"The things you do for love"

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
ONLY the cooking things, OK?

As I was looking at my overcooked vegetables tonight, and thinking about the way I break the spaghetti when I cook it, I realized that I modify my cooking to fit my dear husband's tastes (most of the time). He is a Idaho-bred farm boy with a fairly unsophisticated palate. He doesn't care for vegetables "al dente" or "fancy" sauces. That said, he always eats whatever I cook without complaining, but it's clear that there are some things he likes much better than others. I love to watch him plow through a plate of tender pork chops and mashed potatoes and gravy with enthusiasm. A bowl of thick and creamy clam chowder? Not so much.

Do the rest of you have challenges posed by the person(s) you cook for? Want to vent a bit? (They'll probably never read this...)
 
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mhend

New member
Oh this could be a really long list. LOL!

I'll edit it down to the ones that I work with daily. DH hates onion and bell pepper in his food. He likes the flavor, but really dislikes eating the actual vegetable. So, I always saute the onions, bell pepper, celery, etc down to just about nothing so that some of the flavor is still there, but the actual veg. all but disappears.

Tomato is another. He despises any sort of "chunk" of tomato, but will eat pasta sauce, pizza sauce, etc. Raw tomatoes are out totally. I don't know how I'd survive without my fresh tomatoes in the summertime :)

Potato Salad - no crunchy anything so I always make a seperate batch for him with nothing but potato, mayo, mustard and egg. Blech.

Garden salads - Lettuce and carrot only.

That's not including the kids. There are too many of those to mention. I try not to get frustrated because in the end, it's all worth it when I see them clean their plates and everyone is satisfied. My little girl tells me I am the "best cooker mama." :)
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Oh, now you’ve done it! :yum:

Ok, where to begin????

DW doesn’t like onions or tomatoes unless they are obliterated and cooked to nothing.

No hot spices. Mild only! Even if it is Mild (like a sauce), it must SAY Mild. It’s a mind thing.

Vegetables (like broccoli) have to be cooked to mushy babyfood texture – no crunch or bite left to them.

DW is a side NUT! Often wanting POUNDS of sides, multiple starches, all on one plate. She gets that from growing up poor with little to eat, I see that……BUT……. :yum:

Oh, and she likes soups thick and stews runny! WTH???? :lol:

And she’s not a fan of any kind of fish other than salmon or boxed fish sticks (both of which I do like). So not much fresh fish action in the Andrews home! :w00t:

There’s probably more, but those are the “big ones”. :biggrin:

:hide:


Now, to be fair, she is a cleaning freak! I’ve never seen someone so addicted to cleaning. She gets ga-ga over new cleaning things like I do over new computer hardware! She cleans floors on her hands and knees (daily), does the litter boxes and laundry 2-3 times DAILY, windexes all windows, scours tubs, vacuums floors, dusts, wipes, and even does the dishes after I cook!……DAILY. Not to mention she runs most of the errands like shopping, vet appointments, etc. Bless her! I can live with her quirks and menu dema……requests! :yum: :yum: :yum: :yum:
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Oh this could be a really long list. LOL!

I'll edit it down to the ones that I work with daily. DH hates onion and bell pepper in his food. He likes the flavor, but really dislikes eating the actual vegetable. So, I always saute the onions, bell pepper, celery, etc down to just about nothing so that some of the flavor is still there, but the actual veg. all but disappears.

Tomato is another. He despises any sort of "chunk" of tomato, but will eat pasta sauce, pizza sauce, etc. Raw tomatoes are out totally. I don't know how I'd survive without my fresh tomatoes in the summertime :)

Potato Salad - no crunchy anything so I always make a seperate batch for him with nothing but potato, mayo, mustard and egg. Blech.

Garden salads - Lettuce and carrot only.

That's not including the kids. There are too many of those to mention. I try not to get frustrated because in the end, it's all worth it when I see them clean their plates and everyone is satisfied. My little girl tells me I am the "best cooker mama." :)

Hmmmm......your DH is my DW's sibling!!!!!!!!! :lol:
 

vyapti

New member
I have two extremely picky eaters. Neither like the same thing. But my boy is old enough for fend for himself. So that's somewhat alleviated. My big irritation is (my youngest one) when she changes what she likes. Most recently, she's decided she doesn't like pasta. I grew up eating pasta three nights a week. By blog has 40+ pasta recipes. This is a major problem! Especially considering that three months ago she loved it. She also gives me the "I tried it and don't like it" when I'm cooking something new.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
yepper! i wanna vent, here. i have so wavered 4 ex-babe. i still waver 4 him.
i prefer intricate, delicate foods & classical foods & high-end restaurants; i luv foods like snails & tripe & get upset that i either hafta dine on this by myself or give in & dine w/ him on stuff like mcdonald's & pizza, steak & cheap places w/ food i find so very unappetizing & that's being generous. i want my food to be pretty & i take my time on plating, cooking, planning, & purchasing. he gets so impatient. i want my food to be appealing or its kinda this saddening disappointment. & if my food is less than it could be than why bother. its like, oh, well. gimme some fries & i'll call it a nite.

