Men who 'Can't cook.

Don't worry!
Hunger will drive us to boil eggs or cook eggs and bacon, and open cans.

Aw, late H couldn't boil water.

If you don't eat you will die! Everybody should be able to make food for themselves.
It's a basic human need surely. Why should you rely on someone else to keep you alive?
More important now that both partners work.

No-one 'can't cook' male or female - unless they have severe impairment that makes it impossible.

DH made a very good stir fry this evening.
I did have to tell him where all the ingredients were ?‍?

Are we related Puzzled

dortie145, I might consider having an empty fridge myself - if it means that somebody will bring me Sunday dinner!

Grr! I HATE MEN!

Cooking, easy peasy, but my wife will interfere. Last night while I was taking a healthy swig from the wine bottle, she said, "I don't think that is what is meant by reducing the wine."

My DF was so fussy, he hated getting his hands messy and was quite revolted at the thought of breaking an egg. He never cooked, having been brought up in a family with lots of women, including two older sisters. He was a stickler for clearing up, though, probably a hangover from his time on submarines in the war.

I'll never forget him coming into the kitchen when four of us were up to our elbows in the middle of preparing food for a party and declaring "this place needs a good clearup!".

He used to go sailing with a couple of other men and they seemed to manage in their tiny galley. He was spoilt by my DM's good cooking and always complained that they never got gravy on the boat. I think he managed to make some somehow to serve with the meal.

And, to his credit, they acquired a breadmaker quite late in life and he got great satisfaction weighing the flour, etc, and producing his own loaves.

Sill had never cooked when he got married so daughter took him to a gourmet steak lesson. I don't think he's made it since but he does try to feed the kids if she is away working. The other day she was upstairs on important calls when he popped in holding a carton of soup.He asked'what is all this water at the top.Do I pour that out before heating?' She had to explain that it was the soup before stirring!

Guilty as charged!
Left to my own devices (instead of DH who provides an excellent, nutritious and varied diet) There would be a lot of eggs, tomatoes, cheese, sausages, bacon and tinned soup consumed.

One day I shall rue being so unskilled

My hubby could cook, but has a back injury, and arthritis in his joints, as well as shaky hands (we are both in our seventies).

He probably would manage in an emergency, but I would worry about him falling or dropping hot dishes. I would also worry about him using very sharp knives for preparation, prior to cooking a meal.

I do all the things that require cooking (despite being a somewhat "average" cook), but he manages to do toast (crumpets/Bagels) etc. for breakfast. He also does all the washing up.

paddyanne

sounds like my MIL 's cooking when I met her at first Callistemon she used to put everything for the week in casseroles on Sunday and keep them in the fridge,mince went in with a stock cube and no browning of the meat so did stew.She has improved in the 45 years since I met her and to be fair I can eat some of her food now without getting bad indigestion or being ill .Mr Paddy didn't realise how bad it was ashe was never all that bothered about food ...except chocolate

I don't think there was even supposed to be a stock cube in it, paddyanne, according to him!
Just plain mince.

His mother probably told him it was plain to keep him quiet.

My husband can cook a cracking Chinese meal, (his Sesame crispy lamb with noodles has got us speaking after an argument a few times!) but that's nearly the extent of his repertoire. In the beginning he tried telling me how his ex-wife had cooked (I went to catering college and worked as a chef for a few years) but when I immediately said ”if you're so keen on her food you could go back to her - now” he changed his mind PDQ!

He hasn't mentioned her cooking since.

His cooking involves every dish, pan, implement in the kitchen and spillages everywhere. I've just come out of hospital and keep seeing where he's ”cleaned up” after him is making my heart sink at the thought.

she cooked the stuff in casseroles on Sunday ..dont know where words disappear to on here

sounds like my MIL 's cooking when I met her at first Callistemon she used to put everything for the week in casseroles on Sunday and keep them in the fridge,mince went in with a stock cube and no browning of the meat so did stew.She has improved in the 45 years since I met her and to be fair I can eat some of her food now without getting bad indigestion or being ill .Mr Paddy didn't realise how bad it was ashe was never all that bothered about food ...except chocolate

Why is cooking such a big deal? I could cook basic meals if I wanted to but I don't want to. If someone else is happy to do it then I'll happily wash up.

