Cooking for One
Joe E Hartley
October 2022
Readers,
As I've mentioned many times before, I am a senior and relate much better to people my own age than I do to those fresh out of high school.
I write stories about seniors (those over 65) having sex (yes, grandma and grandpa still have sex) so if that's not your thing, then this story is not for you.
Joeehartley
Jim loaded up his shopping card with another week's worth of frozen dinners. Not only were they expensive but they also had no flavor. He longed for a home cooked meal.
Being retired and on a fixed income, he could not afford to go out to eat and everything in the cookbook he had, said it fed many more people than just him. He was not willing to eat the same thing for four or five days straight, or worse throw most of it away; that would waste even more money.
He noticed a flyer on the bulletin board at the grocery story, he always checked it out looking for new senior activities. This one promoted a new class at the senior center called "Cooking for One"; That sounded like the class he needed and best of all most of the classes at the senior center were free.
Jim headed over to the senior center, he's been there many times before for various activities; it provided an outlet for anytime he was bored. He signed up for the class; they needed a head count to justify the cost of offering this or any class.
The class was due to start soon, so he took a seat and waited. Looking around, he saw many more women than men and most he didn't know. He started up a conversation with a woman seated next to him and found out that, like him, she lived alone and was tired of eating prepared meals. She had been a pretty good cook when she had a family to cook for, but now that was just too much food and she couldn't afford to waste it.
The class started and Jim took notes on the handouts they gave him. Most of the techniques involved how to cut the recipes in half and to buy smaller sizes of ingredients, or to use ingredients that could be saved. He made note to use one real tomato rather than opening a can of diced tomatoes.
The recipes shared in this class were very basic and assumed that no one actually knew how to cook. Jim and the majority of the women he saw there were disappointed and several asked if the presenters had any more complicated recipes rather than just spaghetti.
After the class Jim hung around and talked with several of the women. They shared their frustrations with each other until one suggested they start up a meal co-op. Where, on a rotating schedule, one person would make a normal sized meal and invite the others over to share.
Jim shared his phone number with the other women who seemed interested and collected a few numbers for himself. He noticed that more than one of the women eyed him up and down as if she were interested in more than just cooking food.
He also noted that these same women were worth at least a second look. It was more than just a home cooked meal that he missed.
There were no actual plans made, but several promises that they should all do this and soon.
Jim went back home convinced that the plan of the cooking co-op would never happen when his phone rang.
"Hi, Jim. This is Gail, we just talked at the senior center about a cooking co-op. I wanted to know if you are serious about it. I talk with so many who expressed an interest, but never want to make a plan."
"Hi, Gail. Yes, I'm very interested and was surprised at all the talk about doing it sometime. I've learned over the years that meant it would never happen. When would you like to share a meal?" Jim answered. Gail was one of the women he thought deserved a second look and maybe more.
"I'm glad. It's too late to plan anything for tonight, but would you like to come over tomorrow for some meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I haven't had meatloaf is such a long time," she offered.
"I'd love to, meatloaf was once my favorite and next day meatloaf sandwiches were the best," Jim shared.
They made the plan regarding time and what Jim could bring. He got her address and looked forward to having a traditional home cooked mean and with a nice-looking woman.
Gail was pleased she had reached out to the attractive man she met at the senior center; meatloaf wasn't the only thing she hadn't had in a while. She wondered what she would have to do to get his interest. Sexy clothing had always worked when she was younger, and she didn't think that men ever outgrew their attraction to female body parts. Her breasts were not large and now that was a good thing because she didn't have to wear a bra.
She made her grocery list, she even checked her old recipe to make sure she didn't forget anything, then she checked her closet for something to wear that was just a bit revealing.
Jim was pleased to have gotten a call from Gail. She did seem to be checking him out more than the other women had. He was aware that might just be wishful thinking on his part, but anything could happen. The least he would get would be some meatloaf; he'd dream about more this evening.
Jim arrived at Gail's door at 4:30 as preplanned with a bottle of wine and rang the doorbell. He dressed casually as Gail had recommended. He wore shorts and a Tee-shirt.
Gail opened the door, allowed him inside her home and embraced him with a warm hug that lasted a bit longer than what he expected. She ended the hug with a sigh of pleasure. She wore an oversized crème colored tank top that appeared very short. Jim noticed that she had very nice athletic looking thighs.
