“Like most Americans, I was brought up thinking of food as fuel: something that should be prepared and consumed as quickly as possible - an unfortunate distraction from the hard work of living.

Now I demand much more of my meals - but I have even less time to cook them. As a single parent, part-time commuter and full-time wage slave, my dinner options on the average workday are limited: we can have leftovers or we can have cereal. Every weekend, I cook up a big pot of something that keeps well (curry, or tuna-noodle casserole) and we eat that as long as we can stand it. By Friday, Cheerios and red wine sounds more appealing.”