he is a meat-&-potato guy. oh, i get so cranky over him expecting me 2 be meat & potato person chronically like him too. i mean, steak is great & that, cept he doesn't get my point. i'll say 'i don't want bleepity-bleeping meat & potatoes again, jake. WTF!' & he'll be like, 'well, we could get burgers.' i'll think to myself, 'please give me the strength.'
i was gonna end a decade of us being together over food before we ended us last year. i am that passionate about my food & cooking. not to say he hasn't taken me 2 some great places 4 dinner & that! i am saying, though, that he dosen't respect - or maybe he doesn't quite get- my luv 4 my food.
& i'll buy a beautiful item, sometimes- if not very often very expensive- as i can appreciate that food properly. he'll scarf half or most of it as though it is nothing, as though that food that was so special to me is like dagaibbin nothing. like its a box of donuts or something.
i'm sick of burgers. diners. roasts. mashed potato. hoagies. donuts. cereals.
i want my damned snails & organ meats.
yet i oblige. i choose to give in to his preferences. that's on me though. i'm the one that gives in to his whims.
food snob? yeah. i am. i don't give a chit if that seems snotty. i am & that's the way it is.
yet i give in
why.....
because food is luv.
i luv food.
i also luv people, too, though, & feeding them & knowing they're having a meal they like is a very special thing to me

i wanna say, also,that he gives me so much in his own ways. i very much appreciate that
 
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SilverSage

Resident Crone
I guess I'm real lucky. The only thing I do occasionally is make something that I'm not real crazy about, like fried chicken, meatloaf or pot roast and potatoes. But that's OK. I don't hate them - I can have those things once or twice a year.

Other than that concession, cooking for SousChef is easy. She will eat anything I put on the table. She isn't picky, never complains, and insists that I'm the best cook she's ever known. Things she never would have tried 25 years ago, she now eats regularly & loves them.


:cooking:My life is good.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
Great topic Karen! For a good part of my working life I have been a road warrior. When I roll home on a Friday having lived on restaurant food all week, the last thing I wanted to do was go out. DW on the other hand was raising two precocious boys, had her fill of mac-n-cheese, hot dogs and oven fries and was more than ready to eat adult food out. That's when I started cooking.

There are just a few things that my wife disdains: 1.onions, I can sneak them in if I use sweet onions can carmelize them but NEVER raw. 2. fish she gets queasy just looking at a can of tuna. 3. Hot must be the fact she's blonde and of Scandinavian descent.

But now that we have MIL living under the same roof, a few other caveats have been added: nothing that resembles oriental cooking, green beans, peas and corn are the only acceptable vegetables and all meat should be ground and preferably mixed with mayonnaise.
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
Although DH says he's not a picky eater, I beg to differ. :twak: He is a true country boy and rarely wants to stray from traditional American country cuisine. Usually when I want something different, I will make extra one night so that he can have leftovers the following night and I can have something different. It also helps that DD and SIL will eat ANYTHING :piesmiley1:and love it so whenever I know I'm going to be seeing them, I'll get in the kitchen and "play" until my hearts content. :cooking: I'll make a little extra for me to have for lunch for a few days and take the rest to them. They are both teachers and coaches and their commute time is 45 minutes each way so they leave for school at 5:30 in the mornings and don't get home until 7 or 8 at night so they REALLY appreciate home cooked meals they can just toss in the microwave.
 

MexicoKaren

Joyfully Retired
Super Site Supporter
Mama, we might have married brothers...although Jerry does love Mexican food, and will enthusiastically eat almost anything Mexican (well, maybe not menudo) and enjoys hot chiles. He does appreciate what I cook, especially what I bake. A few weeks ago, we were at ArtWalk (where I regularly take cookies to the gallery) and we were standing outside when a man came out exclaiming "Those are the best cookies I ever ate!" Jerry proudly retorted, "And I get to live with the woman who baked them. She's my wife!" Oh bless him.
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
I think you may be right Karen. DH is a local truck driver. He carries pictures with him that I have taken of some of the food on my website and proudly shows some of the people he meets at work as well as anywhere else we go as he tells them about my website. He just beams and says, "I have the best cook in the world!"...which of course, makes me feel pretty good :in_love:.

Whenever I make cookies or other sweets, he always wants to take extra to work to share.
 
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