Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for January 30, 2020

Loose lids sink ribs.

You don’t want the looks, clean up after yourself this time, ya slob.

Arlo’s in a stew of trouble.

Arlo cooks, Janis simmers.

I never get this – I cook regularly at home and I am left with just the serving dishes with the final products at the end. I wash as I go – down to the last measuring spoon! It’s not that hard – and it makes life easier in the kitchen. My mom is always delighted after I am done actually, because I leave everything neat and orderly!

My wife loved it when I cooked. I did all the grilling outdoors and cooked at home on weekends. My mom was a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu of Chicago, and interned for 6 months at Antoine’s of New Orleans. We ate well growing up and I picked up cooking from her. She insisted I learn. “I don’t want my sons to have to rely on a woman or a restaurant for their sustenance” was what she’d say. I didn’t like it at first but I learned to love to cook. My wife was amazed that my bachelor place had cookware and spices and herbs, until she first ate my 6-hour beef stew and then my coq au vin. By the time I cooked her shrimp etouffee she was hooked. She cooked the daily meals and I did weekends and cooking out.

I remember she asked about filet gumbo but I told her (this was way before Amazon, the internet or even credit card ordering) that filet powder was hard to get outside of Louisiana, Georgia and a few other southern states. California and the North in fact considered anything from the sassafras tree to be dangerous and forbade its sale.

What’s the difference between a chef and a cook?

A cook knows how to wash dishes.

Between children, in-laws, and grandchildren our family numbers over fifty. Growing up, good food always played a big role, like any family, only more so. Arlo’s stew pot was our everyday cookware, only as a large and larger pair which could stack. Nowadays, gatherings are something of a logistics challenge, but we still pull them off several times a year.

Arlo, you realize the kitchen will fill with savory, detectible aromas, no? ‘Cause if it doesn’t, hang up your apron, son!

Cold weather in the south, big pot of gumbo.

I’ve seen the mess he makes. And why would he need a pot that big for the 2 of them?

“…..but your demeanor says ’Not again!”.

Hubby is a very good cook – both clever and willing. Every once in a while he’ll see something on one of the cooking shows he watches while he uses the stationary bike, make a mental note of the program, come home and print out the recipe, buy the ingredients and have dinner made for me. I’ve decided I’m going to let him keep me.

Domain invasion is unfavored.

Husband was a better cook than me. Over the years he stopped cooking – too tired after work, then we stopped having people in the house (bed bugs return fear) and stopped cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the family.

We barely come up with 4 dinners a week (eat out cheap on weekends). I was sick with a cold a few weeks ago and it was if he had never cooked before, Measuring and starting a meal took longer than it takes me to cook the meal.

Our 18th c reenacting unit has someone cook at most events as a demonstration and also we eat it as mid day dinner. Rule is whoever cooks does not wash the pots (each bring our own setting so wash our own).