How Is Your Husband in The.......

Updated on August 12, 2011
S.J. asks from Cherryville, MO
35 answers

Kitchen?!

Another post got me thinking.....some men cook, right? Or at least try? What is your hubby like in that place with the pots and pans and hot stuff??

Mine is actually a pretty good cook - but he is terrible at planning and fast meals. When he does cook, it is rare, and he takes all day to prep, go to the store, and make the food. But once it is done - YUM! He could never just come home, go to the fridge and start making dinner after work. He would be so lost. And trust me, I have tried.

Cleaning the kitchen? Well, he loads and unloads the dishwasher religiously. Well, ok, every other day. It really needs to be done daily, but I will take what I can get! That is his chore - I won't do it but maybe once a month.

I don't think he has ever wiped off the kitchen table or scrubbed the countertops or stove.

Yours?!

And just an fyi - for those who post their husband's cook and clean BOTH - I already hate you. =)

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So What Happened?

Yep - Jennifer S - your post was it. I just didn't want to take the time and go back to find out "who posted about that crock pot thing again?" =)

@ 8kidsdad - I wish it were that easy! I smooch him and sing his praises every time he cooks, and I am not just saying it either! It doesn't get him to cook any more, even though I do ask. Most men are not like you. =)

Featured Answers

T.L.

answers from St. Louis on

For some reason we can't seem to plan what we are having the day before. It is normally 4:00 before we decide what we are having. My husband gets home first so he starts supper I pick up where he left off when I get home. Hubby always cleans up after supper too! It is great that he does it. He is a good cook and loves his bbq grill. I honestly think he would grill every night if I would let him. For some reason though it is difficult for him to clean up his grilling mess outside.

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C.S.

answers from Milwaukee on

You hate me already....:)

My husband does 99% of the cooking and helps with the cleaning. I always joke that I knew he was the 'one' when I noticed he kept toilet paper stock piled under the sink in the bathroom.

Sorry.

5 moms found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

I have a similar story. He cooks, but it's a big production. He is trained in culinary and pastry arts and was a cook in the Navy. I think he's a trained cook, but im a passionate cook. He can cook big batches of the recipies he knows, but so far as looking in the fridge and working with what we've got, he's not creative that way. Plus, he uses sooo many ingredients. He makes spaghetti a $20 meal. He does the majority of the cleaning, but he only really cooks on my birthday and mothers day.

5 moms found this helpful

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M..

answers from Detroit on

My husband is the grill master. Thats about it. I dont think he could make macaroni.

We were sitting the in the living room one night (recently) and the dishwasher (that we have had for 4 years) makes a dinging noise when its done. Hes looking around and says "WHATS THAT NOISE!!"
I said babe, meet the dishwasher, dishwasher this is my husband.

He doesnt even know how to start it. So, that should answer your cleaning question.

Hes lucky I think hes hot and makes beautiful babies. :)

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K.P.

answers from New York on

The hubs is an engineer and everything is an "equation", so cooking for him is a necessity so he can eat. Having said that, he LOVES helping me plan meals for our family and for parties. He gets into it and will research "themes" and "menus" for weeks before a party... gets into picking out the right wines, etc.

He does cook when I am away for work, which is fairly often but I love cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, so he pretty much stays out of my way. He will, though, clean-up (countertops, stovetop and all) after meals and always runs the dishwasher before going to bed!

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C.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

Mine missed his calling to be a chef. My mom wanted to send him to school at one point. I eat like a five year old so I don't "aapreciate" what he cooks but everybody else loves his food. I would have loved to see what he could have done but that's a hard life...not a fan of 80 hour work weeks.

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B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I'm a man. I cook most of the meals (90%) and I clean up after myself.

When we went to Jamaica for our anniversary (last week) my wife told me that my chicken was much better than we got the first night we bought from a street vendor. (Made me feel GREAT!)

I've won some awards for cooking. I love BBQing. My wife took me to a BBQ cooking contest for Father's Day in 1980 and I fell in love with what they did. The contestants would give away what they said wasn't good enough for the judges. I loved their "not good enough for the judges" food. I've cooked (BBQed) all of our Thanksgiving Turkeys, but one since then. The one I didn't cook was because it was raining and sleeting and blowing hard so my wife did it in the house. All of my kids told my wife to please let daddy cook the turkeys. She smiled at me shrugged her shoulders and I've cooked all the turkeys ever since.

I do simple meals and I can do gormet. I can whip up dinner in less than 30 minutes or in 3 hours, depending on what is required. I just hate to do dishes.

If you want your husband to do more cooking, tell him, AND praise his efforts. A sweet "thank you" and a kiss goes a long way.

Good question. Good luck to you and yours.

