Men Who Cook (Attractive Characteristics to OUTSPOKEN_DIVA)

One day I am going to buy those kind of aprons for my husband. I refuse to be the only person in my marriage that cooks. I don't mind cooking 85% of the time but my husband must know how to & be willing to cook.

People that know me in offline land know it puzzles me adults that don't know how to cook. Funny part is the gender I mostly know that don't know how to cook are Women. I can't name one man in my life that can't or couldn't cook. If there is one, I don't want to know.

My Grandfather

My grandfather could cook. My great uncles was a much better cook than my great aunts. My dad would cook when my mom was worked late according to my sister. All my male 1st cousins can cook. That is what one does for a living.

Bestie Boo

My Bestie Boo, (He's my best friend & I'm one of his boobies) L.J. can throw down in the kitchen. He and I are always gabbing about what we are cooking and trading recipes. Football Nerd could cook too. One of my good ex's used call me all the time for recipes before he got married. He called so much I made him a folder. Matter of fact I went to his home and taught him how to make pasta salads & broccoli-rice casserole. Even the leader of the bad ex list made me a cheesecake. It was Jello No-Bake but he made it. So, I really don't understand the attitude that Cooking is Women's Work  I don't know for it to exist. Cooking is Everyone's Work. If it is not, how did you eat before I married you? Who provided you with meals when we were dating?

Now, a man doesn't have to cook like G. Garvin (Eye Candy List Member) Tyler Florence (Former Eye Candy List Member (Married)) , Aaron McCargo (Almost Eye Candy List Member(Married)) or any famed chef. Many of us don't cook like that. That is why they have shows so they can show us how to make meals we don't know how to make. Hey, Tyler Florence taught me how to make a Thanksgiving turkey. It just need him to know how to make at least

5 breakfast dishes

3 non-sandwich lunches

7 dinners

15 basic dishes is not a lot of recipes to know how to prepare. 3 meals a day for 7 days a week equal 21 meals a week. Man who can cook tells me

1. He know & uses his basic math & reading skills. People need to those to follow a recipe. Most recipes are not created for the single person. He has to know how to reduce that recipe to fit his needs.
2. He may know how to invest his money. It is cheaper to cook than to eat out. Convenience is expensive. Also he owns more than just salt, pepper, steak sauce, ketchup, mustard & hot sauce to season his food. 
3. He may have an idea what he is eating. Unlike foods purchased from the grocery store, restaurants do not have to disclose ingredients, calories, fat, or additives in your meal.
4. He may be making healthier choices. Now, this is a big may be. I hope his 15 dishes don't only come out of a can or be microwaved. That's not cooking that is warming up.
5. He can teach me about the things he likes & dislikes. Maybe I don't know how to make his favorite dish, It would such a great bonding experience to learn how to make it. 

So, hats off to the men that cook!!!

No woman wants a man that could Not take care of himself before she met him. Cooking for yourself is a part of taking care of yourself. Parent if you are not teaching your children, as in daughters and sons how to cook, you are doing them a disservice. Now, off to clean the kitchen. Everybody is fed in my home. I told you I don't mind cooking most of the time. I mind cooking all the time.


As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms

My Cooking Origins

I love my clients. I told my long-standing ones about my newest blog series for February and a couple of them came flocking over here to read about it.

One of them made a request. Well, I'll grant that one. I know why she wants me to share my story. She thinks my story is funny. I think it is boring. When I met her, she couldn't cook. It is weird to me for anyone old enough to move out of their parents home and not know how to prepare a meal. I've known several people who don't know to cook. She was my first client that couldn't cook. Well, choosing healthy recipes for her was hard back then. But now she cooks a lot. I've actually eaten a few of her meals I have provided recipes for her. They have been very tasty.

Okay, I was probably 6 years old being able to prepare my own breakfast & lunch. I'm not talking about make bowls of cereal. I could make my peanut butter toast by then. Also, my sister never would cut my sandwiches diagonally so, I took on that task. So, my attitude behind learning to cook was formed early. Growing up my grandmother cooked during the week and my mother & youngest aunt cooked on the weekends. One constant rule in our home has been, if You don't like what was prepared, You fix You something else. On New Year's Day, my family eats chitterlings (the small intestines of a pig, although the intestines of cattle and other animals are sometimes so named when used as a foodstuff). As long as I never acted as though I had an interest in them, I didn't. At age 11, I decided to eat chitterlings. They were gross. They tasted as they smelled. They had a rubbery texture and didn't chew. To finish them, I eventually I had to add black-eyed peas, greens, & cornbread in eat a bite. After that meal, I added that to the long list of foods I don't eat. At age 12 my aunt got married, leaving me the youngest person in the house. I also was the only person that didn't eat chitterlings in the house. I had a month and a half to learn to make me something that matched cornbread, greens & black-eyed peas. I decided on baked chicken parts. Being 12, my mom & grandparents thought that my venture was precocious and agreed with it. Well, three weeks before New Year's Day, I was home by myself with my brother. I had the bright idea to be proactive to fix dinner. I decided on some chili. Put the canned chili in the pot, seasoned it, and warmed it up. My family was so proud of me. Then we all sat down to eat dinner.

It was the saltiest stuff known to man. The only person who enjoyed it was my grandfather, who salted all his food. Lesson learned: Don't put salt in canned chili. Three weeks later, I baked chicken parts perfectly. And since then I have been responsible for my own New Year's Day meal.

Now I cook most of the meals in my home. Trust me, I still have had some failures.

Fact: I had to go to college to learn how to properly fry chicken.

Baked chicken has progressed into learning how to make stuff like these.

Beer Can Chicken

White Bean & Turkey Stew

Shrimp & Spinach Wrap

Malt-O-Meal Muffins

My nephew (here making a cake, I taught him to make) may not ever believe (or know) I oversalted the chili. First thing I taught him to do was squeeze lemons for a Lemon Meringue Pie at age 3 (wake me up at 6:30 am, I will put you to work).
This pie is actually his sister's pie, that I taught her to make a few years ago. She now also, makes very tasty meals.

And that was the start of my cooking journey. I've come a long way from over salted chili & baked chicken.

Don't know what those two dishes will lead to learning to cook next but, I'll be ready to make it

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms