DH & I spent 6 years together only on weekends. We had an apartment in NY where he stayed during the week & I stayed in Mystic. Only sometimes would I spend a couple weeks in NY. I cooked in Mystic & froze individual servings of entrees, sides, desserts, & snacks. DH would transport via our huge boat ice chest every week. I cooked for us both on the weekends. I, OTOH, had the same opportunity to eat great POOF'd meals but rather just grabbed a carton of yogurt, a spoonful of peanut butter, or a slice of cheese & piece of fruit calling it "dinner". I didn't follow a schedule...usually ate when I realized I'd had nothing for the day. I didn't care enough about eating to even bother getting something from the freezer & walking it to the nuker. Just didn't have an appetite. But I loved cooking to fill the freezer for DH. He ate very well. I love cooking more than I love eating. Now, he's retired & we're both in Mystic. Suddenly, I'm ravenous! Now granted, the steroids I have to take now have something to do with it but it's a lot more...it's having DH here to share a meal. There's no doubt in my mind that if I were permanently alone I wouldn't bother with much cooking. I enjoy good food but (pre-spinal injury/stroke) I'd likely be involved with my piano, gardening, or painting/drawing & just never think much about eating. When I'm deeply involved in something food doesn't occur to me. DH, OTOH, wants 3 meals/day & gets grouchy if he misses one. :) Bottom line, I enjoy cooking for others but would rarely (if ever) do much for just myself. Another thing, after I've prepared a huge family holiday meal I then don't want to eat. I either don't eat at all or just pick at a small plate. Then, hours later I'll fix myself leftovers (love leftovers!). When the kids were all home it was frequently the same thing. After fixing a big family dinner I didn't want to eat. So, I'd fix something light, or leftovers again, after the kids were down. After cooking a big meal I'm just not hungry anymore. I could definitely work as a chef & not gain a single pound. Being around all that food...I'd never be hungry. /tricia

No, we haven't changed anything and don't plan to. We live in one of the greatest "foodie" areas in the world - the San Francisco Bay Area - and enjoy taking advantage of it. Dining out is my hobby. But DH prefers my home cooking, so we compromise. Eat dinner out 1-2x/wk, and eat lunch out 2-3x/week. Sunday we had Eritrean food; we love injera and all the various meat and veggie combos. Monday/Tues was my linguine with meat sauce; doesn't excite me but DH and MIL who lives with us, adore it. Tomatoes are in season so caprese salad is a standard for DH on the nights we eat at home. Today's lunch was at a local Anatolian (Turkish) restaurant we're becoming very fond of. Not fancy as most of the places we go to, but quiet and comfortable with homestyle food, assuming your food at home is centered around lamb, eggplant, tomatoes, sumac and hot chiles! Dinner at home tonight was marinated boneless rib-eye steaks off the grill, with glazed carrots and sticky rice. Tomorrow it's going out for Peruvian ceviche and beef heart anticuchos with some of my family, who are also foodies. Friday...hmmm, haven't thought of anything yet. Saturday we are getting together with friends for a high tea and private tour of a local historical home, provided by volunteers, which should be fun! It's mid-afternoon so dinner will probably be something simple and light. I have a couple of bunches of asparagus in the frig, so maybe an asparagus bisque might be in order. We are fortunate to be able to buy whatever we like, and to live in an area with a wide choice of good-quality food providers. I'm probably one of the few people in the US who doesn't shop at her nearby Trader Joe's; if I'm buying specialty food I prefer a couple of local independent high-end grocery markets which carry specific items we prefer. Oherwise I go to the biggest Safeway; based in nearby Pleasanton, CA, they have made a tremendous effort to improve their produce and carry better quality. I have found their produce to be consistently fresher, cheaper, and better than the nearby Whole Foods and much-vaunted local Berkeley Bowl. We eat a fair amount of meat, but I don't obsess about where it's from, although we have many friends who do and a good number of vegetarians amongst them. I'm allergic to wheat, buckwheat, rice, and gluten - not violently, but they give me asthma which is uncomfortable, so I go lightly on the carbs.

Adding things to burned stuff dilutes it slightly but you always wind up with something that's burned. It's like overseasoning, you don't unseason stuff although diluting that will help. You could get a bunch of super hot chili peppers, something along the line of Naga Viper pepper, Infinity Chili, Bhut Jolokia chili pepper, Trinidad Scorpion or Butch T pepper and add to it. With enough, you won't taste the burnt parts! :) Sorry for the loss. It happens. Have a glass of wine and let it go. BTW, don't be too sure about a crockpot. Many of them get so hot they'll burn stuff too if unattended. I've had enough battles with day-long chili "simmering" to know that, which is why I like the Nesco so much better, but anything applying heat can burn something. You need to tend things appropriately. Something like a roast is less sensitive to it of course, but a soup, stew, chili, sauce or something usually needs to be stirred. Hope your day is improving!

We are making stuffed mushrooms, dates filled with cream cheese and wrapped with bacon, meatballs, artichoke spinach jalapeño dip, cheeses, scones, bruschetta, etc. Two of the family's friends are helping us tonight. The mother's cooking club are bringing food too, so we just have to provide the minimum. My neighborhood has about 17 "Little Free Libraries". You know what those are? People put these little boxes with glass front doors in their front yard. You put books and anyone passing by can take those books. Yesterday I went to all of those houses and dropped off a poem that he wrote, and asked them to post it in their little free libraries for a week starting tomorrow. It will be a small tribute from their neighbors. This is the poem: I am from rain jackets, from wool Pendelton sweaters and the never ending rain. I am from the steep grassy lawn in front of my house, soft, covered in leaves and still wet from yesterday’s downpour I am from towering Fir trees, the moss growing on river rocks in the spring. I am from football Sundays and overly sarcastic humor, from Dustin and Mary and John I am from the opportunistic deal finders and the give-it your-all’s From extra credit is mandatory and explore all your options I am from Our father who art in heaven most Sundays until I got busy with high school I’m from Portland and Slovenian Clevelanders, almond roca and pickled dilly beans. From my Grandpa’s tours in Korea to the four years my parents lived in Japan to the 12 years of Japanese language my siblings and I studied. I am from the countless scrapbooks, family trees and paper that sit in our bookshelves at home. My family’s lives, history, traditions and most importantly the times spent together are captured in those pictures and lines of text sitting on the shelves. I don't fully understand why I have gotten so drawn into this. I didn't know the family, although it is a small world, we have some common friends, and they live only a few blocks from me. I think it is partly because he was a smiling, happy, musical, athletic boy, with long hair, very much like my son, and they were both freshmen in college. It turns out that we are hosting a coffee with a candidate for Secretary of State, on Sunday 11/3. Campaigns are starting for the 2020 state and local elections, so we will be throwing various "house parties" in the coming months. Might as well get in practice now, eh?