What We Eat When We Eat Alone - Deborah Madison [43]
My sister has discovered, as have others, that being home alone and not having to cook or clean up for anyone but herself means that time expands. Here’s the strategy she used for a week alone last summer. “For dinner I made an omelet, picked tomatoes from the garden, sliced them, and put pepper on them. I drank water or a gin and tonic. I had a few almonds. And with all the time I saved? I cleaned out my closet, including all the nooks and crannies. Then I cleaned out all the cupboards in the kitchen. I cleaned out the bookshelf in my office. I bought curtains and put them up in the bedroom—I’ve been promising for three years to do that—and I talked to a consultant about converting to solar heat. I walked the dog every day. Twice. And I read.”
Despite the pleasures and gains that can be reaped by being alone at home, not every woman is delighted about those times when she’s in her house without her family. “Frankly, I try never to eat alone,” says ceramicist Sandy Simon, who, on a normal day, would be cooking for her husband and one or two of her kids. “It’s lonely, but I’d never eat out alone—that’s really lonely. So I eat in my house. Probably some shrimp or a steak. And a salad.” Then she adds, “I do eat less if I’m alone, though.”
Like Sandy, I don’t enjoy eating alone that much, either, although I never mind it in a restaurant. So the two nights each week that Patrick stays at his studio, I invariably invite a friend over, eat with a neighbor, or I skip. Sometimes it feels good to just not eat anything at all. Days alone can be good for fasting, if you’re inclined to do that.
The simple, oval egg, in a variety of forms, is the choice for many women. Eggs manage to be comforting, nutritious, and quick to prepare. “Eggs are my go-to food when I’m alone,” a woman in a workshop confides. “My favorite pan is a small cast-iron skillet that was my grandmother’s. It holds just one egg.”
“Eggs,” declares Fran McCullough, having given the question more thought. “My favorite is Judy’s eggs with crunchy breadcrumbs, which is kind of elegant in a very humble way.”
Adding buttery crisp breadcrumbs to your eggs lifts them from the ordinary but without straying from the basic ingredients. It’s only the form that changes, but that changes everything. Converting a slab of bread into rough little crumbs and then getting them crisp and delicious takes that tiny bit of extra care that transforms the ordinary into something that is, as Fran says, “kind of elegant.” Add some asparagus and a glass of Sancerre and you have a fine little supper for any night of the week, one you could even share with others.
As powerful attractors for all kinds of fillings, frittatas and flat omelets are also a good way for the solo eater to go. You can fill them with ricotta cheese or leftover spaghetti, or you can make them with something fresh—sautéed spinach, mushrooms, caramelized onions, or asparagus. Frittatas are more substantial than an omelet and grander than a boiled egg, yet they’re not any heavier or even much more trouble, especially if you enjoy slowing down at the end of the day to slice a few vegetables and chop a few herbs. In the end, frittatas feel more like a meal, more like dinner. And you might even end up with leftovers for lunch the next day.
Kim Carlson, publisher of the webzine Culinate, doesn’t get to eat alone very often. “Not yet,” she says, thinking of a time when her children will be grown. But one day she found herself home alone. “I cut up chunks of good whole wheat sourdough and browned