Oh, how cliché is that?!
No matter. It was time for a change. A reboot, actually. Since my last post was in July, I thought it might be a good idea to start essentially from scratch. To be fair, most of the content will remain the same, but I’ve had a year and a couple months to “find my sea legs.” I can admit when I’ve failed or when something hasn’t gone according to plan. Like all of us, I’m used to it. Humans adapt well. Wait! I’ll Eat That has not gone according to plan.
There. I said it.
After moving to DC and taking on a full time job while still teaching, I’ve found I have much less time to cook for fun. Add to that the fact it’s just me who’s eating the stuff, and you get the final ingredient in a recipe for apathy (oh, puns are the best, aren’t they?). Even further, my grand plans to volunteer my time haven’t come to fruition as I’d hoped, either.
It’s become increasingly more difficult to keep up the intended mission of Wait! I’ll Eat That. I still post to Instagram pretty regularly, but I’ve watched my follower numbers dip since I disappeared from this and since I stopped doing anything either interesting or remotely close to “on message.” I’m convinced the reason is I’ve stopped offering anything for you guys. As I’ve said a million times, a blog shouldn’t be about me. That’s a diary. A blog should offer readers something they can take with them, and since I hadn’t been feeling like I could offer that, I started neglecting the site.
Now that I’ve been in DC for several months, I have a more reasonable set of expectations and something to offer. My time is still painfully limited, and cooking for one is harder than cooking for 20. So here’s where I’m taking things.
- Giving: I still want giving to be a big part of the Wait! I’ll Eat That. I have something coming up next month aligned with this part of the mission. Can’t wait to share that with you!
- Cooking for one: This is harder than I thought. I’m going to try and help those of you out there doing the same thing because I know I’m not the only one. Judging by a quick google search, cooking for one is something writers touch on—Buzzfeed, My Domaine, Greatist, and Kitchn offer good tips, for instance. However, it’s not a popular blog theme, and, well, it should be. Embracing the kitchen when you’re the only one eating in it isn’t sad and shouldn’t be associated with loneliness. So many of us have happily adopted a “one against the world” lifestyle, so why shouldn’t it be featured as the empowered decision it is? Sure, if something changes, I’ll revisit, but I can assure you it will be at least several eons before that happens. This section will touch on topics like how to avoid wasting food, how to adjust recipes, how to make yourself appreciate leftovers (and how to make them taste just as good the next night), and how to shop appropriately. Failures included!
- Restaurant dining: My excitement for DC dining is still alive and well. I try to get out and experience restaurants as much as I can, but sometimes, that’s not possible. For this, I have my Friday Night Feasts, which is a routine I adopted organically. I don’t do these every Friday night, but the premise is this. Instead of cooking or going out, I find a restaurant I want to try and order delivery on Friday night. If I like it, I make a plan to try it in person for the full experience (so far, I’m a bit behind on the visits; getting people to go with me is not as easy as I’d hoped). Judging a restaurant by a third-party delivery service might not be totally fair, but it’s easy to tell the difference between a meal that may not be top notch because it just traveled five miles in the snow and a meal that’s rubbish. In addition, there are plenty of places I’ve tried without doing delivery first, and I wouldn’t want to exclude those mostly awesome experiences. When appropriate, I’ll provide reviews for places so you can decide what to try in DC (or wherever I am, if I ever decide I want to leave the city…so far, I do not).
So this is the new Wait! I’ll Eat That. I’m going toward a “city survival guide for one” theme without losing sight of the need to give back to that city. While I have the means to embrace my one-person cooking hobby, not everyone does. Since Wait! is first and foremost about making the most of food, giving back through food cannot be forgotten.
If you’re new, welcome! If you’ve been a reader before, welcome back! Join me for dinner…but, uh, I only made enough for one.