Cookbook author and Chez Panisse alum Deborah Madison and her husband Patrick McFarlin asked friends and strangers, "What do you eat when no one is watching?"

The answers are in their new book What We Eat When We Eat Alone. Yes, Solitary eating has its many reasons.

Among the things they learned, men and women have different solo habits.

Duh! I really need to write a book.

Men would never curl up on the sofa with a mug of hot cocoa; women rarely would pick up a nice big, piece of steak to grill at home, they found.

My women friends and I have long said we can dine on cheese (and do when we are alone). But our men, they need a piece of meat no matter what. My father went along when my mother served breakfast for dinner. But not in my house.

It doesn't matter that nearly every man I know takes Lipitor to lower their cholesterol or that some have had health scares. Nature calls and tells them meat means dinner. Can you really fight millions of years of hunting? More often than not, not.

You can read more about the Madison book and find a few recipes in the Wednesday food section tomorrow, or on projo.com/food.

Here's my dream dinner, minus the beef in the corner.