Posted: Jul 7, 08 6:47am

I grew up cooking for six (starting at age ten), and have cooked for as many as three hundred, with a little help. To say that I have had occasional trouble cooking portions appropriate for just my girlfriend and I would be a serious understatement.

I have come up with two solutions: bento and sharing.

Bento (or obento) is the name for the Japanese practice of taking small portions of prepared foods to work or school in separate containers, and assembling one's meal when one is ready to eat. This allows for tremendous variety, and lets one take foods for lunch that really shouldn't be packed together.

My American adaptation of this tradition is to use inexpensive plastic containers, reusable ice packs, and six-pack coolers. Instead of struggling to cook for two, I cook for four, which is handy because most recipes are written for four servings. We eat the meal once for dinner, and again for lunch. This saves us tons of money, because we're not eating out for lunch, and has the added benefit of providing lunches that are better tasting and more nutritious than fast food.

I also love to bake. This weekend, I made a cheesecake, and then cooked up fresh blueberry muffins for Sunday brunch. My lovely partner and I can't possibly eat all of that before it goes bad. Guess whose colleagues are getting surprise cheesecake at lunchtime today! One of the glorious things about food is its social nature and the joy of sharing. In our electronically isolated society, food can be the bridge to real (dare I say it) face-to-face interaction with others. So make extra muffins or cookies, and find someone to share them with.