Anticipation

It seems singles, couples, parents and assorted others have the same or similar issues when it comes to eating at home.

They are either too busy to cook or simply hate to cook. They have amazingly high tech kitchens that get no play (except the microwave).

I live in a building of singles and child-less couples and I can tell you the food delivery service called, L.A. Bites, is making a mint.

They make at least five trips to my building a day. Even at 10′ clock in the morning….I’m talking breakfast.

Really, who needs to order breakfast?

Unless you are staying in a hotel, there is just no reason.

When I walk my dog in the morning, I see the same cast of characters returning from Starbuck’s with a huge latte, or McDonald’s with a breakfast sandwich.

I once had a friend who ordered breakfast, lunch and dinner from the restaurant downstairs from her apartment in New York. It wasn’t until she decided to try to save money that she cut it down to just one take-out meal a day…and that didn’t last long. Within a few weeks she was back in her old groove.

But I realized something.

Cooking has to mean something more than just something to eat.

Something more than the necessary groceries to buy and resulting dishes to wash.

It’s like taking a luxurious bath and wearing sexy lingerie even though you sleep alone.

It has to be relaxing, nurturing and sexy.

There is a difference in how satiated I feel when I prepare and present a meal for myself.

There is a difference when I boil water for tea, put fruit, cheese and crusty baguette on a plate.

It’s not the same when I microwave a Lean Cuisine…even if I add a green salad.

I said I prepare and present a meal.

It’s the ritual that precedes something I expect to enjoy that makes it worth while.

It’s fore play.

Why deny myself the pleasure of that?