Recipes are adapted for single cooks. Entire books are written to inspire solo chefs to get into the kitchen. Heck, blogs are even devoted to maintaining a full culinary life while living alone. Despite how many of these recipes you've clipped or how many inspiring books you may own, at the end of the day -- you're still dining alone. And in my experience, you can take the 'ho hum' approach or you can chuckle at it all. This post is much more about chuckles than sighs. Because hey, life is short.

Spilled Milk Podcast:
Writer and food blogger Molly Wizenburg pairs with food writer Matthew Amster-Burton in a podcast they created last year called Spilled Milk. The gist of the podcast? The charming duo takes on heady topics such as Hot Dogs or Fudge with witty conversation and banter. Last week, they discussed Spouseless Eating and their revelations will make you smile. Both Wizenburg and Amster-Burton have partners at home, but they dish about what their partners think that they're eating and what they actually eat when at home alone for a chunk of time. No area is left untouched: from peanut butter to Stouffer's French Bread pizzas, you'll feel a little better about the odd meals we all piece together on occasion while standing over the sink.

Cooking For One: Web Series
Writer Jiji Lee has just put out Cooking For One, a new web series that pokes fun at cooking shows in general and the single life in particular. Host Ada Gordon (played by Jenn Schatz) was supposed to be starring in a newlywed cooking show with her fiance, Neil. Well Neil broke it off. So Ada's left to bat solo. And it's pretty darn funny. In the most recent Valentine's Day episode, Ada begins with, "Hey, solo chefs! Turn off that Fiona Apple and put down your copy of the Bell Jar..." as she prepares baked brie in athletic pants and a yellow cardigan. It's likeable and laughable and brings a little levity to a topic that's so often treated as more serious than it needs to be.

Table For One
Table for One is a website that collects photos of people eating out alone. Some are reading, some day-dreaming, some appear to be downright nodding off. But the website captures something we all must do throughout the day and something so many of us enjoy. You can't eat with a rousing crowd at every meal. Table for One celebrates that.

A Week of Cooking and Eating Solo
Mark Bittman's piece, A Week of Cooking and Eating Solo didn't set out to be blatantly funny. Bittman was exploring what he prepared and enjoyed eating while alone at his place on Cape Cod. But his blatant honesty and detailed explanations of what he ate throughout the day make for an enjoyable, light-hearted read. After a particularly large meal out that included steak, fresh tomatoes, potato and quinoa salad, Bittman proclaims: "Well it was practically Rosh Hashana." Later he discusses a morning meal with admirable brevity: "Breakfast: Watermelon. A lot of it." At the end of the week, Bittman does draw a few conclusions which I find to be true of myself. Single cooks often over shop, and they really must be comfortable with leftovers or reincarnations of meals. If you're a Bittman fan or are curious how others are navigating the solo dining realm in great detail, this one's worth revisiting.

I wish I'd thought of that little tag line, but I didn't.

Sometimes, I think I spend far too much time sitting in front of my computer. Instead of doing something beneficial to myself, like exercising or cleaning my refrigerator, I troll sites like neatorama and thesuperficial.com. I've wasted hours online staring at folks making shadow puppets, shuddering over videos of people with unspeakable deformities, and chiding myself for trying to understand someone as crazy as that former Mouseketeer, Brittany Spears. You never saw Annette getting into that kind of trouble. No way.

Fortunately, there is an occasional payoff to my time investment. Enter Brini Maxwell.

I have no idea how she got onto my computer screen, but I am very glad she did. Full of chat, recipes and household tips, Maxwell calls upon the spirits of domestic icons past like Donna Reed and Florence Henderson yet manages to steer clear of mere caricature. As graceful as Dina Merrill (whose delicious strawberry pancakes seem like a slap in the face to her Post cereal heiress mother) and more helpful than Josephine the Plumber, I think she defies comparison, which might suit Maxwell just fine, especially when the occasional attempt has been made to label her the "new" Martha Stewart. As she told The Advocate in 2004:

"I don't consider myself the next Martha Stewart, I consider myself the next Sue Ann Nivens! I just think it's like comparing apples and oranges. We talk to different types of people--my audience tends to be very urban, and I think that Martha's audience is more suburban."

I don't see how anyone with such an impressive collection of vintage cookware (not to mention her inexhaustible wardrobe) could be accused of being a "new" anything. And anyone who uses Sue Ann Nivens as a role model is aces in my book.

Here's a teaser for the episode Meatloaf a la Janet Leigh...

Swedish meatballs, deviled eggs and bridge sandwiches? You'll find out how to make them along with advice on how to maximize your urban living (and entertaining) potential-- on a budget. It's a "how to" show delivered by a "can do" gal-- fortunately one with more than a teaspoon of wit and a hell of a lot of style. I can't wait to try out her recipe for Crown Roast of Cheese.

Brini Maxwell (created by actor Ben Sander, by the way) has been wildly popular for years in New York-- I've never claimed cutting edge. I just feel that, given the appalling social skills I've witnessed among certain communities in this city, San Francisco needs a good dose of her-- like, immediately. Think of this as a public service announcement.

I just subscribed to her NPR video podcast, so I won't miss a thing. I suggest some of you do, too. And I mean now. You know who you are.

Now why didn't you think of that?