Poll: Who wears the apron?

[braumeister]

Based on a typical two (or more) person household, I wonder how cooking chores are split up among members here.

I enjoy cooking, but DW doesn't, so I do nearly all the cooking. OTOH, she is an extremely talented baker while I'm barely competent in that area with the exception of my artisan bread, so she does just about all the baking.

 

[MichaelB]

DW is an excellent cook, so she prepares most meals. I prepare a few meals but mostly clean the kitchen.

 

[marko]

Based on a typical two (or more) person household, I wonder how cooking chores are split up among members here.

I enjoy cooking, but DW doesn't, so I do nearly all the cooking. OTOH, she is an extremely talented baker while I'm barely competent in that area with the exception of my artisan bread, so she does just about all the baking.

Wow! Had to check if I had written this!

I do 99% of our breakfast and dinner cooking. Not bad if I say so myself. I not only wear an apron but somebody gave me a chef's coat as well!

DW likes to bake and does a good job and also makes great sandwiches, which I suppose I could do but she likes to do it. Our unspoken rule is the person who doesn't cook does 90% of the clean up.

We also host Saturday night dinners on our deck for up to 20 all summer long; we've been doing this for almost 20 years and have it down to a science. We tend to share the prep, cooking and cleaning for that.

Here's one of our Saturday night Paella specials:

 

[davebarnes]

Is this a trick question?

1. I am the major cook (not chef) in our 2-person household. I love to cook. But, I am not much of a baker as I hate following recipes exactly (in spite of 2 engineering degrees).

2. My wife is the minor cook. She is very good and is the baker. She recently took a bread class ( http://raleighstreetbakery.com ) and now we eat excellent homemade bread. She also does 90% of the cleanup because she thinks I do a crappy job.

3.
a. I never wear an apron. I wipe my hands on my shirt.
b. She does. She bought a gorgeous apron from El Transwaal in Barcelona ( https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-transwaal-barcelona ). She wears it and loves it.

 

[unclemick]

1. Wife
2. Kansas City eat out
3. Me - when struck by Men are chef's Women are cooks hubris. Also take turns cooking at a Church Men's Group where a latent one up-man ship exists. Fit's perfectly with my oft stated male hormone theory on investing -'a few good stocks.'

 

[Walt34]

I make the salads (which here take an hour) and cook on the grill. DW does inside cooking, no question she's better at it and during those times I just try to stay out of the way. I do help with cleanup though.

 

[Moemg]

I am the cook . So used to cook but ceased after I retired. He does cook occasionally .He grills after I have marinated the meat and made the side dishes and when He does He always announces that He is cooking . He does the clean up . I occasionally bake but not as much a I used to. I wear an apron for Holiday cooking only .

 

[RobbieB]

We share. But not the "chore" eh? We share the joy of cooking!

 

[MRG]

When I retired I was supposed to cook, however that was more like calling for pizza. In May 2015 I needed to lose weight and took over the kitchen and pantry. You can't eat crap if it's not around!

My cooking is very simple but healthy and it tastes good. Baking is not my preference, do pies count? I make an awesome apple pie and some other desserts.

 

[W2R]

I said in the poll that I do all of the cooking. And I do! Sort of! Actually I really do every bit of the cooking that is ever done at my house. That means all of the breakfast, dinner, and snacks cooking. That said, this sounds like more than it is, since:
1) I seldom eat anything for breakfast
2) Usually my snacks do not require cooking, and
3) Dinner is usually something very simple to cook, like grilling a steak on my countertop electric grill, while I sit on a barstool and play a video game.

As you can tell, I do not suffer too much from doing all the cooking at my house. I cooked everything for my family for over 30 years, and I choose not to knock myself out doing that any more. I choose the simplest solutions instead. I don't even own an apron any more.

We do go out to lunch every day, although lately my knees have not allowed that as much as usual. So, as I type, F is going to pick up take-out and bring it here for our lunch.

 

[Music Lover]

Split more or less equally. My specialties are the barbeque, homemade pizza, and biscuits. She excels at making marinades, homemade burgers, etc.

As a general rule I cook all the meat and some sides.
She makes salads and other sides.
We both clean up.

 

[joeea]

Based on a typical two (or more) person household, I wonder how cooking chores are split up among members here.

I enjoy cooking, but DW doesn't, so I do nearly all the cooking. OTOH, she is an extremely talented baker while I'm barely competent in that area with the exception of my artisan bread, so she does just about all the baking.

That depended on our stage in life.

- When we were first married, we both cooked. I tended to get home from work before my wife, so during the week I cooked most of the dinners.
- When we had kids, my wife stayed home. She did most of the cooking during the week. I tended to cook on weekends.
- Later on, my wife went back to work but was home before me. She did more of the cooking.
- Still later on, I retired a few years before my wife did. I did almost all the cooking (and shopping and cleaning).
- Now that we are both retired, we split it fairly equally.

