Being married to a chef can being trying but rewarding too. Results may vary and like the success of a past teacher you don't always see the results till years later.
1. Your hobbies seem to produce more. I have knitted three cable knit hats in about a week. It's that speed factor.
2. Your to-do lists resemble prep lists. Things you need to do now, things you need to pull for tomorrow (kids clothes) and the things you need to get ready for next week. I also have knit two dish washing cloths (they last longer than sponges!!)
3. When you have guests over they seem to always have a full glass in front of them.
4. On the same vein you probably have a dishtowel tucked into your back pocket wiping end tables as you replace said drink with a full one.
5. Your laundry can consist of one load of dishcloths. Think of all the trees you're saving.
6. If you weren't a complete OCD neat freak you probably have started becoming one.
7. You can look at a recipe and change it to your liking with confidence.
8. You are no longer intimidated by the chefs on food network.
9. Your children are trained at a very young age to help prepare dinner so that you are not left to do it by yourself. They also can help clear the table at three or four years old.
10. Your table linen collection is the envied by all.
11. You probably have plates for each season of the year.
12. Your fridge rarely has nasty food in it because of "first in/first out"
13. Your kitchen gadgets can sometimes serve as decorations too. The wooden big spoon and fork you use to serve out of the giant salad bowl. (Remember that episode from Everyone Loves Raymond when Marie took them down off the wall?! )
14. You are the only person among your friends that owns a plug in coffee urn that hold about 5 gallons of coffee. Your friends make reservations to borrow it all the time :) (Check out All-You magazine and they will recommend that you rent it out to make a little $)
15. You don't have to buy those expensive croutons you've been craving because you know how to make them with that leftover bagel.
16. You always know where your Tupperware lids are because you never keep a container unless it has one.
17. You probably own a pair or two of Danskos and would never have considered it before you married your chef. Your feet have thanked you ever since.
18. You can push yourself beyond what you thought was your limits and realize that you can do so much more. That's a great feeling of accomplishment.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
My Entree Just Crossed the Road
It is a beautiful time of the year here in NH. We look forward to fall just as much as we desperately wait for summer. Just because we live in NH doesn't mean we all love winter! The trees are changing color and after a couple of so-so years this year is a good one!! The boys and I went to the Highland Games like I typed in my last blog and I had my meat pie with HP sauce and was very satisfied. Sebastian and I got into an argument that sometimes fries are called chips and that I paid 10.50 for them and he had better eat them! 10.50 was my meat pie and fries.
Monday presented me however with another surprise. On my way to work I had to let about 27 turkeys cross the road. Turkeys in New Hampshire have an attitude that no other foul has. In the fall wild turkeys are everywhere. They may be in your front yard munching in your garden at 5am squawking and waking everyone up. Many times they are crossing the road in flocks. In the fall they LOVE the plowed cornfields.
When I was a teenager I remember living in the studio apartment on the bottom floor of my parents house. To throw my trash out I had to go out the sliding glass door and walk to the dumpster. The yard was lined in forest as we are also locating in the White Mountain National forest. One particular Thanksgiving Day I remember cleaning my studio because family was coming over. On my way to throw out the trash I neglected to notice a flock of about 15 turkeys were right in front of me. They are not polite, they do not want to be pet. They stare at you daring you to just try and hurt them. Armed with a 4 foot birch tree branch I swung my way to the dumpster and back. This is a small introduction to the New Hampshire Turkey.
After watching these turkeys cockily cross the road, I thought to myself, that is one animal that I would not feel bad about hunting with a bow. I'm not a hunter, never have been, I fish. Living in New Hampshire hunting is a very prevalent sport. I had never considered it until watching my entree cross the road and remembering that I had just bought a butternut squash this past weekend and that there might be a dusty can of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce in my closet. It's times like this that the natural hunter comes out in you. You wonder, is this what it was like for our first settlers and Native Americans? Did the turkeys taunt them or have they decided that they have as much freedom as any other animal on the hunting lottery.
I was contemplating this further when about another mile down the road I had to stop again for three more very fat turkeys. Frustrated I called my husband and talked about my thoughts on bow hunting and taking out a turkey. He pointed out that he could dress it and pluck it. My motivation was killed however when I recalled how he felt the first time he gutted a fish at one of his previous jobs. Bye Bye turkey dinner.
Monday presented me however with another surprise. On my way to work I had to let about 27 turkeys cross the road. Turkeys in New Hampshire have an attitude that no other foul has. In the fall wild turkeys are everywhere. They may be in your front yard munching in your garden at 5am squawking and waking everyone up. Many times they are crossing the road in flocks. In the fall they LOVE the plowed cornfields.
