Food and the single person

oddduck

oddduck

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its hard cooking for one specially when it comes to making treats for yourself...

...like i have been wanting to make candied apples but i am a single person i don't want a bunch of apples just one or two candied apples to celebrate fall. I went to buy one but finding a simple candied apple is impossible...they are all covered with nuts or chocolate chips or sprinkles...i just want a single plain candied apple but alas i will once again go without...carmel apples are easier as they make carmel wraps so i can just make one.

Cake recipes usually make a whole sheet cake or two squares...i just want one square but halfing recipes sometimes is a dicey thing. Frozen cake is not as good so forget freezing the other half. Luckily most cookies freeze well and brownies somehow mysteriously disappear at an alarming rate...those darn cats...yep must be the cats Cobblers and pie often go moldy before they get finished so i don't make them often unless going to eat at someone elses and i offer to bring dessert.

I do wish cooking for one was easier.
 
I so much agree with you. There should be more websites and cookbooks which focus on cooking for one. Its all very well to say 'freeze portions' but I can appreciate that nobody wants the freezer stacking up all the time. I need to have a think about this. Great idea for a new thread, @oddduck.
 
You can buy smaller pie and cake pans. I have several because we have the same problem even with 2 of us, compounded by the fact that unless Craig really likes something, he'll have 1 or 2 pieces and that's it. You can also make cupcakes, just cut the cake recipe you want to use in half or thirds and go from there. I like having the individual pie pans as well to make double crust pot pies.

You could make your candied apple, just use a small saucepan and do a couple of apples. If you don't want to make a lot of syrup, put the apple on a wire rack over another saucepan or heatproof bowl and pour the syrup slowly over the apple. The leftover syrup can be reheated and used again.
 
I like those small cake mixes by Duncan Hines. They're gone in a few days & when the cake is baked you just throw away the pan!! Easy cleanup!! :wink:
 
Do you ever make unleavened flatbreads @oddduck? I was thinking about this thread and happened to be making flatbread today - and realised they are one kind of bread that can easily be made as a single portion.
 
Shermie said:
Every bread that I made, it had leavening in it.
Click to expand...

Flatbread like this...

Easy-Soft-Flatbread_3.jpg

...needs no yeast or other leavening. https://www.recipetineats.com/easy-soft-flatbread-yeast/

There are lots of examples from Indian cooking. Its probably the earliest bread ever made and there are examples of flatbreads in lots of countries.
 
I could never cook for just me and the wife, my son pops in all the time, especially around lunch time. He works near me and lives 20 to 25 mins away.

Russ
 
About the flattest bread i like is na'an bread. I use it as a surface to bake stuff on...like a pepper and onion na'an with a little feta baked in the oven for about 10 minutes but the na'an bread i buy is already made and sold in a two pack or mini na'ans sold in a four pack.

I am thinking i need to get that rolling island that was always planned but never acquired to give me a good surface to make bread and maybe have it a little lower than my counters as i find my counter height to be too tall for comfort for manipulating dough...including cookies. My old counters were a few inches shorter and seemed much more functional but when the kitchen was redone after the hurricane in 2004 taller bottom cabinets were the norm. When the bathroom cabinets were replaced i could not find the same height cabinets either and the new cabinet is 4 inches higher than the one that needed to be replaced.
 
oddduck said:
About the flattest bread i like is na'an bread. I use it as a surface to bake stuff on...like a pepper and onion na'an with a little feta baked in the oven for about 10 minutes but the na'an bread i buy is already made and sold in a two pack or mini na'ans sold in a four pack.

I am thinking i need to get that rolling island that was always planned but never acquired to give me a good surface to make bread and maybe have it a little lower than my counters as i find my counter height to be too tall for comfort for manipulating dough...including cookies. My old counters were a few inches shorter and seemed much more functional but when the kitchen was redone after the hurricane in 2004 taller bottom cabinets were the norm. When the bathroom cabinets were replaced i could not find the same height cabinets either and the new cabinet is 4 inches higher than the one that needed to be replaced.
Click to expand...


