Oh, wait, that would be my book. On my bedstand at the moment is Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's a compilation of essays about cooking and eating by yourself. The title comes from a Laurie Colwin essay which also kicks off the book. She's one of my favorite feel-good authors and I was also happy to see that Eggplant concludes with an essay by her daughter, Rosa Jurjevics. It's the perfect book to read before bed because you can flip randomly to an essay rather than read them in order - shorter ones on nights when you can barely keep your eyes open. Jeremy Jackson (a college classmate of mine) writes of his love for the simple black bean; Colin Harrison details his quest to replace his familiar lunchtime spot after it closes; editor Jenni Ferrari-Adler describes her meals for one and as she attempts to elude loneliness after a move to Michigan for grad school.
Some days I miss cooking for just myself. When I moved in with my now-husband, meals became more of an event with a protein, a starch and a vegetable whereas single me thought cheese and crackers and a sliced apple was a perfectly lovely dinner. I revert to my old ways when my husband is out of town and either cobble together a meal from whatever's around or be sure to make things he doesn't like - pesto, for example (who doesn't like pesto I ask!).
Confess, what weird thing do you make for yourself when you're all alone (with or without an eggplant)?
Easy: Campbell's tomato soup with sourdough croutons and cheese. It looks questionable but I think it's sooo delicious. So delicious that I ate it almost every night for several years when I was single. Yeah - it's not something to be proud of, for sure.
Posted by: meg | October 04, 2007 at 06:16 PM