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Eating with others can help us slow down, to tackle, a trip you want to take, what you’re enjoy our meals more, and possibly even grateful for, or your thoughts on the day, lose weight. But, if you live by yourself like using mealtimes to write and reflect is a nice I do, a table filled with family and friends change of pace that can help you enjoy both is more often the stuff of TV than daily activities more. life. Solo dining has become even more Eat in courses: When I get in the oneprevalent during the pandemic. pot-meal doldrums, I’ll switch it up with the How do we master the art of a table for French habit of eating in courses. Having a one? simple entree, followed by a salad, and then A few years ago, I tried getting in the spirit a decadent piece of cheese and some fruit of what I’d read was a “proper” way to eat naturally slows the pace and makes me more alone, without distractions. I set a beautiful aware of the taste of each dish. table, lit candles, and used my best dishes. Alone, together: Before I moved near The table looked Pinterest worthy but family, my sister and I started doing “sister when I sat down to eat I felt … silly, like I was supper.” Each week, one of us would choose wearing someone else’s clothes. a recipe and on sister supper day, we would Instead of abandoning the idea of FaceTime during the meal, always showing BY JULIE THOMPSON an enjoyable solo meal altogether, I’ve each other how our version had turned out. found some new ways to slow it down and Even with a two-hour time difference it was a appreciate this daily ritual. fun way to share a meal, catch up with each other, and expand Go outside: Take your meal to the porch, patio, backyard, our culinary skills. or terrace, and linger long enough to enjoy the change of Living alone gives us the advantage of only having to scenery. Last summer, I was having breakfast on my covered please ourselves with what, when, and how we eat. The patio when a sudden downpour fell from the sky. It was other side of the coin is that eating alone can become boring glorious and I felt as though Mother Nature was putting on and even depressing. If you’re in a solo dining rut like I was, a show just for me. I encourage you to find some new mealtime rituals that leave Read: I love reading while I eat, especially inspirational you feeling not just full, but truly nourished. books, poetry, and anything else that benefits from Julie Thompson recently retired from corporate copywriting in San contemplation. Give each activity its time and space by Francisco and moved to Southern Oklahoma to be near family, pursue putting the book down while you eat so that you don’t end freelance writing, and enjoy life without a commute. She writes about this new chapter on her blog, Born a Homebody, and is the co-author of up eating mindlessly as you read. The Vegetable Gardener's Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Write: Whether you jot notes about a project you want Ecosystem, with Christopher Shein.
Ways to Enjoy Eating Solo at Home
spring 2022
| 3rd Act magazine
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