Creating a dinner for two

For those of you that don't know me, I am single and live completely on my own.  So... this task was a treat for me.  I love to cook.  I have been known to spend hours in the kitchen.  Those that are close to me always look forward to the Holiday meals.  Although, when I'm on my own, I tend to find myself stuck in a routine.  I'm always buying the same foods and cooking the same things with an occasional variety thrown in... boring.  So, I took on the challenge of inviting a guest to dinner.  The two of us had just recently gone out to dinner, which is a very different experience, and I was craving a burger.  Unfortunately, I'm not one to eat meat at a restaurant that can't tell me where their meat comes from, "That's a question you have to ask our meat distributor, not me [the owner]," so I rarely order animal products at restaurants.  With that said, I had been craving a burger for a week, but knew I wouldn't enjoy it without another person sitting beside me.  So, I'd chosen the meal I would make, chosen the friend I would make it for, and called her up the night before to invite her to dinner.
The next morning I went rushing off to the store to purchase sweet potatoes for the "fries" and organic lettuce for the burger.  As I said, I'd been craving a burger for a week, so I'd already purchased the local grass-fed beef at the store a day or two earlier.  On my way home, I thought about my timing, given that I had to be at a rehearsal for 4 hours right before my dinner guest would arrive.  Mixing the yeast, flour, honey and warm water to create the sponge of my hamburger buns was exciting, but then I had to let it rest for half and hour,  Gosh, making yeasted bread always reminds me of the patience one needs to let things create and gives me much appreciation for the seasoning of time.  Of course, I jumped to the next thing, chopping and seasoning the sweet potato fries while the yeast was doing it's job.  Next to my favorite part, 10 minutes of kneading- this for me is the practice of Ahimsa, sanskrit for non-violence.  The kneading of the dough can be a rather violent if you so desired, but then the dough would be too harsh, too dense and unforgiving to the teeth.  Rather, kneading the dough gently, calmly and serenely can be a very meditative and soothing rhythm for 10 consecutive minutes.  And to know that someone dear to me would be eating this is always a treasure.
After the work was done, my friend arrived and the cooking commensed, the aroma was heavenly; burgers, fresh whole-wheat rolls, caramelized onions and garlicky sweet potato fries were spilling into our nostrils causing our mouths to water.  We were starving.  And boy, was the food delicious!
This was certainly a wonderful way to change my monotonous life of always the same food, same time, same place and same company.  We had good food, good conversation and lots of laughter over a simple meal that was worth every second of my time.  In fact, I enjoyed this change so much, I called another friend who's headed over for lunch on Friday.  Yippee!