I am thankful for good, cooked food.
If you've known me very long, you know that cooking is not my favorite thing. If there's any other distraction around like another project, a migraine, etc., I struggle to prepare a meal. It's been like this forever. Which is okay. Not everyone has to like spending time in the kitchen. What is not okay is the anguish I cause myself over this.
Well, relief has come in this area. Hurray! No, I didn't find the magic pill that made me like cooking any better, I found my son. When we moved into our new house, Theo set himself and his workshop up in our basement. When we invited him to do this, we told him part of his rent was cooking dinner for us during the week. When Ward had surgery last year, Theo came and did some cooking to help out. That worked out so well that we wanted to try it again.
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| Theo cooked beans in the slow cooker overnight to go with the ribs we're having today. |
He has totally embraced his responsibilities. He prepares a healthful dinner for us every night. He even does it on the weekends even though he doesn't have to. He reads the supermarket ads (Aldi's) and plans the meals around what's on sale. He makes an effort to add extra vegetables to every dish. He keeps track of what's in the fridge that needs to be used up before it goes bad. He's doing his job just the way I would like without prompting. I'm in seventh heaven.
And meal prep has become a bonding experience, also. He bounces dish ideas off me and sometimes I'm his helper. Occasionally, he asks me about cooking methods or techniques. (I may not like being in the kitchen, but I am skilled there.) We make grocery lists together. He often does the shopping and sometimes we do it together.
Theo asks for feedback on every dish he cooks as he is honing his skills because he sometimes consults recipes but rarely follows them. Presently, he's trying to prefect his fruit crisp with different fruits. Ward and I particularly like these tests. :) But most of the time, everything is darn good.
When he goes away to spend the weekend with his brother, he makes sure that we have food cooked for when he's gone. We didn't ask him to do this, he just does. One week, when he was sick and I didn't want him in the kitchen, he left written instructions for dinner with both menu suggestions and cooking methods to use.
If you can't tell, I could gush on and on about this. This is the biggest improvement that has happened in my daily life in a long time.
For all of you out there who do just what Theo does day in and day out, remember that you are doing a wonderful thing. Your efforts may be taken for granted because that's just what you do. And have always done. But let me tell you, you are doing an invaluable service. I know because I'm on the receiving end of it now and it's great.
So for Theo and everyone else who fixes dinner for their family, roommates, or whoever, I am thankful.