While I enjoy cooking, my wife is better at it. So when we want something fancy, she'll cook it. And I dislike baking, while my wife enjoys it. So she does pretty much all the baking. I do all the grilling. I am better at sauces and soups. Sometimes, we'll cook together - I'll do the prep, she'll do the assembly, seasoning, and gauging doneness. It can be fun, but I tend to work from a plan, where she wings it - so we can get in each others way on occasion.

And our rule has pretty much always been - when one cooks, the other cleans.

Through our life together, we have always split up all the chores. Some she enjoys or is really good at. Others I enjoy or am good at. Early in our life together, she paid all the bills. Later, she decided she didn't want to do it any longer and I've done all the bills and finances since. She enjoyed shopping. I enjoyed yard work. Etc, etc.

For us, life is about doing what you enjoy, are good at, or have time for, then having your spouse do what they enjoy, are good at, or have time for. We find a way to split up everything else. It works.

BTW, neither of us wear an apron. I tuck a white dish cloth in my waistband and use it as needed. It's a habit from my days when I was an owner of my family's fast food shop.

 

[Dtail]

We both cook and clean up fairly equally. She does more of the sous chef stuff and I do more of the actual cooking.
Separately, I do love to bake from time to time, as I like the detailed aspects of this art.

 

[aja8888]

My answer:

Cooking? What’s wrong with restaurants?

Well, DW is handicapped and tires easily from kitchen work (all work? ). And I can do simple things, some well, actually, like hot dogs and fried eggs.

So we eat out frequently and have several places nearby where we can go on the cheap (but good quality). We do have some home meals that I pick up at Costco that can be just stuck in the oven for a while and are pretty good. We do that once in a while.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I said the other does all or almost all, but I almost chose "I don’t know where the kitchen is; my chef hates interference.", because of the last part! I'm not even supposed to be in the kitchen when my partner is cooking. I used to be a decent cook, but to keep the peace I only make something if I'm home by myself, so I'm kind of out of practice. Besides, we like ordering out, so I'll often do that when I'm on my own now.

 

[ncbill]

One of my regrets in life...my 'cooking' is limited to assembling ingredients per a recipe for the slow cooker.

Made sure the kids got a better education than me.

 

[Midpack]

I wish you’d done a poll from Jul 2011 thru Jan 2019, then I could say I did ALL the cooking Mon thru Fri.

She was still working so I was happy to do it. Now we’re back to sharing about equally, and when I cook she cleans up and vice versa as we’ve always done.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

Spouse, restaurant, or senior center each feeds me about the same amount m-thurs. Spouse takes over on weekend minus any we go out or get when traveling. Mostly meals are obtained based on convenience to all concerned.

Guys took shop and carpentry ladies cooking and home economics back in my day.
My sons and son in law seem to cook about the same as the ladies do now. I cooked when single but spouse really likes her kitchen and basically takes over if I try to do anything beyond a sandwich in there.

We both like to feel needed.

 

[Katsmeow]

I said we basically shared but that isn't really correct. It is more that we each fend for ourselves. Occasionally I will make something that will serve more than one person and I will ask DH if he wants some. But mostly we each do our own thing because we are on vastly different eating schedule. DH gets up in the morning about 5 hours earlier than I do and I stay up much later. We do eat out several times a week.

 

[Cobra9777]

I took over all meal prep about 4 years ago when DW and I went to a low-carb lifestyle. I also do all shopping so as to keep high-carb food out of the house. All we have on-hand is fresh vegetables in the fridge and meat in the freezer, mostly vacuum-packed and ready to drop in the sous-vide.

Meals are simple but healthy... tonight is boneless, skinless chicken thighs (sous-vide, then seared in cast iron), sauteed shishito peppers from our garden with a simple aoli, a small salad, and we'll split an avacado. DW does 95% of the clean-up.

The above applies to the evening meal. For breakfast and lunch, we either skip or fend for ourselves. DW has a protein shake for breakfast and a small snack for lunch, such as a handful of almonds. I usually have yogurt or eggs for a late breakfast and skip lunch.

BTW, I don't wear an apron.

 

[kcowan]

I am the cleanup guy especially after dinner parties. I have a couple of specialties to relieve her.

 

[gwraigty]

I do all the cooking.

 

[audreyh1]

I do a lot of it, and more than half, but I don’t think it qualifies as most. DH does quite a bit too.

I don’t like to bake anymore. For a long time DH has done any baking, especially desserts.

But I don’t eat grains anymore, so no baked goodies for me!

 

[Idnar7]

My gripe is we disagree on how to cook a specific item. I was a cook but she has her specific ideas on how to cook. She wins but it is usually fine anyway. She has her favorites - has to be Heinz ketchup. After 30 years married I know when to just go with the flow. I hate baking, although I used to make great bread. Diabetes killed that habit.

 

[Souschef]

DW is an excellent cook, so she prepares most meals. I prepare a few meals but mostly clean the kitchen.

I prepare the salads and clean up the kitchen.
After DW prepared our first meal in our home, I told her to go outside and relax, I will clean up the kitchen.
She looked up at the sky , and said, "There is a God!"