BlogBloghttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011-10-30T23:10:04ZSquarespaceHow to have a couple of warm, homemade cookies whenever you wanthttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/10/30/how-to-have-a-couple-of-warm-homemade-cookies-whenever-you-w.htmlKeith2011-10-30T22:04:33Z2011-10-30T22:04:33ZTurning a Sow's Ear into a Silk Purse: Free and Easy Stockhttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/10/10/turning-a-sows-ear-into-a-silk-purse-free-and-easy-stock.htmlKeith2011-10-10T22:55:26Z2011-10-10T22:55:26ZWhat are you keeping from this summer?http://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/8/14/what-are-you-keeping-from-this-summer.htmlKeith2011-08-15T00:24:46Z2011-08-15T00:24:46ZA quick snipping of some herbs growing in my patio container gardensHow preserve nature's bounty for one person.

When the crickets chirping becomes more intense, the goldenrod blooms alongside roads, and the daylight seems to magically shorten, summertime is giving way to fall, and now is the time many people "put up" the season's bumper crops to savor for the upcoming winter months.

Preserving food may seem old-fashioned, rural, or suitable for those with large families, but the person cooking for one can still preserve the truly fresh flavors of locally raised food for later. 

Canning in glass jars is one way to keep foods. Through canning, the food is processed under high temperatures and sealed to keep out bacteria and fungi. Although not very difficult, canning can require processing more food than the single person could use through the year and requires an investment in appropriate equipment.

The single person enjoys eating homegrown foods during the dead of winter just like anyone else, but smaller quantities, limited time, and uncertainty of how to go about doing it, set them back.

Preserving your own foods for one person has many benefits. You know what is in your food and what was done to it before you consume it. You preserved the food at the peak point of ripeness and freshness. It didn't sit around for a long time during transport or retail. True ripeness and freshness are unmistakenable qualitities of good food. You control the portion sizes. You can make as little or as much as you wish, and you can preserve them in consumable quantities for one person.

If I am going to preserve food either from my garden or my local farmers' market for one person, I want to select food that is easy to preserve and stands apart in flavor and quality from commercial alternatives. The following are three such foods that meet those criteria: tomato puree, berries, and herbs. Try preserving one of these fresh products to have an easy taste of summer whenever you are cooking for one person.

Fresh Tomato Puree

Preserving Berries

Drying Fresh Herbs

]]>French clafoutis: a fruit-filled brunch or lightly sweet desserthttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/8/7/french-clafoutis-a-fruit-filled-brunch-or-lightly-sweet-dess.htmlKeith2011-08-07T23:10:13Z2011-08-07T23:10:13ZDelicate and slightly sweet cherry clafoutis cooked for one personAn advantage of cooking for one person is the license to make things a little extra special on a small scale instead of making something for a whole family. Basic French cooking uses few, high-quality ingredients in such ingenious ways, such as employing seasonal fruit.]]>Solo Summer Salad Slawshttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/7/25/solo-summer-salad-slaws.htmlKeith2011-07-25T05:23:48Z2011-07-25T05:23:48ZSalads make great summer fare for the person cooking for one. They are highly individualized and fit to small portion sizes. With summer bringing in bountiful varieties of vegetables, salads are an easy choice for a light meal. 

Salads provide munching satisfaction when they have crunchy texture and snappy flavor. Consider a type of salad that I think needs a comeback and fits both of those needs, slaw.

Sweet-and-tangy slaw, skillet "fried" chicken, and half ear of corn for dinner

 

]]>No-cook, fresh, and easy summer meal for singleshttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/7/23/no-cook-fresh-and-easy-summer-meal-for-singles.htmlKeith2011-07-24T03:17:13Z2011-07-24T03:17:13ZNo-cooking, fresh, tasty, quick, and easy - an example of a fresh plateWhen the summer weather is sweltering, your appetite is waning, and the stove needs to be left off, take a cue from the Old World for a simple, nutritious, no-recipe meal that can be matched to size of your appetite. It takes advantage of all the ripening, in-season produce. ]]>Barbecue sauce within minutes from your cupboardhttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/7/10/barbecue-sauce-within-minutes-from-your-cupboard.htmlKeith2011-07-11T01:33:12Z2011-07-11T01:33:12Z
When you are cooking for one person, you may roll your eyes at buying an entire bottle of a condiment you want. You think to yourself, what will I do with the rest of it? You know what happens. Another bottle is added to the long-forgotten artillery of sauces and spreads in the refrigerator door shelves.
]]>Grocery Shopping Tips your Grandmother knewhttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/6/12/grocery-shopping-tips-your-grandmother-knew.htmlKeith2011-06-13T01:19:16Z2011-06-13T01:19:16ZThe spring vegetable that thinks it's a fruithttp://www.cooking-for-one-person.com/blog/2011/5/22/the-spring-vegetable-that-thinks-its-a-fruit.htmlKeith2011-05-22T23:41:03Z2011-05-22T23:41:03Z