In the wisdom of my "40s," I've discovered an essential secret regarding men and food.
J.C. and I are the type who tend to make just a few good friends and keep them. But as the years have passed from our "20s," a number (a pretty large percentage) of our married friends have divorced, and in all cases, the woman took off and moved to different pastures, leaving the man to keep all their old mutual friends and pieces of their old life.
So . . . I tend to feed a lot of men throughout the year at various times.
I used to have long mental lists of who liked what (and who didn't like what), and I've finally realized after all this time, that allergies aside, most of them don't care what I put on the table as long they never had to think about it.
I've come to the conclusion that men simply don't like planning meals or going to the grocery store or having to think about what's for breakfast.
Seriously, you can put a bagel, a hard boiled egg, and a few sliced berries in front of a man for breakfast, and as long as he never had to give it a single thought, he'll be happy.
The same is true for dinner. It doesn't matter if you serve spaghetti or French dip sandwiches. As long as the food just appears on the table, they're happy.
I wish I had come to this realization about ten years ago.
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men and food:)
2009-07-03 02:17 pm (UTC)
Although I must say I really don't care what it will be, can have roasted chickens all the time really haha:)it happens rarely that I have food idea, it seems like I'm the man typa :D
Re: men and food:)
2009-07-04 04:57 am (UTC)
Wow, you are lucky (smile). That's awesome that your husband likes to cook. J.C. does make some excellent apple/whole wheat pancakes.
But you also sound very easy to please, so your husband probably enjoys making meals for you.
2009-07-03 06:00 pm (UTC)
2009-07-04 04:58 am (UTC)
Yes! I actually like the "meal includes" thingy too.
2009-07-03 06:38 pm (UTC)
2009-07-04 05:01 am (UTC)
I completely agree there is an unbreakable link between the shopping and the cooking. Because those activities are symbiotic, and the same person needs to do both.
J.C. hates it when I ask him what he wants for dinner too. I probably shouldn't have suggested this as a "gender topic." He's normally happy with whatever shows up on his plate too (smiles).
2009-07-04 02:10 am (UTC)
I think of food as something good in itself and I want variety, quality, and specifics, therefore, I learned to cook and I'm picky at restaurants (up to a point). My husband wants fuel--he rarely cares what it is so long as it's not going to poison him or cause the boat to explode. He also does not cook. I know people who are serious foodies, but they don't cook. Probably there are cooks who don't really care much about the food they produce so long as its edible and doesn't kill anyone.
2009-07-04 02:51 pm (UTC)
Oh, this is an interesting take, Kat. J.C. also likes "fuel" but he is concerned about eating a lot of fruits, veggies, and whole wheat bread. He's fine with veggies mixed in with pasta or rice, but normally, he's not fond of a big ole piece of meat on his plate (he'd rather have it cut in small pieces and mixed in with other things). He likes a good taco salad.
I also have friends who LOVE to cook, but only a few times a month when they've planned for days and shopped for days in preparation. They hate the daily "what are we having for dinner?" routine.
So, you're right. This does break down into the "type" of eater and the "type" of cook.
This is interesting...
2009-07-04 03:52 pm (UTC)