I love cooking, and retirement has afforded me the time and energy to do a lot more cooking for myself than I did when I worked full time.
Cooking for one is a discipline, though, especially when that One is loathe to eat the same dish too many times in the same week. I take care to cook things that readily freeze in small portions, or that I love enough to work all the way through. Since I was raised among people who survived the Great Depression, I shudder to throw away good food—or let it grow mold in the fridge for a couple of weeks and then throw it away.
The simple truth is that to cook for one is to waste food. You can strive to minimize the waste, but you can never avoid it altogether. And that is the source of one problem I’ve encountered.
Since I love to cook, I’m often tempted to try new recipes or concoct new ones myself. That last situation is the most dangerous. When I’m wrapped up in a creative passion in the kitchen, anything can happen. And what sometimes happens is that I end up with a large quantity of something that’s just awful. Okay, at least I don’t like it, and that’s what matters. Stepping out on faith, culinarily speaking, is risking a huge waste of time, money and anticipation, and ending up with nothing good for dinner.
I’m off on that journey again today. It began when Kroger placed enticing sale prices on both fresh peaches and boneless pork loin roasts. Hmmmm … what could I do, I asked myself, with peaches and pork loin? A little shopping in the pricey craft sections of the sauces and preserves aisles, et voilà! I have a plan.
It’s a slow cooker plan. It will take hours. I have the price of a really, really nice dinner in the ingredients. If it turns out really well, I’ll be bragging about it on social media and putting up portions to revisit in the future. If not, you’ll probably never hear another word about it.
At worst, I’ll have to toss most of it and deal with the guilt. It won’t be the first time I tried something that just didn’t work out. It hasn’t killed me yet. And there’s something to be said for just acknowledging the misjudgment and the responsibility for the waste, and walking away determined to do better next time. That way, not everything is in vain.
Or maybe the dog will eat it.