How Bad Can That Be?

Welcome to a very poignant and personal Little Kitchen Mouse.
I have been openly obsessed with Ina Garten and Jennifer Aniston for many years. Jen was always the coolest and Ina always the classiest. But lately I've been having my doubts. The truth is... The Contessiston has just lost its luster.



It started about a year ago. Ina's new and quite boring show Back To Basics had just debuted and Jen was involved in a very public and disturbing romance with John Mayer.

I saw the red flags,and ignored them. I went against every instinct I had, squashed down my uncomfortable feelings, and remained loyal.

You know what happens when you ignore the red flags and the bad feelings? A very disillusioned Cindee happens.

AnonyMouse warned me. He tried to be playful, but honesty can be brutal. We were watching a particularly decadent episode of The Contessa. AM bluntly commented that what she was joyfully cooking for her beloved Jeffrey looked a like "a saucepan full of death". Ignorance may be bliss, but feeding your loved one that much butter is just irresponsible.
Meanwhile, Jen was making the rounds on the Late Night talk shows celebrating herself. We were watching a particularly painful interview with either Leno or Letterman, when the subject and a copy of THAT GQ came up. She looked mortified. Her golden glow actually faded on national TV.

I was officially done. Their passive-aggressive behavior was now very apparent. A very sad feeling. Much like the feeling I had when I realized I couldn't eat McDonald's with abandon anymore.

How bad can that be? Disappointment, for lack of a better word, sucks. I now have to re-examine who I admire, which isn't such a bad thing. In the big picture, it's a very good thing.

And no, this does not mean I'll go all Martha Stewart and Sandra Bullock on you. I'll have a new set of obsessions soon, and all will be right with the world once again.

Three Obsessions I'm Still Proud To Own Up To

1. Split Enz
2. Cheese
3. Weather

All By Myself

I don't like eating alone.
Not because it makes me feel lonely, but because it makes me combine things that should not be combined in one meal.

Some people look at the lone meal as a gourmet production. They set the table, they pick a nice wine. It's lovely.

My lone meals are highly suspect, low in healthy content, and are never spoken of again.

My go-to lone meal used to be a salad. Don't be fooled by this. A simple bowl of greens can be rendered unrecognizable with the right amounts of pasta, cheese, and dressing.
Is there a possibility that a menu involving Wonder Bread, baloney, and Fritos was planned? Maybe.

I don't usually decide on how processed the meal is going to be until the last minute. A few factors come into play: weather, day of the week, and TV schedule.I also find that I talk to myself a lot while composing these meals. It's usually mindless chit-chat, but there was one time when I had to defend myself to myself over my choice of Elio's Pizza and Hostess Cupcakes.

My recent flirtation with healthy food may change the footloose and fancy free quality of my next lone meal, but that's a conversation I will save for myself.

Five Lone Meals I May Or May Not Have Eaten

1. Underwood deviled ham on D'taliano white bread
2. Elbows with a jar of tomato sauce
3. Cheese, a spoonful of peanut butter, and a blondie
4. Herring in cream sauce
5. Cold lasagne