Cooking for yourself

Last week, a colleague told me that, inspired by my birthday wishes to the late, great Julia Child on Facebook, along with my promise to eat something French, she was inspired to make a recipe or two from Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  She made roast pork shoulder and warm potato salad.

I thought to myself, I will TOTALLY make that!  Until I remembered that JA does not eat pork.  ~~sigh~~  If I made the pork shoulder, I'd have to eat it myself, I told JA.  I'm not going to do it if it's just for me.

So what?  Why not make it for yourself, he suggested.

Yeah why not?  I am totally worth cooking for.  He can have some potato salad and forage in the fridge for something else....  And so it will be - if I find a pork shoulder small enough to guarantee I won't be eating pork for days after.....

Today in theKitchn I saw an article on how to get your kitchen mojo back when cooking for one.  It is so tough to want to cook cool things when it's just for you.  I used to go through little spurts.  One day, I went to a Greenmarket near my workplace and discovered heirloom tomatoes.  So I bought a few (five for $20!!!) and experimented.  But those moments were so few and far between.  I wish I hadn't wasted that time.  I hope you don't!  Read theKitchn article then go to these sites for suggestions:

Joe Yonan - Feed Yourself Well

Cooking for One

10 Things to Cook for One  (Curry is such a good idea!!)

Chocolate and Zucchini

And here's a Chowhound discussion on Cooking and Self-Esteem.  Definitely a topic worth ruminating on.

Spaghetti With Fried Egg and Sardines from Joe Yonan.
(Photo by Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post)