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C.W.

answers from Lynchburg on

My ex husband had a 'training holiday' when we were first married...I had to work...so he said he would cook spaghetti.

When I got home...sure enough there was a pot of sauce, and noodles ready to go. I went to have a taste of the sauce...it seemed to have a peculiar consistency...

He had not browned the meat...YUCK!

Needless to say, I was in charge of cooking from then on. He had been a bachelor for years before we were married...so I never figured out how he ate!

Pete, my SO, is an EXCELLENT cook...he is a gormet quality cook (and I am his 'prep' cook)...where as I am more of a 'pull off a feast ON TIME for the masses...

And yes, he cooks...I clean up...I cook...and he cleans! We actually have a LOT of fun in the kitchen...would be a hoot to do a cooking show together now that I think on it!!

Best Luck!
Michele/cat

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

About three years ago I decided Sunday night would be "dad's night." He cooks (or orders take out.) It's my one night off and I love it!
He is a pretty good cook but clean up is a whole other story. We definitely have different ideas about what clean is, lol!

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

Ok, when I am not home or do not cook, he eats ... but I have come home late to cans of soup on the counter with a spoon in it but no bowl in the sink or dishwasher ... ewwww! When he coos I typically do not eat it unless it's his mac and cheese he can alter Kraft mac n cheese in a yummy way. Still prefere home made. Kitchen is scary ... love him but I KNOW he does not put dishes away properly on purpose -- he can load it though.

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J.S.

answers from Jacksonville on

Tee hee, it's probably my post you are talking about. My husband does most of the cooking. Really he is much better at just mixing stuff and coming up with pretty good results. I can make anything, as long as it has a recipe to it. We have a general rule around here though, if he cooks it I clean it. The same is supposed to be said if I cook he cleans, however I usually clean as I go because I can't stand to cook in a dirty kitchen, and he was getting really bad about holding up his end of the cleaning deal. So now he will load and unload the dishwasher (sometimes) when I have days that I just don't get around to it

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S.R.

answers from El Paso on

I cook. End of story. UNLESS he wants to grill. Then it's his party, because we have a charcoal grill and I have NO idea how to do things the right way on there.

My husband will start to clean the kitchen in order to get me to do it. I have some OCD tendencies and he knows I can't stand the way he does things. So, it's either live with the way he does it (which I did for a week after our newest baby was born) or get my butt up and do it myself, which is what usually happens.

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R.D.

answers from Richmond on

I can count on 1 hand the number of times my husband has cooked in the past 4 years... and he ONLY makes grilled cheese ;)

Actually, the kitchen is my sanctuary, it's the one place I can throw everyone out of and not get bugged. 'MY' SPACE!!

LOL@ hating people who's hubby's cook and clean, me too ;)

My guy doesn't clean in the kitchen either. The only business he has in there is TAKING OUT THE TRASH!! ;)

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A.G.

answers from Houston on

My honeys a good cook, hes wasteful though. When i cook a ration our the ingredients in order to save money....he loads them on. he cant clean to save his life.

BUT

This man rocks at sandwiches and potato dishes.

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C.F.

answers from Boston on

Hubs is a Firefighter so he's picked up a thing or two :-) He does GREAT cooking for 8 -12 guys, but cooking for our little family of 3 is a challenge! lol
He likes to grill, but in fact, burns everything! Cleaning up is not his 'thing'.

Sweet~ so you dont hate me ;-) heehee

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J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I don't like being hated. :(

Does it make you feel better that we take turns?

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A.D.

answers from Denver on

I am the SAHM so ALL cooking falls onto me. I'm ok with that because we would be eating a lot of sandwiches if it were him. I swear he could eat a sandwich for every meal!!! Lately he's been wanting chicken noodle soup and so he'll empty a can of broth, add carrots and green onions, canned chicken if we have it, and the egg noodles. That is the most I've seen him cook in a long time! Now if I ask him to help me do something he usually has no problem but to cook a meal from scratch on the whim... hahaha.. Every once in a while he will help with the dishes, but I can't stand the way he loads them into the dishwasher, so I end up having to re-do it..lol I'm the type of person who can load the dishwasher full then do a sweep of the house and find 5 more things and can cram it in! I'm jealous as well of those who's husbands cook and clean!

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L.W.

answers from Dallas on

My husband is a great cook and really enjoys doing it. He does 95% of all the cooking. He does try to clean up as he goes but I am the one that usually does all the cleaning up afterwards. But I will say that he does clean it all too from time to time. So I can't complain. I got very lucky.

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M.M.

answers from Tampa on

My husband is a great cook and 3.5 of our almost 4 years together... I let him believe I couldn't cook so he'd do it all the time LOL Now since I've been pushed out from work really early (June 9th!) I've been cooking a lot and he realizes I'm a good cook too tho we have very different ways of cooking.