I remember my friend telling me that, when they first married, her DH asked her to cook the mince just as his mother cooked it - no onion, no tomato, no herbs, no flavouring. Just plain, please, like my mother's.

So she did and served up this grey tasteless stuff and he was very surprised to find that it wasn't a bit like his mother's.

Well, I think we all feel very sorry for your DH, Madmaggie. Poor man!
It must be awful being stuck with someone whose Yorkshire Brack is too moist, whose rock cakes are too dry, who has the cheek to put too many cherries in the cherry cake but doesn't put enough blackberries in the crumble. What on earth ARE you doing? .....he sounds like one of The Three Bears !

Who wouldn't feel pretty damned upset with that sort of unwelcome and ridiculous criticism. And as for Masterchef judges....wasn't the one judge(not the Australian) who lost all the weight recently, a greengrocer? How does that make him a Chef, let alone a judge of fine food?

The only answer - apart from 'do it yourself and I'll just sit and wait for meals' , kind of thing, is for you to suggest, seriously, that you now cook together. He'll then be able to say exactly how he likes his food and will be able to participate in the preparation. This is going to save him loads of disappointment !!!! See if he goes for that?

I suspect you know exactly what you're doing in the kitchen and he's just whingeing for no good reason. So, stop doing it until you can come up with a plan that suits you. It's not a battleground and if all else fails, he can go online and order meals to suit, whilst you pour yourself a nice cold glass of something and put those feet up.

I get very cross with these “can’t/won’t cook men. There are plenty of simple & delicious recipes around.
If they can read or ask they can cook.

When I first met my DH he cooked for himself although it was a very limited repetoire indeed. However, since we married and both of us are now retired (he retired first, I worked f/t) he has ground to a halt. The only thing he will cook (and this is for himself, because he kept complaining I never got it quite right-so I told him he could do his own) is steak which he would eat every night if I bought enough! He has definitely learned helplessness. When I was dreadfully ill, only just escaped hospitalisation, and he HAD to set to.. He did himself beans on toast or bacon & egg or steak - I got tinned soup, with constant 'are you getting up yet'. During lock down he has got worse, asking 'what are you planning for tea' if I answer something he doesnt fancy I then get 'and what else is on offer? I kid you not, he started to expect a flipping menu to choose from. I got into baking (something I am pretty good at)and instead of saying something positive he started to critisize everything I produced - my Yorkshire Brack was 'too moist', my cherry cakes had 'too many cherries' the just baked rock cakes were plastered in butter before he would eat them, not enough blackberries in my apple & blackberry crumble (freshly picked from the nearby parkland and plentiful), Ive had 'lacking in taste' 'not enough cherries' etc etc until his most recent comment was the final straw and I burst into tears & told him how very dare he his attitude was mean, selfish and out of order. In future he could eat it or do the other. He did some weeding and obviously had a think, came back in an apologised for upsetting me (apparently I had just taken it the wrong way because there really hadnt been enough blackberries-what?) My dad never critised mums baking or mine for that matter. Do modern men think masterchef judges???

Forgot to mention that all my children can cook. My youngest son loves it, and puts me to shame

I had an overdose of cooking. With a husband working Continental shifts, 5 children + up to 3 foster children under school age I seemed to spend my life preparing meals and feeding babies.
Now I cook just for myself. My vegan son does his own shopping and cooking. I eat pretty healthily, but if it takes longer than 20 minutes to prepare I don’t want to know! I’m not that interested in food, tbh.

I taught my children to cook early ,they could both produce a decent sunday dinner or Christmas lunch by the time they were 12 ,and did .
My OH has never been interested in food,eats to live type.That suits me fine as I like my kitchen to myself .I evenlike cleaning and putting everything back in the place where I know I'll find it.Works well ,I supply the food OH eats it and appreciates it ,I get alone time in the kitchen which in this house is about the only place where peace exists