The small dinners sound like a great idea. Not only because they’ll keep you from drifting back into isolation, but because they’ll be good training, too. Part of the learning curve in cooking is good time management—anticipating the sequence of steps involved when executing multiple courses, and factoring that in to menu planning—deciding what can be done in advance, executing other things a la minute. Cooking a couple of courses for friends and family is a low-stress way to practice this. They won’t care if you sit down to dinner a little late!
Besides, one of the things that I’ve found to be true of most good chefs is that they’re driven not only by talent and hard work but also a genuine love of making other people happy with their food. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but if food is served with generosity of spirit, it will most definitely come right back at you.
It’s probably one of the things that you enjoyed from your restaurant days, yes? Experiencing that with your guests will lift your spirits and remind you of why all this hard work will be worth it.