When I was a teenager I remember living in the studio apartment on the bottom floor of my parents house. To throw my trash out I had to go out the sliding glass door and walk to the dumpster. The yard was lined in forest as we are also locating in the White Mountain National forest. One particular Thanksgiving Day I remember cleaning my studio because family was coming over. On my way to throw out the trash I neglected to notice a flock of about 15 turkeys were right in front of me. They are not polite, they do not want to be pet. They stare at you daring you to just try and hurt them. Armed with a 4 foot birch tree branch I swung my way to the dumpster and back. This is a small introduction to the New Hampshire Turkey.
After watching these turkeys cockily cross the road, I thought to myself, that is one animal that I would not feel bad about hunting with a bow. I'm not a hunter, never have been, I fish. Living in New Hampshire hunting is a very prevalent sport. I had never considered it until watching my entree cross the road and remembering that I had just bought a butternut squash this past weekend and that there might be a dusty can of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce in my closet. It's times like this that the natural hunter comes out in you. You wonder, is this what it was like for our first settlers and Native Americans? Did the turkeys taunt them or have they decided that they have as much freedom as any other animal on the hunting lottery.
I was contemplating this further when about another mile down the road I had to stop again for three more very fat turkeys. Frustrated I called my husband and talked about my thoughts on bow hunting and taking out a turkey. He pointed out that he could dress it and pluck it. My motivation was killed however when I recalled how he felt the first time he gutted a fish at one of his previous jobs. Bye Bye turkey dinner.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Beware the free meal
Ever since my chef started working at the new restaurant he has brought home something to eat for himself every night. For some reason he prefers to eat it at home when shift is done because he's an overachiever and can't stop long enough to refuel. He complains that every time he brings something home I take a bite. How can you seriously expect me NOT to take a bite out of his food. It's the only time I get to taste his cooking aside from the one night he has energy to cook for us at home. Needless to say I feel no guilt at all and continue to do this. Every so often he will come home and be too tired to eat what he's brought home. In my book that means it is up for grabs!!! Many times I end up bringing it to work for lunch the next day or eat it immediately.
The problem with all of this however is that I'm doing this when he comes home late at night. As we all know we shouldn't eat too close to bed because your body stores it immediately yada yada. Yeah, I get that and probably should stop. The biggest deterrent that I have to stop eating so late are the horrible dreams. Experts aren't kidding when they say eating just before bed can affect your sleep. I have learned that I can have half a club sandwich and sleep fairly well. Nachos or buffalo tenders, forget it. I will wake up sweating dreaming that my children were eaten by sharks during an alien invasion. Reminds me of when I was pregnant.
The other problem that I noticed is that my weight loss that was going so well over the last year stopped. I haven't started gaining yet but in looking at what I'm stealing off his plate probably isn't helping. Fries, nachos, burger, wrap, panini. The list goes one. However this is just before a major menu change. The selections will be far more healthy when the menu changes. Seeing that before he started working here I rarely ate fried food I am sabotaging everything I have accomplished health-wise in the last year.
The solutions? Here are a few.
1. Go to bed before he comes home.
2. Drink so much water that by the time he gets home I'm too full to eat.
3. Brush my teeth just before he comes home, I mean the works, pre wash, brush, mouthwash, flossing, whitening treatment so that when he comes home I don't want to ruin my teeth.
4. Pretend my hands are broken so that I can't begin that hand to mouth action that I am an expert at.
5. Tell myself I wasn't craving that particular thing anyway.
This is an ongoing battle I will curb one take home box at a time. Tell me if you're the spouse of a chef who's experiencing the same struggle!
The problem with all of this however is that I'm doing this when he comes home late at night. As we all know we shouldn't eat too close to bed because your body stores it immediately yada yada. Yeah, I get that and probably should stop. The biggest deterrent that I have to stop eating so late are the horrible dreams. Experts aren't kidding when they say eating just before bed can affect your sleep. I have learned that I can have half a club sandwich and sleep fairly well. Nachos or buffalo tenders, forget it. I will wake up sweating dreaming that my children were eaten by sharks during an alien invasion. Reminds me of when I was pregnant.
The other problem that I noticed is that my weight loss that was going so well over the last year stopped. I haven't started gaining yet but in looking at what I'm stealing off his plate probably isn't helping. Fries, nachos, burger, wrap, panini. The list goes one. However this is just before a major menu change. The selections will be far more healthy when the menu changes. Seeing that before he started working here I rarely ate fried food I am sabotaging everything I have accomplished health-wise in the last year.
The solutions? Here are a few.
1. Go to bed before he comes home.
2. Drink so much water that by the time he gets home I'm too full to eat.
3. Brush my teeth just before he comes home, I mean the works, pre wash, brush, mouthwash, flossing, whitening treatment so that when he comes home I don't want to ruin my teeth.
4. Pretend my hands are broken so that I can't begin that hand to mouth action that I am an expert at.
5. Tell myself I wasn't craving that particular thing anyway.
This is an ongoing battle I will curb one take home box at a time. Tell me if you're the spouse of a chef who's experiencing the same struggle!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)