I know of a woman in town who built a new house and wanted to omit the kitchen! She didn't cook and didn't want to "waste" the floor space. All she needed (in her opinion) was a sink, a refrigerator and a microwave. Her family ate cold cereal, sandwiches or take-out. She simply didn't cook, and neither did her husband. Is it any wonder her son loved to come to our family dinners? As a side note: her contractor convinced her to include a kitchen because he realized no one would buy a house without a kitchen! So, I guess it's not just young people who don't know how to cook.
As I've mentioned before, I really didn't know how to cook before Marlin and I got married. I had a few simple recipes I could follow, but preparing an entire meal was beyond me. We did not eat out, however. I learned to cook. Eating out was not handy as we live ten miles from town, and it was expensive. Eating out was a special treat and we indulged ourselves once or twice a month. I know of several families who eat out more than they eat in!
But, what about young people? Why don't they know how to cook? Their parents aren't teaching them and neither are the schools. When I was in school, we had Home Economics classes beginning in seventh or eighth grade. Truth be told, I really didn't learn how to cook there. I got some exposure to cooking, but most of the time we messed around. I remember baking with a group of three other students. We were to prepare a cake - from a mix - and divide the steps so everyone was participating. One of us should have kept track of who was taking care of which step... The cake mix called for 1/3 cup of oil. Three of us choose to claim that step as ours. When the cake was finished, we were required to serve it to the class. As soon as the cake pieces were placed on the paper towels we used instead of plates, the oil soaked the paper towels! No one would eat the cake - imagine that! - but the teacher made the four of us eat our pieces! Talk about disgusting.
Home Economics did serve a purpose. I learned to get all of my ingredients ready before I started preparing a recipe. I learned how to measure dry and wet ingredients correctly - now I'm not so rigid with the measuring - but it was good to learn the correct way. I learned that if you don't pay attention, you can add the same ingredient more than once, and that is not a good thing.
I also learned a little about cooking from 4-H when I was in grade school. I only participated a couple of years in 4-H, but I do remember learning how to crack eggs. Actually, what I remember is my friend, Penny, dropping an egg on the 4-H leader's kitchen floor. No big deal, right? It happens from time to time to everyone. The dropping of the egg didn't leave an impression on me, what left the impression was the leader calling her cat to lick it up! We didn't have cats in the house, and I knew my mother would not approve! That being said, I then thought watching an animal lick up food from the kitchen floor was the coolest thing I'd ever seen and I accidentally dropped an egg. Or was it two?
Anyway, I knew cooking and baking were important skills to have. My mother didn't want me in the kitchen (in her defense, it was a really small kitchen), so I didn't learn as much as I should have from her. BUT, she did tell me something before I got married that left an indelible impression: "There are two sure-fire ways to make a man happy, and one of them is cooking." If you want a happy husband, learn to cook.
Actually, cooking and baking are acts of love. Don't believe me? Ask the men in your life and the women, because if both of you are working outside the home, both of you need to be sharing in the responsibilities at home. And, the time you spend together in the kitchen is precious. Rarely, are your kids going to interrupt a conversations in the kitchen to insist you allow them to help! It's a great time for private conversations and flirting, don't forget the flirting!
But, my focus is primarily on women. If you take the time to prepare a meal for your husband, he is going to appreciate not only the time and effort you put into the meal, he's going to appreciate the fact that you can put your money to better use. Why spend $40 on pizza for the family when you can make it for less than $10? Why spend $40, or more, at a restaurant? In the time it takes to drive to the restaurant, wait for a table, wait for someone to take your order, wait for the food, eat and then drive home, you could have prepared a meal and saved yourself $30. Big deal, right? You're not going to miss that $30 and it's easy and you're tired at the end of the day. That thirty dollars you could save represents the house you'd like to buy, but can't because you still don't have enough for the down payment. That thirty dollars represents a new washing machine or dryer, maybe a new car. How many times a week do you eat out? What about eating out during the day, on your lunch hour? That six or seven dollars you spend, is another thirty or thirty-five dollars a week.
Think about what you want for your family. Is eating out four times a week more important than a nice family vacation? Is it more important than a more reliable mode of transportation? Good stewardship means managing your finances wisely. Develop a plan with your spouse and follow through. Respect the hard work each of you do away from home and use those paychecks wisely by investing in your future - not fast food!
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty (Proverbs 14:23)
If your group would like an outline of my presentation on stewardship, let me know. Focusing on three areas of stewardship (time, money and resources), the presentation with leave you with food for thought - and food! I'd love to come sahre my thoughts and the biblical principles behind them.
Blessings to your and yours,
Debbie
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