What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes

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Overview

What do you eat when no one is watching? From young college students to spry seniors, from empty-nest mothers to men and women with traveling spouses, from bachelors to the many people between relationships, millions of us dine alone every night. But what do we eat? Is it takeout, a frozen dinner, or our favorite gourmet meal? In What We Eat When We Eat Alone, Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin set out to learn what people chew on when there isn't anyone else around. The responses are surprising and far-ranging-food-gone-wild in its most elemental form. Some solo diners relish the elaborate, while others prefer the bizarre, some eat their favorite foods, some eat what's convenient, and others choose their menus ...
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More About This Book

Overview

What do you eat when no one is watching? From young college students to spry seniors, from empty-nest mothers to men and women with traveling spouses, from bachelors to the many people between relationships, millions of us dine alone every night. But what do we eat? Is it takeout, a frozen dinner, or our favorite gourmet meal? In What We Eat When We Eat Alone, Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin set out to learn what people chew on when there isn't anyone else around. The responses are surprising and far-ranging-food-gone-wild in its most elemental form. Some solo diners relish the elaborate, while others prefer the bizarre, some eat their favorite foods, some eat what's convenient, and others choose their menus according to their moods. The book is illustrated with the art of Patrick McFarlin, capturing the flavor of the stories. It also includes great recipes at the end of each chapter for those who dine alone, including tips on making smaller portion meals, and also on using leftovers in different recipes for those who don't want to eat the same dish night after night. Our relationship with food is one of the defining and intimate relationships of our lives; it says a lot about who we are and how we live. Part cookbook, part memoir, part pure fun, What We Eat When We Eat Alone explores the joys and sorrows of eating solo and gives us a glimpse into the lives of everyday people who do.

Deborah Madison is the founding chef of Greens restaurant, and the author of ten cookbooks and countless articles on food and farming. Her books have been honored with two Julia Child Cookbook of the Year awards and four James Beard awards, among others. Long involved with Slow Food, Deborah also serves on the board of the Seed Savers Exchange and the Edible Kitchen Garden at Monte del Sol charter school. She lives in Galisteo, New Mexico, with her husband, Patrick McFarlin.

Patrick McFarlin is a journeyman painter and graphic designer. His fine art has been shown in New York, San Francisco, Houston, Scottsdale, and Santa Fe, among other cities. He is the creator of Pat's Downtown Club, featured on CBS Sunday Morning. He has received numerous awards and fellowships for his painting. He works out of his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

  • What We Eat When We Eat Alone
    What We Eat When We Eat Alone  

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
In numerous books, including Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Local Flavors, Deborah Madison has instructed readers in the elegant simplicity of meatless meals. In this graceful follow-up, she offers a conversational, recipe-rich tome to those of us who eat alone. In Madison's view, there is nothing melancholy about this solo situation; eating alone can actually restore us and return us to our natural rhythms. Philosophy aside, What We Eat When We Eat Alone features a full quota of diverting stories, each chapter capped by a batch of exquisite vegetarian recipes.
Denver Post
"The most charming food related book of the season"
More Reviews (7) Fewer Reviews
Fine Cooking
"Impossible to put down."
Fine Cooking Editors
"Impossible to put down."
Los Angeles Times
"Eating is at the same time the most social of activities and the most intimate. We present our social side when we eat with others, but we reveal our most private selves when we dine alone. While almost all cookbooks focus social side of eating with others, leave it to Deborah Madison and her artist husband Pat McFarlin to probe the fascinating inner world of eating alone."

— Russ Parsons

Television Host and Food Writer
"What a fun book! It is totally 100% compelling and I LOVE the illustrations. I have always ranted on about how much I hate eating alone, and how, in fact, I consider eating alone a greater hazard than drinking alone. Then along comes this book which suddenly makes cancelling my dinner date tonight in favor of a fried egg on asparagus in an armchair seems like the most desirable thing on earth! (Not least of all because it means that while I eat, I can keep reading.)"

— Laura Calder

The Splendid Table
"I am hooked on this book. It confirms once again that we humans are endlessly confounding and entertaining creatures. Deborah and her husband, artist Patrick McFarlin, blow the covers of food pros in revealing what they eat when no one's around. Then they move on to friends and acquaintances. You'll smile knowingly, muse a lot, maybe blush, get very hungry and probably end up in the kitchen, enjoying every bite of eating alone. This is another keeper from Deborah Madison."

