For years my husband has been the chef of the house and I have been the baker, salad maker, and the dishwasher. I never found cooking nightly meals relaxing and he seemed to be able to lose all the troubles of the day while whipping up one scrumptious meal after another.Whenever we go out to dinner, he samples his food…looks up at the ceiling…and proceeds to recite the ingredients he is tasting. I have no idea what is in my food. Not too long after a night out, the delectable meal finds its way to our dinner table with Gary’s improvements.
Now I love to bake. I don’t bake during the week but on weekends and vacations when I have plenty of time to shop, make a mess of my kitchen, and clean up. My baking is never better than our local bakery and I have to follow a recipe. Everyone in the family eats my pies, bars, and cookies just the same.
During the summer, in an attempt to give my husband a break, I prepare a few meals. There is the standard chicken salad, potato salad, macaroni salad and occasionally Rachel Ray inspires me to try something new. Last night it was Milanese linguini with an orange and asparagus salad. I labored over it for a couple hours (she cooks it up in fifteen minutes) trying my best to follow the directions. I actually enjoyed the process because there was no time crunch. My husband ate it all even though I am pretty sure a citrus flavored salad is not something he would order if he were dining out. I know he appreciated my attempt to get creative. Tomorrow night he will cook again and I will be very happy to give the kitchen back to him as I take my rightly place as salad maker, baker, and cleaner-upper.
Nice to hear you & your husband have it all worked out so beautifully. I like that you still dabble, but are willing to have your husband do the most. It was fun to hear what happens when you go out to eat, & what you like to do with the baking. Good description! And happy eating, from whomever!
ReplyDeleteYour descriptions are fun. What a great activity you share with your husband.
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun post to read. Enjoy the meals your husband cooks. He clearly has talent. You two seem to have a healthy balance. Baking and dishwashing matter a lot. Baking is an art too. If your husband ate what you cooked it must have been tasty. Sometimes when I experiment with meals my husband and children politely say: "Thank you for the meal, but please don't make that again."
ReplyDeleteTerje
I am no Rachel Ray either, so I could really relate to this piece. My husband has a long commute to work, so I still do most of the cooking (looking forward to his retirement, when he is likely to take up more of the cooking). It was nice to hear you just say it out loud - that you don't love cooking - because I have always felt a little shy to just admit it.
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