For every recipe that “serves six,” for every family-size can of soup, for every buy-one-get-one-free offer, there are groups of people who don’t need or want that much.
For many single professionals, widows and widowers, DINKS (double-income/no kids), college students and empty nesters, real cooking isn’t worth the effort, the time or the mess. They might toss a frozen dinner in the microwave or whip up a batch of ramen noodles, but that’s about it. And even if they prefer to cook for themselves, most recipes and products are geared toward a crowd.
So it’s no surprise that they give little or no thought to what will be on their tables.
But a good, home-cooked meal for one or two people is doable with planning, creativity and the right cookbook, such as Dorothy Kuehn’s “Home Cooking for Two.”
In fact, Kuehn says, most recipes that serve four can easily and successfully be reduced by half, except for recipes for baked goods. That’s where comprehensive, small-portion cookbooks like hers are a godsend.
Kuehn’s book grew out of her own empty-nest experience. When her kids left home and her family of four became two, she said she lost the desire to cook.
“We were eating out a lot, and that was getting old,” she says. “When I did cook, I ended up with so much left over that we didn’t enjoy the second time, and I ended up wasting a lot of food.”
She and her husband, Ron, looked for small-portion cookbooks at a bookstore near her Iowa home, but came up empty-handed.
“Everything we found was gourmet,” she says, “and Ron grew up on meat and potatoes. I grew up on casseroles, but the recipes made too much.”
With 25 years of cooking experience, she decided to write her own cookbook. That was the inspiration for “Home Cooking for Two,” which she self-published in September 1998. The response was so great, she wrote another version, “Home Cooking for Two, Volume II,” last year. Now she is testing recipes for a third cookbook focusing on recipes for one. The cookbooks are sold by mail order.
“I’ve gotten orders from all age groups–college students, new brides and many orders from widowers,” she says. “They don’t know a thing about cooking for themselves. They’re clueless.”
One reason she thinks her cookbooks have been popular, besides the reduced-size recipes, is that the instructions are easy.
That is the kind of cookbook that appeals to Denise Gard, a 20-something single who works for the Pikes Peak (Colo.) Library District. “I live on yogurt, popcorn and ice cream,” she says. “I don’t cook that much. I don’t have time.”
Eating out is one alternative to getting quick meals. But that can be expensive.
“I have to watch my budget,” says Gard. “But when I do eat out, I can usually bring home enough for a second meal. Then I can eat really well for a couple of evenings. Once the food is taken care of, it’s time to complete the small-portion dining experience. Get out the fancy tablecloth, candles and fine china. Pour a glass of wine and dine in style. After all, great things come in small packages.
Here are tips for making life easier in the kitchen from “Cooking Solo,” by the American Institute for Cancer Research.
Prepare extra when cooking rice, potato or pasta dishes. These can be refrigerated or frozen for use later.
Use your microwave. It can help reduce kitchen mess and cooking time. Microwave meals can be prepared with less fat by adding bouillon, wine or broths. Your microwave also is your friend when it comes to thawing the meals you’ve frozen.
Resources
Books/pamphlets (unless otherwise noted, most books can be ordered from major bookstores:
“Home Cooking for Two,” Volume I and Volume II, are $17.95 per copy including postage. For more information, call 712-647-2298 or send orders to Dorothy Kuehn, 1009 Lincoln Way, Woodbine, IA 51579.
“Betty Crocker’s New Choices for Two”
“Light Cooking for Two,” edited by Anne C. Chappell and Deborah Garrison Lowery
“Serves One: Super Meals for Solo Cooks,” by Toni Lydecker
