Man in the kitchen, beware.

With the election process ending, how much more can we really take, the back and forth, the incessant adds, the political maneuvering for position?  Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good partisan battle but let’s face it; it’s time to move into other areas of discussion.  The politics will take care of themselves and we’ve done all we can do, I’m voting on Tuesday, I hope the rest of you are as well.

My daddy duties, that almost sounds something a kid does in his diaper, were expanded this week when my wife informed me that I needed to start doing the shopping, cooking, planning of all the meals.  My first instinct was to say, “are you sure you want to eat what I make?” meaning that I don’t want to be responsible, and want to continue simply sitting down and eating what’s made. 

 

This is a huge responsibility.  My wife instinctively knows what to make, she knows what’s in the kitchen, what we have in the freezer and knows how to put seemingly unconnected food items together to make meals that actually taste good.  I’m forced to make a spread sheet to categorize all the miscellaneous cans and food stuffs just to get an idea of what we have.  The problem is, even with knowing I’m not sure I know what to do with what we have. 

I started searching recipes and internet sites that help with creating a shopping list, there’s even one that will help create a meal based on what you have, it’s all so overwhelming. The worst part is I have to cook and shop and plan and organize the kitchen.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a good cook, I can make killer chili, just ask my kids.  My crème tuna is amazing and, and …ok I need to follow a recipe and I think it will turn out ok when I’m done…and keep in mind, most of the top chefs of the world are men, so I think I have the genetic disposition for kitchen duty but they have help, minions running around doing what their told, all I’ve got is me and a limited budget, which by the way brings up another issue: How does my wife buy what she needs and feed this family on what she’s telling me she spends?

For those who are in my position of culinary responsibility any advice would be appreciated.  Maybe we can have a recipe swapping party, have a salad and discuss the latest novel, or talk about ….ooh my gosh give me a shot of testosterone….