When I ask him to clean, he does a good job... but he won't clean anything unless he's lost something or I ask him to.

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C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

hhhhmmmm...good question...

My husband is GREAT in the kitchen!! (wink wink!!) the counters are perfect!! sorry- i digressed!!!

he can cook a GREAT spaghetti as well as chicken cordon bleu (we do this together on New Years Eve)...hhhmmmm let's see...the clean up? wellll, that has some room for improvement! :) but the rule is - WHEN HE COOKS - you cook, I clean....now that he's home all the time? he's helping out more...but soon...yes...soon!!! it will be the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!! :)

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

In 10 years and 3 weeks, my husband has cooked a total of 4 dinners and 3 breakfasts.

He said he reeeeally wanted to be cooking 1 day a week last year, so we figured out which day would be 'best' for him (to suit his work schedule). We had pizza or chinese every single time, after a few months, I took it back over.

S'allright. He won my cooking skills the moment he boiled a chicken for dinner. Shudder. The man has no sense of smell, or taste. I'll happily cook 4 times a day to avoid boiled chicken.

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner, whether it's in the kitchen or on the grill... it's all me.

When we divorce, the man is going to starve. The month I spent in the hospital with our son, he lived off of cup noodles and cereal and tuna straight from the can.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

My Husband cooks when he has time... he actually likes to cook... and doesn't mind all of us in the kitchen with him. He likes to use the opportunity as a "family time" and will have my kids (4 & 8 years old) cook with him and prep everything.
He'll even make a list of ingredients he needs, if we don't have it, and will go to the grocery store to get it.
He asks me questions sometimes about the recipe instructions.
But he is mostly self-reliant with cooking. And knows how.
He can cook and bake stuff.
He cooks French food.
Which is not all that hard.
I cook that too.
My Hubby is a good cook.
He cleans up as he cooks and after.
But I help him sometimes.

He hasn't cooked in awhile, he is too busy.
But when he does, it is a real treat. Because he cooks good food.

Other than that, well he is a Husband. Not totally there with home upkeep. But helps in addition to work/and him going to school.
He gets in moods, where he will clean sometimes. But not frequently.
Mostly, I do it..... ALL.
And he likes doing things with the kids.

Oh... BUT he FORGOT our Wedding Anniversary this week.
I remembered.
14 years now.
Still a work in progress and growing....

My late Dad... loved to cook too, and often did even if he was busy. He was a great... cook. And could cook using no recipe... making dishes himself that he made up.
He had a knack for it.

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H.1.

answers from Des Moines on

I stay at home now, so all the cooking is mine! I typically cooked before then though because, like yours, he's terrible at planning meals out and organization is important when we were both working full time. He was always good for cooking when I had to work late because he would willingly do it, but his tastes are very simple and he would just eat hamburger helper every day, lol :)

Cleaning - no. Again, I do this! Sometimes when we both worked, he would offer to do dishes but he's so SLOW at them I couldn't stand it. We're on a good routine now where I clean up after dinner and he gets to play with our son that he hasn't spent time with all day.

If you want him to cook a little more, I would talk to him about it. If he's game - be routine about it and let him know he's going to do dinner every Wednesday for example and tell him to make sure he's got it figured out the weekend before or whatever so the right groceries can be bought. Make it fin and tell him you want to see what he can come up with?

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A.D.

answers from Norfolk on

my husband is actually pretty good in the kitchen...my only complaint is that he seems to use EVERY dish in the house to cook, and he doesn't throw anything away in the process or clean either. I'm actually pretty lucky--i'm a stay at home mom, but my husband always calls me before heading home from work and asks how the kids have been for me. If I've had a bad day, he'll offer to pick something up on the way or cook for us all. I know a lot of women who stay home are expected to have dinner ready every night, but my husband knows how stressful and hard it can be for me at home with 2 little ones. I'm very lucky to have him :)

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H.G.

answers from Dallas on

You don't have to hate me honey, we are on the same boat! My husband can make eggs and cereal. Thtas about it! And he is handicapped when it comes to cleaning up the mess he makes. I think that's so hot when a man can cook! Good thing my husband is not in other ways!!

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P.M.

answers from Portland on

My husband wowed and wooed me by making me a very elaborate breakfast one morning when I went to his house for a brief business meeting (he had hired me to illustrate some books he was writing). It was a tease! He doesn't really cook, although he will occasionally make very simple meals or heat up leftovers adequately.

My hunny is really hit and miss in the kitchen. He does lend a hand setting the table in a really distracted, scattershot way (extra plates or forks, no knives, gets out his favorite condiments but not mine…). He jumps up and washes dishes after dinner, but I usually rinse, or else he'd flood the tray under the drying rack. I don't let him put dishes away, or I'd never find them again.

