So we had some old friends over to visit for a few days last week and at one point Wife says to me, “You’re so lucky…”
Now I hate anything that starts with “You’re so lucky…” because it usually ends up with me saying, “Yes, and the harder I work, the luckier I get.” But that’s not what she meant. What Wife actually said was, “You’re so lucky that you have a husband who cooks and shops. I would give anything to have my husband do even some of the cooking.”
Now I’m not going to go into why Husband currently does all the cooking and shopping, or why my household motto is “what he will do, let him do.” But I had to do some thinking on this one.
• Yes, I definitely have a foodie spouse who has definitely taken over all cooking responsibilities at our house.
• Yes, this saves me a lot of time and I don’t have to think about “what shall we have for dinner” every day, because he wakes up in the morning, every morning, with “what shall I make for dinner (and what wine should I have with it)?” the first thing on his mind. Yes, this is true!
• Yes, I have spent years relaxing after work, having a glass of wine, reading the paper, sitting in the hot tub, talking on the phone, enjoying the evening, just waiting for the magic, “Dinner’s ready,” call to the table.
• And yes, best of all, I have not been in a grocery store for something like 25 years, which is the best, the very best, because shopping of any kind is my worst nightmare.
So I guess I am really really fortunate, blessed, lucky, call it what you will. Except…
• Having someone else do all the planning, shopping and cooking means I have to eat what someone else cooks. All the time. Yet, it’s always grilled lamb or substitute steak, chicken, sausage, burgers, lamb burgers, turkey burgers, any other grilled meat with roasted asparagus (substitute kale, Swiss chard, beet greens, spinach, arugula, broccoli, green beans, or any other olive-oiled and garlicked green vegetables).
• Having someone else do all the cooking means the above mentioned grilled meats and green things always come with some indeterminate sauce on the top and an indeterminate green stuffing in the middle (fortified with some type of stinky cheese), and coated with the latest-foodie-fave herbs and spices, fresh of course.
• Having someone else do all the cooking means I am always dreaming of delicious things like soups and stews and casseroles, braised meats and pot roasts and other things that don’t happen on a charcoal grill. Craving things like spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna that happened so frequently in my mother’s kitchen but have never seen the light of day in ours.
• Having someone else do all the cooking means that the kitchen usually ends up a mess and someone else has to clean up. Someone like me. Well, that’s only fair, isn’t it?
The moral of the story is, be careful what you wish for. And thank god for restaurants.
* Lee Miller welcomes responses. Please email them to leemiller229@gmail.com
About Lee Miller
Lee Miller began her writing career with four books about Pennsylvania/east coast wines and the creation of Wine East magazine. She then went on to found the Chaddsford Winery with her husband Eric, where she turned her pen to promotion, advertising, public relations and marketing of their successful business venture for 30 years. Last year Lee co-wrote the new wine book, “The Vintner’s Apprentice” with Eric, and retired from the Chaddsford Winery to pursue other interests. She is currently working on a book about her life in the wine industry and exploring the retirement life. Her goal in writing a column for Chadds Ford Live is to generate dialogue and elicit reader response.
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