Have just begun Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin’s book What We Eat When We Eat Alone.

What do you eat when you eat alone? When there’s no one else around, and you are completely by yourself?

For me, it depends on where I am.  In New York City, I loved nothing more than a good glass of wine (preferably red), fresh, smelly cheese from Fairway, a hunk of baguette, and maybe a few nuts.  In Florida? I prefer a salad with a whole avocado (the pivotal piece of the meal) and I really like to add those terrible, horrible, bad for you fake Morningstar Farms Buffalo “Chicken” bites.  Served with a glass (or two) of a good white wine.   In Georgia? A beer and macaroni and cheese or leftover cornbread and some vegetables (broccoli, green beans, whatever is lying around) hits the spot.

Are some of my solitary meals healthier than others? Perhaps, though, most of them seem to be lacking in nutritional value.  Are the pleasurable? Yes.  Are they things I would ever prepare for a guest?  Probably not.  But then I wouldn’t be eating them alone, would I? And where would the fun in that be?