Women Can't Cook
 

A very funny article in the Daily Mail:

Before anyone gets all huffy, please notice there is a rebuttal article from his wife below it. What amuses me most about this article is it describes me to a T. I think both cooking and eating are boring and a waste of time. If I could mainline my nutrients and get on with the day I'd be happy.

The clincher is, Mr. Clodfobble is no better in the kitchen, despite thinking he is, just like the author of the article. He has made some good meals--and a lot of utter disasters that he proudly pronounced delicious.

Who is (or thinks they are) the chef in your relationship, and is it the same person who cooks?

hmmm..i say bullshit, sir. bullshit to you.( the guy in the artice...not you clobble)

jinx cooks whatever we have to hand....and it always rocks. maybe ( obviously) I'm just not all that picky....but srsly....it's like.....spiritual, man.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm
We'll forget the Mail still hasn't got over the idea that women's priorities should be Kinder Kuchen Kirche, this says it all to me:

Much as I adore men, there is still an awful lot that women do automatically while also in full time jobs, that men are just not expected to do. An ex boyfriend of mine made delicate and beautiful curries from scratch. But the deal was he cooked the meal and I washed up. Not so for the standard fare I served up most days of the week - we split the chores then. Also I made his sandwiches for him every night because he got up at 06.00 every morning - did I ever ask him to wash up the utensils for that? No. Perhaps they weren't gourmet enough.

Cooking can be fun.

Unless you HAVE to do it, day in and day out, 3 meals a day.

Just a note: Peg Bracken, the author of the 60s classic, "The I Hate To Cook Cookbook" recently died.

I'm not about to get into the "male vs. female" debate, but Kitsune is definitely the cook at our house. I only cook dinner about once a month -- if that.

I love food, but I haven't had enough practice cooking to just know what goes together, off the top of my head. I AM pretty good at making desserts, though - especially cookies. So we make a good team. He's the cook, and I'm the baker.

My husband use to be the cook, but since I became designated domestic wench, I took over. I have to admit I have made some good meals. Some are boring basic things like refried bean burritos, but other times I will go all out with something like feta and spinach stuffed mushrooms or something.

Wait, what? You and Kitsune? Did I miss something, or have you two been deliberately coy?

Well, I don't know about deliberately coy, I just never turned up and made an "o hai I'm Kitsune's fiancee" post.

(I am, though. For the record.)

Well, congratulations to you both! I expect he will take marvelous pictures of the honemoon destination for us.

Just picked up on that too.
Bless you both!

Thanks! We'll make sure to bombard you with tons of pictures when the big day rolls around.

I'm going to pass on the battle of the sexes too for the time being.

I do wish to comment on your distinction between cooking and baking though.

Bullseye.

They're completely different. Cooking rewards experimentation, baking rewards obedience. Cooking is relaxed, baking is strict. Cooking is approximate, baking is precise. I do not have the discipline or the temperament to be a successful baker. I fancy myself a talented and enthusiastic cook. I credit it to a love of food and an inability to resist improvisation.

That's exactly the problem I've had with cooking. I can follow recipes to the letter, but the minute you tell me to add "some" of an ingredient, I'm a goner. How much is "some"? A teaspoon? A cup?
"Just eyeball it. Just taste it. You'll know."
:headshake I just can't do it. Yet.

I'm definitely the cook in our house, and I usually do a pretty damn good job. My husband has a couple of recipes he likes to do every now and then, but he doesn't get time to cook very often. Soon he wont even get to do the BBQ because our youngest son loves cooking, and he pretty much takes care of the bbq these days.

I think both MB and I cook really well, although he's been taking more of the initiative lately. He's been following a lot of recipes though (with some improvisation), whereas I'll mostly make it up as I go along.

I tend to eat out too much with the folks from work. But when I put my mind to it, I'm not too bad. I love to cook for company!

Learning how to eyeball -- well, I'm learning from Rachel Ray. You can see her doing it, and you copy that.

Following recipes closely works, of course, if the recipe is right. Tweaking the recipe next time -- I've never found that hard.

The final authority is your tongue, coupled with some knowledge of just how strong the ingredient in question is -- Endorphin Rush pepper sauce is something you use in drops, but curry powder needs quantity, particularly if you're cutting back on hot pepper in the curry powder. A preliminary indicator is how the dish smells as it's cooking, for a bland scent usually means a bland dish. Do an Emeril and put in a teaspoon more...

Am I the cook? Often. We don't bake much, as I shouldn't be eating sugary things and the wife doesn't very much care for cake.

We both are good cooks. We don't cook (i.e. from scratch) nearly as much as we used to, due to more time pressures. But who does it generally depends on the exact schedules in play.

Beest is the main cook. Mostly because he (used to) like it, and because the eczema on my hands makes preparation of food not fun. But also because I hate to prepare the same things again and again and he doesn't mind so much. But I'm the experimental "chef". When I have time I'll cook and it's always different. If it's good, I'll tell beest what I did to the best of my memory and it'll get added to the repertoire.

I cook one or two meals on the weekend, my lovely wife takes care of the week nights. We usually clean up the kitchen together after we get the kids in bed together.

I rarely cook these days. Mainly because I am a) too busy, b) too lazy, c)living on my own and d) have a kitchen the size of an undergrown walnut.

When I had time, inclination a big kitchen and tended to entertain more, I cooked a lot. When I do cook I am good at it. Baking however, passes me by. I don't tend to do recipes much, though have used cookbooks as a way of learning what goes with what and what kind of proportions tend to work. Usually I am an instinctive cook and experimenter:)

My wife is the best cook I have ever met, including my mother. I am the second best...:D