Years ago, when women only a few years older than I am now announced they quit cooking, I silently judged them. I would think to myself, “How in the world do you just stop cooking?”
I get it now. They were tired—tired of chicken, tired of ground beef, tired of pork and tired of salad after salad after salad.
If a judge were to sentence me for my previous lack of culinary compassion, I would beg the court for mercy. I’d tell the judge I’m willing to eat humble pie, but that sounds like it would involve cooking.
For me, the meal planning part of cooking is far more exhausting than the meal prep, which is why I now ask others what they are making for dinner and follow suit. It’s far more fun than flipping through recipe books and has a certain game-show quality about it.
On Wednesday, I asked our youngest what she was making for dinner.
She texted: “Switching things up. Taco Wednesday, homemade salsa and queso. We usually have Taco Tuesday, but this week it’s Taco Wednesday.”
I replied that you can buy salsa at the grocery.
She responded that she makes her own queso as well.
And to think we’re related.
The next day, I texted our daughter-in-law asking what was for dinner.
Her reply said their oldest son was making butter chicken thighs. It sounded good, but because of our age and cholesterol concerns, we’d probably have to forgo the butter part.
When a longtime friend and neighbor, who is an excellent cook and gardener, dropped by with a bag of freshly picked green beans, I asked what she was making for dinner.
She’d planned on warming up homemade zucchini quiche from the day before, but it was too hot to turn on the oven, so they were going to McDonald’s.
You never really know a person until you know their Plan B for dinner.
Perhaps I’d be more inspired to cook if we freshened up the kitchen a bit. The kitchen of my dreams is from an early Martha Stewart cooking show. She was making a fall dish and a hand came up from below the counter and began removing dirty utensils.
On Friday, I asked our oldest daughter what she was making for dinner. She said she was getting ready for a dinner party for nine.
I hung up on her.