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I cook, you clean!

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CXXC

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Is it me, or does it seem like one person in the couple generally does most of the cooking?

Mrs. CXXC and I work the most unusual schedules. Our time together is limited and most times, RARE! The time that we do get to spend together, we cherish and make the very most of.

Now, when I am not traveling the globe for work, I work from my home office. This helps in making sure we see each other in more than just passing.

As I do work from my home office at least 2 weeks out of each month, I make certain to take care of as many household duties as possible to make Mrs. CXXC happy and enable her to relax. (Did I mention that she works an average of 14 hours a day 6 days a week?)

When it comes to cooking, we have an agreement in our household. The person who cooks does not have to do the cleaning. One would generally agree that this is a great arrangement.

HOWEVER!!! You have not seen Mrs. CXXC cook. This woman will use 3 pots just to boil one quart of water. It is amazing the amount of dishes and counter space she can use just to make TOAST!!

Like many people in the world, I started off in the food service as a teen. I worked in the kitchen. I learned very quickly from my first boss, "CLEAN AS YOU GO!"

So when I cook, I also wash pots, pans, plates, utensils and wipe down counter tops. By the time I am finished, all that is left are the dinner plates, flatware, glasses and dinning room table to clean off. Oh, and the dog does the pre-rinse so loading the dish washer is a breeze.

So, here is the tale:

I come home from yet another trip to one of the fine states in this great nation of ours. I walk into the house and the aroma of Italian foods cooking hit me immediately. My first reaction is not your normal reaction.

Most men would walk in, fill their nostrils with the grand aroma of fresh baked bread, Italian sausage, tomato basil cream sauce, penne and a slight hint of fresh greens and head straight to the dinning room for a FANTASTIC meal.

I, unfortunately, do not have the luxury of simply enjoying the previous mentioned olfactory delights. My first thought is, "Oh no! How many pots did she use just to make the sauce?"

Certainly, the food was placed upon our dinning room table in a manner fit for a king upon return from battle victorious. Her smile, the best part of the meal, is broad and genuine.

Trust me, Mrs. CXXC can cook with the best of them. She makes every flavor worth savoring. But true to form, the kitchen looked like she had cooked for an NFL team instead of just two people.

The meal was delicious. The conversation was, as always, delightful. The kitchen? A disaster! I truly believe it took me longer to clean up than it took her to cook.

So, out of self preservation, I cook! She cleans! We are much happier that way!

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Men clean????????

 

I know men can cook, my grandfather was a Chef so I've seen that phenomenon before but...what is this men clean thing you speak of?

 

T.

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T

Yes! Fact is often stranger than fiction. I not only cook but I clean. I know, what a catch! I am actually thinking of offering classes in the areas of domestic maintenance for men. Think it will go over well?

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LOL...I think you'd be a millionaire within a week from all the wives signing up their husbands for classes.

 

 

T.

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I am always up for becoming a millionaire. The only issue with becoming a millionaire would be, I would end up living at Desire Spa and Resort in Cancun. I dont think my liver coule take more than a month at a time! But I would have to give it a try!

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Ah yes, the cooking vs cleaning controversy

I have sat and listened to a man go on at length on how messy his wife is in the kitchen, with my husband and another man sitting and nodding in sympathy.

I cook. I make a mess. I tell him to stay the hell out of the kitchen until I'm done and can clean up. Then he comes in and cleans up after I've cleaned up.

Him cooking is not an option- unless we are to have meat, potatoes, vegetables every night of our lives. He is a competent cook, but not an inspired one (as he is the first to admit).

However, he does laundry (folds underwear), vacuums, washes floors, windows, dishes, etc etc. I am the first to admit (gratefully) that he does most of the routine housework around our house.

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Both Mrs. CXXC and I have the ability to cook virtually anything. Our biggest issue is time and the desire to spend that time together in more interesting activities.

I have many buddies who wouldn’t know what a pairing knife was if it was sticking in his ribs. So, they really have no idea the pain it is to prepare a meal. These are also the same guys who will throw an empty can in the trash and expect laud and adulation from their spouses for a "Job well done!" Some people just don’t get it! HA HA HA

As a child and adolescent, we had the extended family thing going on. Both my grandparents lived with us. My Grandmother and mother taught the boys to cook, clean, sew, dress and even decorate. It was my mother's desire that NONE of her sons would have to marry out of necessity. Add the fact that no woman would be good enough for her sons and you see why the instruction was so thorough!

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We have a smallish kitchen so I'm in the clean as you go camp.

 

We both cook and usually the cook does most of the cleaning 'as you go' and the other will do the final clean, but we have no real rules for this, it just seems to flow.

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Even when we had a small kitchen, the task generally fell to me for fear of having to spend more time in the kitchen CLEANING than cooking.

It works out well for us and I generally never have to deal with that "NEW" dish she wanted to try. Oh how I loath Brussel Sprouts.

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Our kitchen is pretty small too. Now it used to be that we cooked most nights, and kids did cleanup. Now with 2 teens that are not home most evenings with sports, jobs & girlfriends, we don't cook as large of a meal, but we always get the cleanup too.

 

Mr. NC can completely relate to you when it comes to cleanup of large messes. When I bake, look out. I've tried the clean as you go method - sometimes it just doesn't happen! But I'm trying... I did make lasagne Sunday, and did all of the cleanup too. It was one of those rare treats for him.

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Mrs. CXXC and I have no children so we are left to do the clean up. However, Like I have stated before, the Beagle does the pre-rinse, so there is never anything stuck to the glasses when the dish washer is finished. The only issue with the dog doing the pre-rinse is, you can never trust a clean plate that is sitting ont he counter. You never know.

the one time that we will share the duty of cleaning up is when we entertain. About once every other week or so, we have as many as 5 or 6 guests for dinner. That is when we share the joys of clenaing.

another issue with having my wife clean up after dinner is that when she puts things away, I have no Earthly idea where they are. You would think that she would put them right where they usually go. BUT NO!!!

Then again, I should not really expect too much from the woman who put the TV Remote in the fridge once. But like I said, she works 14 hours minimun 6 days a week. What can I complain aobut.

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I've got to stop coming back to this blog...all this talk about men who clean, cook, do dishes and laundry is really starting to depress me.

 

Besides...it's time for me to put a load of laundry in and figure out what the hell I'm going to cook for supper and get started on that.

 

T.

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Sorry T.

It's ok. I have to start dinner myself. thinking about a lovely chicken sonora with farfalle. She can put the two dishes int he dish washer. BTW, did the laundry sunday!

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