I really can't complain, though. I don't like to cook, but I do it pretty well, and I really like a carefully planned, well prepared, beautiful meal. Every once in awhile I feel burned out by all the cooking, and he'll cheerfully take me out to dinner.

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A.H.

answers from San Francisco on

He's OUTSTANDING in the kitchen! 8 years ago I bought him a grill and he also became interested in the show Good Eats as well as a fan of Anthony Bourdain. It has become a hobby for him.
No, he won't do dishes. He says he finds it unfulfilling!? So...Apparently *I* find spiritual enlightenment in the dishwasher!? But it's hard to stay mad when he serves up gourmet meals.

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

My husband cannot cook to save his life.
He is also unable to find a meal that was already cooked for him unless it is placed right in front of him on the table.

He eats everything I cook, though, never complains.
My husband is good at clean up, very thorough, but also very slow.

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A.M.

answers from New York on

My husband does 95% of the cooking! It's great! haha...he really enjoys it...I hate it, he does an awesome job...I don't, and when I am working (teacher, so summers I am home) it helps with evenings getting bath time and bed time in order with our son. I usually do all the clean up, but that's fine. Some meals it's a partnership...he'll grill, and I'll take care of the sides...in the summer, I try to prep are much as possible during the day (when I'm not on mamapedia or facebook haha)..marinading the meat, etc. I know, I am very lucky! My mom, SILs, friends tell me all the time...he's a keeper!

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M.D.

answers from Dallas on

My husband is amazing in the kitchen, but he doesn't always cook for me like I think he should. I think he likes the grill better, but he does a wonderful job, sometimes too much with spices, but I've learned not to say anything negative or I end up cooking for awhile... Doesn't really clean up that much, will use every pot in the kitchen while cooking, and I do the dishes, he'll leave grease spills and such, he'll at least put the leftovers away usually, but sometimes I have to do it. I work all day and he's at home, loves to cook, but on his time, so I get really mad when I have too. I think dinner should be ready for me when I get home, but about 1/2 the time I have to cook. Don't get me wrong, I like cooking, but not after working all day, while he sleeps until noon or something like that... I prefer cooking on the weekends when I can enjoy what I'm doing instead of just making a meal, which he can tell and says to me that I didn't put any love into it... true, just trying to feed the family...

He does keep the house pretty clean, we made an arrangement a long time ago, he does floors and I do dishes... however, lately, he's been really lazy, the house isn't a mess but it's not as good as it use to be... Him and my 4 year old have been sleeping until 2 PM, but don't even go to bed until 2 AM or after...

I do have to brag a little, I think he makes the best ribs ever... doesn't even need sauce they are so good...

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A.B.

answers from Louisville on

He has mastered the nigh impossible art of sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly, no less!) and for a really special treat, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!!! Sometimes, when he's going all out, he'll make toast and (very dry) scrambled eggs. Good thing I LOVE to cook...

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E.P.

answers from New York on

My husband CAN cook, although he doesn't really enjoy it. I enjoy cooking, so I do 99% of it - especially dinner - unless something needs to be grilled. I don't do the grill unless I'm grilling veggies. I cook & he helps to clean up or I'll just do it. He DOES make breakfast for my daughter every day of the week since she was about 3 years old. He makes eggs, pancakes, french toast, etc. - no problem. He tends to leave a bit of a mess, but honestly I like to sleep late, so I don't usually care too much. He does laundry like nobody's business and is better at noticing when we're running out of underwear. I don't like to sort & haul so he does that and I fold - love to fold - it's weird. So I guess you could say we both tend to stick to what we're good at.

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N.R.

answers from St. Louis on

My husband is a great cook and a fabulous cleaner too. However,
he cooks more than he cleans. He's also in the catering business --which comes in handy when we have parties. Don't hate me too much I had to raise two children pretty much by myself because he was also at work.
You take the good with the bad. Have a great day.

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J.K.

answers from Sacramento on

I am one of the lucky ones. My husband likes to cook and he's good at it... and he cleans too. We split the division of housework for sure, but he isn't one of those guys who is like " no honey i just take out the trash and mow the lawn."

Sorry S.... don't hate me!

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S.L.

answers from Savannah on

He does breakfast like french toast and some great pasta dishes. oh and he makes the best meat loaf. otherwise he's okay for cooking the basics of life. He's more inclined to take me out to eat when i want a break from cooking, out of him being tired from work. that's fine with me!

as for cleaning up, a few times a week he will be the one empty/reload the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. i do it about the same amount of times. so we're even in that. our boys take out the trash most of the time.

he was a bachelor until the age of 35. if he didn't know how to cook the basics, he would have starved to death.

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