Intersting point - the height of worktops/counters. Given that humans range in size, it must be difficult fir people who are taller or shorter than average since there seems to be a standard height for worktops.
 
My wife is 5' (152 cm), and I am roughly 6' (183 cm), and we both cook, so when I prefer to keep certain foodstuffs or utensils organized in a way that I understand, I keep mine on the top shelves in the pantry and cabinets.

The wee folk can't reach it, lol.

Unfortunately, sometimes my wife gets pissed off and uses a pasta spork to pull stuff down. Indiscriminately. Often to the demise of my treasured treats.

Sigh.

I should give her a baseball mitt.
 
Last edited:
oddduck said:
About the flattest bread i like is na'an bread. I use it as a surface to bake stuff on...like a pepper and onion na'an with a little feta baked in the oven for about 10 minutes but the na'an bread i buy is already made and sold in a two pack or mini na'ans sold in a four pack.

I am thinking i need to get that rolling island that was always planned but never acquired to give me a good surface to make bread and maybe have it a little lower than my counters as i find my counter height to be too tall for comfort for manipulating dough...including cookies. My old counters were a few inches shorter and seemed much more functional but when the kitchen was redone after the hurricane in 2004 taller bottom cabinets were the norm. When the bathroom cabinets were replaced i could not find the same height cabinets either and the new cabinet is 4 inches higher than the one that needed to be replaced.
Click to expand...

I order keema naan. It's filled with minced lamb , and beautiful

Russ
 
buckytom said:
My wife is 5' (152 cm), and I am roughly 6' (183 cm), and we both cook, so when I prefer to keep certain foodstuffs or utensils organized in a way that I understand, I keep mine on the top shelves in the pantry and cabinets.

The wee folk can't reach it, lol.

Unfortunately, sometimes my wife gets pissed off and uses a pasta spork to pull stuff down. Indiscriminately. Often to the demise of my treasured treats.

Sigh.

I should give her a baseball mitt.
Click to expand...

Lols, my wife's 5 foot nothing, I'm 5'. 11"
She doesn't go in the kitchen. She says the kitchens for walking through to the lounge. She doesn't cook.

Russ
 
I bought a stepstool for the upper cabinets and tend to keep rarely used stuff on the top shelf...and then bought a taller step stool for the top of the cabinet but i only use the cabinet top for my collectable kitchenware like my mom's teapots and my extra not used often vintage pyrex collection and big rarely used things like my cupcake carrier. I got tired of using my shorter step stool and having to stand on the counter top to get to the top of my cabinet plus i am a tad scared of heights and the dismount off the counter top terrified me.

Sometimes being short sucks...i once owned a truck i couldn't use the seat belts cause when the bench seat was adjusted so i could reach the pedals comfortably the seatbelt latch was so far into the seat hole you couldn't find it to latch the belt.
 
oddduck said:
its hard cooking for one specially when it comes to making treats for yourself...

...like i have been wanting to make candied apples but i am a single person i don't want a bunch of apples just one or two candied apples to celebrate fall. I went to buy one but finding a simple candied apple is impossible...they are all covered with nuts or chocolate chips or sprinkles...i just want a single plain candied apple but alas i will once again go without...carmel apples are easier as they make carmel wraps so i can just make one.

Cake recipes usually make a whole sheet cake or two squares...i just want one square but halfing recipes sometimes is a dicey thing. Frozen cake is not as good so forget freezing the other half. Luckily most cookies freeze well and brownies somehow mysteriously disappear at an alarming rate...those darn cats...yep must be the cats Cobblers and pie often go moldy before they get finished so i don't make them often unless going to eat at someone elses and i offer to bring dessert.

I do wish cooking for one was easier.
Click to expand...

Much as I enjoy cooking I'm not sure I would bother just for myself. One of the biggest motivators for me is the joy of feeding other people, so even if it's just for the two of us (which is most of the time) I will happily pull out all the stops. The odd times I am left to fend for myself I stick to leftovers or a sandwich.
 
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