Don't Try This . . . Alone

We’ve all heard on TV when someone’s trying something that could result in loss of life or limb that you shouldn’t “try this at home.”  Well there are some things in life that we shouldn’t try alone.

One of those things is enjoying meals.  Because of my work, I’ve traveled a lot over the years.  Often, I’ve been traveling alone.  That inevitably leads to eating meals alone. It’s not nearly as much fun eating dinner with a Kindle as sharing a meal with someone or a group of people.

Frankly, some of my best memories have occurred over dinner with a close friend or two. And, by the way, I’ve even been known to enjoy a dinner or two with family, too!

When you’re eating alone, it’s just . . . well, it’s just eating. 

Our European friends understand this better than we do, I think. They’re not so much in a hurry to be off to do something else. Often dinner starts around the time many of us in America are beginning to turn in for the night. It’s a different pace where relationship is valued every bit as much as the food (and they LOVE the food!). 

I was thinking the other Saturday morning that there’s one other place where you shouldn’t try this by yourself. It’s in the kitchen.  Cooking is not a single person effort it’s a group effort.

What reminded me of this that Saturday morning was watching Brunch @ Bobby’s where Bobby Flay shared the kitchen with his wife Stephanie March.  I’ve seen his show plenty but liked it all the more when watching the interaction between Bobby and Stephanie. It was somehow more real especially when he made a suggestion and she did it her own way.

The chemistry between Jacques Pepin and Julia Child was phenomenal.  Two fantastic chefs who each had their own ideas of how something should be done but who worked together beautifully. The banter between the two when they approached the same dish with different techniques or approaches was always respectful  . . . and fun.  At the end of the day, I think that cooking is a communal event.  There’s nothing better than watching everyone work together to complete a meal.

Maybe that’s the best memory of last summer. While there were a lot of exciting events and activities, one of my very best memories was camping with my brother and sister-in-law and their four kids. And with three of the four teenagers, you can imagine the fun.

But meal time was fun time.

Nothing like grabbing a bunch of too-tired-from-waking-up-too-early teens to set the tone for the day. It’s a little like getting up with four of the seven dwarfs, one’s Happy, one’s Sleepy, one’s Doc and one’s Grumpy.  (I’ll let the four of them duke it out over which one’s which!)

I loved getting up in the morning and crawling out of the tent (literally . . . I’m not what you call Mr. Flexible). Stretching and putting on a pot of coffee.  Restarting the fire from the previous night –  hoping that there are few embers to get things going.

Then, as the kids wandered out of the tent or camper, begin to gather up the food for breakfast.  Luckily we snagged another picnic table from an empty campsite so we had two – one to work on and one to eat on. Everyone had a hand in making the meals. Yes there was a little bit of arguing (remember that three of the four were teens) but all in all it was a lot of fun.

It’s just been in the last few years that I’ve really started to hit my stride in the kitchen.  It could have been that was the case because it was always independent work.   I think I’ve decided that it’s a lot more fun when you’re cooking with someone than when you go it alone.

I know for me it’s always helpful to have the voice of reason working alongside of me. That’s so I don’t take the recipe that one step too far, going from tasty to trashcan in a single spice.

But that’s just me. What do you think?