— Lynne Rossetto Kasper

The Washington Post
Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin's "What We Eat When We Eat Alone" (Gibbs Smith) is a delightful stream-of-consciousness romp through the highlights of research they compiled about the solo-dining habits of friends and strangers.
— Joe Yonan
Publishers Weekly
Veteran cookbook author and food writer Madison (The Greens Cookbook, Local Flavors, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) looks at what we eat when no one's looking in this charming if overlong study (with recipes). Madison's informal survey of friends, colleagues and complete strangers about what they eat at home doesn't yield many earthshaking findings-men more enjoy familiar staples while women enjoy thinking out their meals, comfort foods predominate, and priority goes to ease of preparation. Many of the exceptions are included among the hundred recipes scattered throughout, including a flank steak stuffed with cremini mushrooms, spinach, bacon and cheese; a shrimp, feta and bulgur wheat salad; and a polenta with blue cheese sauce. Plenty of fare best eaten over the sink is also included, such as sardines on toast or an open-faced cheese and tapenade sandwich. Madison's non-judgmental tone is refreshing and friendly, and recipes are varied enough that any home cook will find something worth adding to the repertoire. Though it can get repetitive--Madison never really reaches any conclusions-readers interested in the dining practices of others will find this a light but satisfying indulgence (not unlike sardines on toast).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781423604969
  • Publisher: Smith, Gibbs Publisher
  • Publication date: 5/1/2009
  • Pages: 256
  • Sales rank: 631,021
  • Product dimensions: 8.86 (w) x 5.74 (h) x 1.08 (d)

Meet the Author

Deborah Madison is the author of nine cookbooks and countless articles on food, cooking, and farming. Currently she blogs for Gourmet and Culinate.

He is the creator of Pat's Downtown Club, featured on CBS Sunday Morning. He has received numerous awards and fellowships for his painting. He works out of his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Read an Excerpt

mushrooms on toast

Toast a piece of levain bread or ciabatta, then cover it with thin slices of aged cheese, such as Gouda, Gruyère, or Manchego. Set the toast on your plate and spoon the sautéed mushrooms (page 164) and their juices over the toast. Sprinkle on the remaining parsley mixture and more pepper.

Table of Contents

what we eat when we eat alone 9

about the recipes 13

eating in bed 17

the gestalt of eating: men and women at the table 19

foods for me and me alone 35

getting the body fed with rough and ready foods 45

saved by sardines, rescued by pasta 85

tiny on the couch 106

men and their meat 109

"how to eat alone," poem by daniel halpern 137

alone at last 139

alone every day 169

"spy girls," poem by jeannine hall gailey 201

what every boy and girl should learn to cook before they're men and women 203

meals with a motive 237

breakfast with the saints 266

our thanks 268

index 270

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 7 )

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Sort by: Showing all of 7 Customer Reviews

  • Posted July 25, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Love the format, love the recipes

    I read about his book in the Washington Post and immediately went out to purchase it. I have not been disappointed. It is full of great stories and easy recipes that one can create from what is already inside the fridge. I am still reading it and am truly enjoying it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted June 29, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    9781581809411

    A quirky fun read.

    I loved this book. It was like reading about friends or friends of friends, wondering which of the recipes they would find most enticing. It also opened the door to so many other "comfort foods", as well as gave my choices validity.

    Summer Tomato Sandwiches with just butter and cucumber; one of my personal favorites I look forward to each year when the tomatoes are ripe for pickin'. Also olive sandwiches; hard to keep the little things in a folded up piece of bread, but satisfying. . . and Jif Peanut Butter (smooth) with Claussen Dill sandwich slices across the peanut butter on your favorite bread slices. Yum.

    And, I've already bought my polenta.

    I look forward to reading this book again; it's just a book to make you smile and reminisce. I picked it up on a whim off the Barnes&Nobles employee recommendation shelf - serendipity.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted September 21, 2009

    I was looking for a cooking for 1 cookbook

    This book is totally useless. I love reading so even though this turned out to not really be a cookbook it was awful. It wasn't interesting or entertaining. It was just a gross list of foods people eat when they are alone and bored. I gave it a chance. I kept reading through about half the book until I had to give up. Maybe someone who likes to read those books written by chefs who talk about how they started cooking would like it.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted June 24, 2009

    Fun Read

    Gave it as a gift - The person totally enjoyed the stories with a few tears and much laughter.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

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    Posted January 1, 2010

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    Posted July 1, 2010

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    Posted October 23, 2010

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