POLL: Who does the meal preparation at your house?

Awesome story Jenise! And you are such a sweet wife. That sounds like something my husband would do, but I wouldn't have thought it was cute and probably would have not been overly appreciative at that moment...LOL!

Jenise, that is so typical of a man. I always ask Gene if he is thinking with the empty box in his head, because that is something he would do. And upon questioning him as to why he did it, he would then say, "I thought you were being artistic with the food for our company". Well, I do that now and then so I guess it would make sense! Cute story. I must admit that I am a big fan of the Women/Men/Mars/Venus theory!

I voted that it doesn't apply since I am single. When my son is here or I have friends over I am usually happy to let them pitch in...with my guidance, of course. I do, however, have a handful of chef-friends that I will let have carte blanche in my kitchen.

rwj

[James Roscoe]

Where is the line for "I'm a married male'"? Geez, my wife is such a good cook, I hardly know what the kitchen looks like.

[Jenise]

Where is the line for "I'm a married male'"? Geez, my wife is such a good cook, I hardly know what the kitchen looks like.

You're right, I forgot the voyeur category.

I cook, she cooks. She handles the weekday meals and I get the weekends. Hers is more food for being consumed. Mine is generally a little more involved, though not always. It's all about available time and schedules.

[Jenise]

Scott, if work weren't an issue, would you be cooking together? I'm surprised that only three people who answered this poll do.

I clicked "I do all the cooking" because that's pretty much the full story. To be fair, on weekends, my husband will occasionally make breakfast for me or for guests who happen to be in the house, but I have to give him step by step instructions every time. Here's how it goes:

Me: "Put out orange juice, toast some english muffins, get out some apricot preserves. The good butter is in the outside freezer. Cook some breakfast sausages and put eggs in the egg-cooker."
Kirk: "Where's the orange juice?"
Me: In the fridge.
Kirk (15 minutes later): "I can't find the english muffins or the sausages." You said cherry jam, right?
Me: Never mind, I'm coming downstairs now.

He barely knows how to turn on the oven. In fact until a month ago, he really had no idea how to turn it on and we had to deal with a raw chicken that I thought would be roasted when we got home from an errand one afternoon when I asked him to turn on the oven.
He really appreciates my cooking and I think he'd probably like to know how to do more himself, but he has no intuition about how to cook anything except maybe a fried egg. But if he's making fried eggs, he'll cook the eggs first, then remember there should be toast, and by the time the toast is done the eggs are overcooked and/or cold. He did make a wonderful cheesecake for me as a surprise once on my birthday, using a complicated recipe, so I know he'd be capable if I wanted to relinquish some of the cooking duties, but then I'd have to clean up after him. As it is, he cleans up after me, which suits me just fine.
I'm not really complaining about him, after all we've been married almost 39 years, but I'm still somewhat astonished that a guy who is so intelligent, accomplished and talented in so many ways cannot make an edible meal without me holding his hand every step of the way.

[James Roscoe]

Scott, if work weren't an issue, would you be cooking together? I'm surprised that only three people who answered this poll do.

You didn't leave a category for ME. Look at all the people who claim to do ALL the cooking. Doesn't that imply an equal number of 'voyeurs" as you put it? (I might be inclined to be somewhat crasser.)

Scott, if work weren't an issue, would you be cooking together? I'm surprised that only three people who answered this poll do.

No, it'd probably be me, Jenise. She sees it as more of a chore; I'm the one that gets entertainment value out of it.

Scott, if work weren't an issue, would you be cooking together? I'm surprised that only three people who answered this poll do.

I was one of the three. Cindy and I do a lot of cooking together although in total she probably does more than I. I pretty much do all the grilling and BBQ while she does all the baking. Prep and salads and veggies and fruits are usually done by whoever is free or both of us. I also handle the sommelier and bartending duties.

My wife can cook but she doesn't enjoy it nearly as much as I do so for the most part it is easier to divide the household chores with me shopping for food and cooking it and her doing the cleaning. Works well for me because I actually enjoy the shopping and cooking, which she sometimes complains about because she doesn't really 'enjoy' cleaning. But, she can also knock out the cleaning pretty quickly on the weekend whereas the shopping and cooking is an ongoing time issue.

Depending on our schedules we do cook together sometimes, and although I usually enjoy having complete control I am always impressed with how fast everything goes with two people instead of just one!

Sometimes she will want to cook, if I don't have time or if there is a special dish she wants to have, but then I find it very difficult not to contribute my 'advice' about how she should be doing this or that

Scott, if work weren't an issue, would you be cooking together? I'm surprised that only three people who answered this poll do.

My wife and I do cook together once in a while. Not often because usually one of us is busy with the kids. When we do, I have to say it works really well. We have a small kitchen that's not laid out well, but we manage to work together without bumping into each other or knocking stuff on the floor. This even when we're rushing around trying to get a bunch of stuff ready for a dinner party.

[Robin Garr]

Scott, if work weren't an issue, would you be cooking together? I'm surprised that only three people who answered this poll do.

Not answering for Scott, but in our case, Mary will often hang out in the kitchen with me just to be there and do odd jobs, so I suppose it was a little selfish of me to answer "I do the cooking" (for dinner). But most often she's been working her butt off all day, and one of the aspects of my cooking is that she gets to sit and read and catch her breath while I'm doing something that I enjoy.

When I got home, ALL of the potatoes were peeled halfway.

Splendid! Delightful! What a great story. Thank you for telling it.

Ditto. That story is adorable.

Not so adorable when your mate is literal and almost everything you ask them to do is done this way! Needless to say, I do ALL the cooking!! It's just a safer bet.

With an active 3-year-old in the house, both cooking together is a rare option, though we both like to cook. However, the division of labor doesn't fit any of the neat categories. Jean likes to cook simple meals (meat, starch, veggie) and I like to cook more elaborate dishes (paella, risotto, cassoulet, mole Poblano, lapin a la moutarde). Fortunately, Jean likes to eat those dishes, so we have a fairly harmonious operation.

Mark Lipton

Same here, Traci. Well--almost, Bob does the bartending AFTER I select the wine. But he sets the table and keeps me company.

Carrie, I always had the same romantic vision of two people cooking together. So when I met Bob, a total non-cook, I was so excited when he said that he'd always had that same romantic vision. We now officially refer to that statement as "the only lie Bob has ever told". He claims that the first time he ever saw me slice an onion at lightning speed, he changed his mind about thinking he could be helpful. He just doesn't have any instincts--once we were preparing for a party and under the crunch time-wise when I realized we were missing a crucial ingredient and had to make a grocery run. He said what can I do to help while you're gone and I pointed to a bag of potatoes and said, "peel about half of those". When I got home, ALL of the potatoes were peeled halfway. It was the cutest thing, I'd have given anything to not have had to tell him that he misunderstood.

Reminiscent of when I asked a student to go out to the garden to get some basil for a pasta dish we were preparing.

Just happened to be the day a writer was there doing a piece for Memphis Magazine. She was standing right by the door, notebook in hand, when he returned from foraging.

He stepped in the door and proudly held up the basil plant with its roots dripping soil. It was about three feet tall and quite full.

"Is this what you wanted, Chef?"

The writer laughed her ass off and the incident made the article.

[Jenise]

Reminiscent of when I asked a student to go out to the garden to get some basil for a pasta dish we were preparing.

Cute story. It's hard sometimes, isn't it, to put yourself in the shoes of someone who knows less than you so that all possible misunderstandings are avoided?