Well, frankly there has been a LOT of dining out. I am beginning to understand when Senior Citizens say, “I don’t cook anymore.” Or when Single Folks say, “I can’t be bothered to cook just for myself.”
I enjoy cooking for a crowd, but let’s face it, I can’t have company every night. While John and I would enjoy everyone’s company, eventually one of us would revolt. We need alone together time to sit on the couch in our PJ’s and watch movies (or Yankee Baseball) without having to be charming and entertaining.
For now, I am in “seek and destroy” mode looking for recipes for two diners OR for recipes that easily are cut in half. I am having moderate success. The best thing for me right now is to just cook less of what I always do. Tonight will be a Chicken Stir Fry with ‘shrooms and broccoli. Tomorrow, who knows!? Parmigiana of some kind? Steak? Easy enough. Veal Marsala? Split Lobsters on the grill with drawn butter? Hey wait a minute! I have a great idea – I can cook all the EXPENSIVE food that we love now that we don’t have a starving, walking, food processing plant living in the house! Brilliant! I just found the silver lining in the cloud of missing my boy.
Another great idea is for all of us to dine out as much as possible the next two weeks! For those of you who live in Las Vegas with me, be sure to support Three Square Food Bank, my charity of choice, by participating in Restaurant Week. More than 100 restaurants across the Las Vegas Valley have specially crafted prix fixe menus available only thru September 11th. Part of the purchase price of each RW menu sold goes straight to Three Square. To learn more check out the following links:
www.helpoutdineoutlv.org
www.ThreeSquare.org
This week’s pics are from last year’s Restaurant Week here in Vegas.
The whole fam in front of Fiamma at the MGM
Three Square Staff member Cheryl and I at KGB for the RW Kickoff
Chef Kerry Simon and I at KGB for the RW Kickoff
The whole fam stuffed with short rib ravioli at Fiamma
This week’s Food Memories are take out Chinese that is ALMOST as good as NY, fried chicken fingers while playing Bingo and yukking it up with my friends at Three Square, Beer & Cheese fondue at Beaver Street Brewing in Flagstaff and a farewell breakfast at La Bellavia (also Flagstaff) before leaving Jackster at NAU.
Until next week – go out and make your OWN Food Memories.
