Too Many Cooks In Our Kitchen?? Never!

Welcome to the Stone house, where everyone gets a turn at the culinary wheel. There’s five of us living here – my husband Randy and myself, two adult sons, and my 80-something year old mom. Thankfully, everyone takes a turn one night a week procuring dinner. Over time, five distinct styles have emerged…

Sunday – I kick things off and am known as the “frugal” chef. I like to take whatever’s in the cupboard, fridge, and freezer and throw it together. This makes for perfectly acceptable, if uninspiring meals – like ravioli and pasta with meat sauce. I hate wasting money or food so am happy to take “what is” and try and be creative. My meals get appreciative yums, polite applause, but nothing compared to what comes later in the week.

Monday – My oldest son Patrick has become the “vegan” chef. To our delight (and Randy’s heart-stopping shock), Patrick has served up tofu for dinner, along with other meat or fish. He’s taught me how to wrap those soy blocks in paper towels and “compress” them underneath heavy pans to get the moisture out. The other night, Patrick baked tofu in teriyaki sauce and all of us (even Randy) were amazed at how good it was.

Tuesday – My Mom lovingly made burgers and mac and cheese when we were kids. Now she’s officially retired from laboring over a hot stove and I can’t blame her. Instead, Mom’s our “practical” chef, going to the various gourmet markets and getting wonderful ready-to-eat comfort food – Turkey Tetrazzini, Chicken Piccata, or Shepherd’s Pie. She always adds a fresh salad and French baquette. Yum.

Wednesday – Then there’s this day. My son Paul, known as the “gourmet” chef works as a cook in a restaurant. Even on his day off, he can’t wait to fiddle with those pots and pans. Where most of us start dinner forty-five minutes beforehand, Paul starts prepping at 2:00 p.m., chopping and dicing vegetables, using ingredients such as coconut milk, dragon fruit, and micro greens. Last week he made Chilian sea bass with risotto and green and white asparagus. He plates with the eye of an artist and I swear to God, you’d think you were dining in the finest Manhattan restaurant.

Thursday – Mysteriously (or maybe not), there’s never leftovers after Paul’s meals. So that’s where Randy, known as the “wine” chef kicks in. My husband was a busy executive and never quite got into the kitchen routine. But he does have an eye for a bargain. During this pandemic, local restaurants have offered great family meals for a quarter of what they usually charged. Where Randy shines is selecting a great bottle from his “cellar” – usually delicious reds and if we’ve been really good, sometimes a bottle of bubbly. What could be better?

Friday and Saturday — These are free days. Before the pandemic, we’d go to a restaurant and can’t wait to get back! In the meantime, there’s always take-out sushi or pizza.

The other night we all sat around the table. I looked at the smiling faces of my family and realized someday I’ll miss these times. We all came together, gave the gift of food in our own way, and there was no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.

Who cooks in your house? Comments are always welcome and if you liked this, please share.

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