I Cook Now, Did You Know That?

Posted By: Adam 3 Comments

Have I mentioned that I cook now? A while back, Megan and I started making deals. I work full time, and she works part time and cleans the house and pays bills. I cut the grass, weed-whack, and edge; she poop-scoops and rakes. I take the trash out, she does my laundry. She vacuums, I lift my feet as she vacuums under them.

Another one of those deals is that, except in the event of extenuating circumstances, I do the cooking, and she does the dishes. This deal came about because we used to try to alternate who would do which, so that neither of us would have to do both on the same night. I never have liked doing dishes, and apparently Megan doesn't enjoy cooking much (baking may be another story), so this eventually evolved into me cooking full time and her doing dishes full time. And on top of that, it's up to me to plan dinners for at least a few weeks in advance so that we have everything we need (she does the shopping), and so that we remember to thaw frozen things in time and can eat less boxed food because everything is still frozen.

Megan openly admits that she doesn't feel very adventurous when it comes to cooking. She sticks to what she knows she likes. On the other hand, I tend to let my nose lead the way. That's not to say that I don't follow any recipes or stick to familiar things. On the contrary, I use them all the time. I just am a bit more adventurous when it comes to flavoring. I like to open the cupboard, grab random spices, pop the lids, and sniff. If I think a few things smell good together and will go well on the dish I'm working on, we try it.

I have also found a culinary mentor in Alton Brown. I watch a lot of Good Eats, which is sort of what you might get if you crossed Julia Child with Mr. Wizard. I've yet to find an episode that I didn't find interesting and quite watchable, even if the topic was a food I'm not at all interested in, like celery. A funny thing he does occasionally on his show is to bring up a tangent, explore it just a little bit, and then cut it off and say something along the lines of, "but that will have to wait for its own show." With any luck, I can do the same here. At least I seem to have managed to pull it off so far. We'll see how long it holds up.

I like to think that my cooking goes hand in hand with my new willingness to try new foods. I've tried tomatoes in the past, and didn't like them much; but we went to a new burger joint in Philly over the weekend and I forgot to order my burger without lettuce and tomato. When it arrived, I decided to just bite the bullet — or the tomato, as it were — and leave it on, instead of picking it off like I normally would have. Again, I didn't vomit, but again, I was not impressed. And honestly, if even Iron Chef Bobby Flay can't make a tomato that I like, I'm not sure anyone ever will.

3 responses to “I Cook Now, Did You Know That?”

  1. Glad to see you take more after me in this regard. It sounds like you put some time and effort into it at least!

    Cooking is more than just throwing things together using a list of ingredients and some basic instructions. The part I work hardest at is not overcooking. Nothing does more to damage the taste than spending too much time over (in) heat and losing all the juices. I think thats why I always hated crockpot chicken - it was usually done hours before it was served. I usually had to find something else to eat afterwards just because I couldn't choke it down.

    Next is planning everything to come out at about the same time. This is a lot easier once you've made everything a few times and kind of know when to get started on each. If I'm not paying attention I'll forget to put the bread in the oven on time.

    But you've definately pinpointed one of the hardest parts about preparing meals! Planning what to cook. Setting up meals weeks in advance invites redundancy. Not altogether bad if you enjoy eating the same things a lot (like me with shake-n-bake chicken or spaghetti). Hopefully you'll be adventurous enough to bring new ideas to the table (literally).

    I used to think of the sample trays in grocery stores as a nice snack but now I use them to consider if I want to make what they are offering. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

    Recently I did a gumbo for the office (after the Saints won the Superbowl). That got me thinking about red beans and rice, another New Orleans staple. Now I've got the stuff ready to swing into action.

    I've had some good luck making wings too. Never really thought of them as a dinner type of thing until recently but they do the job. BBQ, hot, mild, fried, baked, etc. Lots of variations.

    Looking forward to seeing some of your more creative ideas - just so I can give some of them a try myself. Maybe Dylan can get used to eating some things before he's old enough to decide he doesn't like the look or name of a vegetable.

    I guess the final question would be - if Megan isn't an adventurous cook is she an adventurous eater?

    Dad

    Dad ~ Apr 20, 2010 at 2:50 PM

  2. We struck a similar deal: whoever cooks doesn't have to do the dishes. Because John's schedule has been so crazy lately, I've been doing most of the cooking, which works out well because I really hate to do the dishes!

    Maggie

    Maggie ~ Apr 20, 2010 at 3:23 PM

  3. I totally identify with Megan. I always stuck to what I know and can do without taking any unnecessary chances. You definitely did not get the cooking bug handed down from me, that is for sure. Keep up the good work... and when you guys get bored (if that should ever happen) with you cooking and Megan cleaning, you can always switch it up a bit for a while.

    You gotta do what works for you! (And it certainly sounds like this works!)

    <3 Mom

    MomT

    MomT ~ Apr 20, 2010 at 3:31 PM

Leave this field empty: