One good cook

Jer and I loved to cook together when we were dating. I loved texture and could make a flavorful sauce, and he had – every other skill. We often joked that, together, we made 'one good cook.'

We doubled down when we got married – the only places we registered were REI and Kitchen Window, a local specialist of kitchen gadgets and accessories. In particular, we acquired a high quality set of kitchen knives, and have cherished them since.

Before any of this, I'd never developed any skills at all. As the feral latchkey kid of a busy single mom, the only skills I developed involved using the microwave to prepare a TV dinner. If I was feeling industrious, I could maybe microwave some rice and add condiments. I stayed this way into adulthood - I was more interested in doing my work, and was a functional eater - satisfied with eating random ingredients as needed.

Jer came up in more of a cooking-oriented family, and improved on his skills by watching every episode of Good Eats. When I have to cook anything, there's stress, and recipes, and multiple trips to the store to make sure I have everything. When he cooks, it just... happens.

We shared our love of food with our firstborn, but our second kid was decidedly more picky, and mealtimes became frustrating. Enter COVID lockdowns, when we were figuring out three. meals. every. day; for less-than appreciative kids. Cooking became a chore. Because he was so much more efficient, it mostly became his chore.

As part of my quest this year to get back some of what I feel we've lost, I've been trying to step it up by planning and cooking meals. I want to elevate the mood by sharing some of the load. I want to save money by cutting down on 'emergency takeout'. And I want to get back our shared enjoyment of preparing and sharing a meal.

Yesterday, I roasted a chicken, seasoned with Korean spices. Today, I wanted to repurpose that chicken as tacos with fresh tortillas – strike that, let's have enchiladas!

I got a late start, especially after heading to the grocery store. I started feeling so self-conscious for taking on such a big project, so late in the day, when I really have no business making tortillas AND sauteeing sauce ingredients AND prepping chicken AND prepping/baking the whole thing.

I felt terrible, partly because I came into the event feeling terrible. But Jer pitched in, whipping up the sauce as I pressed tortillas, and making me a margarita as I assembled the dish.

It was 8:30 before we sat down for dinner, but the kids loved it! And we once again came together to make one good cook.