Shortly after we started dating he told me that he went to visit his parents every Sunday. I thought that was so wonderful, until I realized that it was simply to snag at least one home cooked meal every week. OK, I can understand that. But then he revealed that he dragged all his dirty laundry home for mom to wash! OH NO. This would not fly with me. I gave him a stern lecture about being an adult and that dragging your laundry home to mommy wasn't exhibiting a high level of personal responsibility. Even back then I was all about personal responsibility.
It's amazing that he continued to date me but he must have realized that I was right.
A short while later he invited me to his pad for the first time. I had been to parties in some pretty horrible bachelor pads. There was one in particular that I'm pretty sure had to be leveled when the guys moved out. But the farmer's apartment wasn't that bad. It could have used a little detailing but it wasn't horrible.
He promised to cook me dinner and I was curious as to what might be on the menu. Looking around the kitchen I noticed this:
Yes! There was a copy of Betty Crocker's Cook Book on the counter. Could it be that I found a guy that could actually cook?
It was probably placed there to impress unsuspecting young ladies. The dinner he prepared was not from a recipe, that's for sure. He dug through his freezer and cabinets, grabbing what he had on hand. His ingredients were chicken breasts, pizza sauce and some mozzarella cheese. He called his concoction "Pizza Chicken" and although it wasn't gourmet fare, it was edible and filling. Good thing because there wasn't any dessert!
My guess is that his mother gave him her old copy of he cookbook as a gift for his new apartment. It was obviously used and now it's literally falling apart.
It resides on our bookshelf and I refer to it often.
I don't believe the Farmer ever actually opened the book. I could be wrong.
Today's young menl seem to know how to cook. Is that because their mothers trained them well? My nephews are accomplished cooks and I'm so jealous. It would have been wonderful to have had help during my working years when I was constantly faced with the "what's for dinner?" problem.
Do your husbands or sons cook? Please tell me I'm not alone with not one, but two non-cooking males in the house.
ED. NOTE: Omigosh, I forgot to include the Farmer's famous recipe for Hot Dog
Soup. It goes hand-in-hand with my hot dog bun snippet of the day.
THE FARMER'S FAMOUS HOT DOG SOUP
1 package hot dogs
8 cups of water
Bring the water to a boil in a large pan over high heat. Add the hot dogs and continued to boil for at least 15 minutes.
Remove the hot dogs and throw them away. Serve the soup!
HONESTLY...he used to tell people this was his best recipe. What a joker he is.
11 comments:
Yes, my son cooks most nights of the week for his family and seems to enjoy it a lot. I do find it rather incredible, but he was encouraged to participate in the kitchen and I guess it took.
I enjoyed reading about your early days of dating the Farmer and grinned to know that his pad was not a complete disaster and that he could be counted upon to serve up something edible.
Hubby can cook, but only simple fare like scrambled eggs, burgers and brats. He did once make some awesome chicken-veggie soup when I was really ill. And I hear he used to make peanut butter cookies late at night after partying in high school!
Favorite son, 17, on the other hand, is a culinary whiz-kid. He does things that I wouldn't mess with--like candy fondant for his hand made chocolates. No, I'm not kidding...he recently made over 200 for his cousin's wedding reception! He just whipped up 4 scrumptious loaves of French bread to test out my new Bosch mixer. He's extremely competent at cooking...but not so much at cleaning up after himself.
He made a pronouncement at age 5 that he wanted to be a chef. A few weeks later he discovered professional bowling on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Without taking his eyes from the TV he announced, "Momma, I'll just cook for my family and friends...I wanna bowl!" LOL
I'm impressed that The Farmer could actually cook an edible meal! But it seems young men are much more skilled at cooking than previous generations. Maybe because so many are waiting longer to get married? Or maybe they are waiting longer to get married because they can actually cook and do their own laundry?!
Hmmm...something to ponder.
Hi. Thanks for visiting my blog!
My hubby can cook. When he wants to ;-) He likes what he calls "normal" food...stuff not mixed together.
Our hubby's wield a mean spatula on the grill!!
And pretty good spaghetti sauce when they want!!
blessings,
kari & kijsa
LOL...This blog is so funny. I hope it's okay to add you to my sidebar list. Yes, my sons cook. I made them cookbooks when they were in college. I love it when my youngest visits and does the cooking.
My husband would starve to death without me. Everyday I make him the same lunch, ham and cheese on wheat with mayo and mustard. There are days when I have to plug my nose and blindfold myself to do this!!! Luckily he is not picky, however, I need to be home every 3-4 hours for his feedings! This is the absolute truth!
My son, Alex's biggest accomplishment is pasta. That's it. Rich can cook, but he needs a recipe. So you're not really alone, persay ;)
Have a great night!
rue :)
Oh he thinks he can cook - but you don't want to eat any of it. He's of the camp that if 1 tsp of garlic is good, 8 tablespoons are better. He overseasons EVERYTHING. You honestly cannot tell what the original food was/is because it's covered in every spice and herb from my fully-stocked spice cabinet. (I'm also addicted to Penzey's. LOL)
As far as the boy, he's 19, and lazy. If he can't nuke it in the microwave, it doesn't get "cooked".
We have two sons who can cook. One toys with such things as making English muffins and homemade sausage. The other is more of a "put good ready-made things together" with a stunning effect. My husband has learned after many years of marriage to do a bacon/egg/toast breakfast, but to instigate dinner? No way. I think it's largely a generational thing.
I once asked the elder son his memory of childhood Christmases and his reply kept me from asking further. He said, "I remember the kitchen set Susan got". Lord only knows what his present was that year. And he's a better cook, by far, than she.
Tart (hubby) cooks like a dream. Really delicious meals but the mess he leaves is so frightening I have begged him never to cook in my kitchen again. Sunday morning rolls aound and he's back cooking a big fry up in my kitchen. Eggs, bacon, tomato and hash brownes. Oily footprints across the floor, oil spatter down my cupboards and all over my wall clock, 4 oily frying pans instead of one with gluey goo stuck on the bottom, soggy tea bags sloshed on the counter top. On mothers day he offered to cook breakfast and I had to beg him not to.
My men cook once they leave the nest. Before that, they are pretty oblivious to the whole food prep concept. And leftovers are alien droppings, as far as they can tell. Once they have to feed themselves, boy, they get all fancy and hoity toity about how refined their tastes are. And my nutty husband is a fine cook except for timing. Sometimes the meat sits for a long time while the veggies cook, but who cares??
Janet
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