Bring some substance to the party

I had a nice note from Alanna Kellogg, a food writer from Missouri, who echoed my sentiment that a lot of people are too reluctant to cook these days. She says the way to get over that is to cook something "substantial" every day. At least one thing. I like that. That's a great charge for every household in the country.

But it' a tall order for most Americans, who eat out ALL the time. Every family in the country (except I guess those who own restaurants) would be better off if we all reduced the number of times we eat out each week. When I had kids at home and a full-time job, fast food especially was such an easy way to go. Now I regret every drive-thru meal I ever bought them. I always meant to orchestrate my weekends so I would cook good casseroles and side dishes ahead of time for us to enjoy throughout the week. I never got into the groove. And now I realize it's not that hard a groove to get into.

I say that, but, sigh, yesterday I cooked nothing-- lunch was leftover Fourth of July potato salad, and we had dinner at Il Vicino, our neighborhood pizza joint. We don't eat out often, but this weekend is shaping up to be a shaky foundation for a solid week ahead of home-cooked meals -- we're going fishing with friends and won't get back to town 'til tomorrow afternoon. I need to make sure I do a thorough shopping trip when we get home and plan some menus. For now, I need to bake some scones for our fishing trip. (That'll have to count as "cooking something substantial" for today...)