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

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.

"I am hooked on this book. You'll smile knowingly, muse a lot, maybe blush, get hungry and probably end up in the kitchen, enjoying every bite of eating alone. This is another keeper from Deborah Madison."

-Lynne Rosetto Kasper, Host of public radio's national food show, The Splendid Table® from American Public Media

"A truly intimate, startling, funny, and genuinely subversive book."

-Peter Coyote, actor and author of Sleeping Where I Fall

"A fine romance between a Yankee cook and a Southern artist, whose love of friends and of each other is as clear as their love of food." -Betty Fussell, author of Raising Steaks: The Life & Times of American Beef

"I consider eating alone a greater hazard than drinking alone. Then along comes this book, which makes canceling my dinner date tonight in favor of a fried egg on asparagus in an armchair seem like the most desirable thing on earth!"

-Laura Calder, television host and food writer

"This is a perfectly charming book, loaded with easy-to-try recipes. I love the notion of exploring our lonely- or alone-eating life. And the illustrations are scrumptious-vivid, funny, bold."

-Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones

"A truly unique book . . . and there's no reason to doubt that the recipes live up to the quality of the text and the genius of the sketches."

-Patrick Oliphant, artist, cartoonist, and card-carrying vegetarian