I’ve been retired for five years now, even though I used to consult a little it was very part time. But since it paid all our bills for that period I think it somehow counted as me still having a job. My wife left the workforce when we started having kids, the youngest of which turns 30 next month, Yikes! And while I rode out the first five years of retired bliss staying under her radar she finally realized I haven’t been doing my share of the household labor. It is a dangerous trend that has me worried as I’m very happy to be taken care of. Something I think I inherited that from my dad.
It started innocently enough, we began to get a few of those Blue Apron meal kits. That indoctrinated me into doing some of the cooking, and it was fun. Then a couple of weeks ago she sprang the trap on me. She said she thought I should handle all the grocery shopping and cooking the next week. It sounded like a fun adventure to me so I started looking up recipes and went shopping for supplies. I did very well, if I do say so myself, making chipotle meatloaf, shrimp pasta and Rachel Rae’s smoky spicy bass filets.
In fact it was so much of a success that she deftly converted the one week experiment into a new paradigm for our household. I’m responsible for meals every other week from now on! So this week it is my time again. I’ve shopped and gathered the necessary materials for another week of haute cuisine, or at least credible edibles, I hope.
I’m looking at Jeff’s hot dog chili recipe (allrecipes.com) to go with some purchased frozen tamales and also to make chili dogs with. Spicy and sweet jalapeño cole slaw(nospoonnecessary.com), crispy beer battered bass filets(iwashyoudry.com), Big Orange cheese dip(dawgnation.com), tortilla chips, broiled broccoli, yellow zucchini, yellow squash, sesame sugar snap peas(slenderkithchen.com), spaghetti(my own creation), spicy New Orleans shrimp(jocooks.com),red leaf salad with carrots and shallots, pulled pork barbecue sandwiches, baked beans, corn and garlic ciabatta bread.
Its amazing what you can find on the internet when it comes to recipes. And it surprised me how much fun it is to cook. Unless you’ve been doing most all of it for 43 years, like my amazing spouse. While this is a really interesting new adventure to me I do have some qualms about where it might lead. I haven’t cut the grass in 43 years either, did I tell you my wife is amazing?
So what has handling food preparation for two weeks taught me so far? Well, I have learned that just because someone puts a recipe on a website doesn’t mean it is anything special. Most of the new ones I’ve tried were good but none of them were quite as good as the author claimed they would be. Food tastes are just too personal and sometimes too regional to appeal to everyone equally.
I’ve learned about substitution, there is always something called for I don’t have on hand and don’t discover until the last minute. I don’t have celery salt but I do have ground celery seeds, no problem. And I’ve learned that for me and my spouse, double the amount of garlic and cayenne called for in almost any recipe, because we like things spiced up.
But the main thing I’ve learned, which it shouldn’t have taken 43 years of marriage to figure out, is that there is a tremendous amount of work involved in planning a week of meals, shopping for the necessary ingredients and simultaneously preparing the entree and sides so that everything is ready at the same time. I had no idea how much time and effort my wife had been putting into that for decades. She is pro and made it look easy and seamless. Believe me, it isn’t that easy and there are lots of seams now that I am doing it.
What about you, have you taken on new household chores in retirement or if you are still working do you split up the food preparation?
Has it changed your perspective on how much work is involved?
Got any good recipes, I’m only headed for week three and I’m getting desperate!