Come on, into my kitchen

Brian and I don't watch much television. We don't have cable, but we do own a TV for movies and the occasional PBS show. Our set will quickly become obsolete when they switch everything over, but at that point we'll probably just give it up totally. But I digress.

Without regular television, I usually live in a commercial-free void (except for those annoying dancing aliens on websites that keep telling me interest rates are down or something) , but the other night as we were getting ready to watch a movie, I happened to catch a few commercials, one of which irritated me to no end. The commercial was for Church's Chicken's take home dinner, or whatever fancy name they call it. What they were implying with the commercial is that if you stop and buy dinner at Church's, you'll have more time to spend with your family, not slaving away in the kitchen.


It really makes me mad that cooking is portrayed like a chore that females must do alone in the kitchen...and if they really wanted to spend their time with their family, then fast food it is! Cooking is something that can be an enjoyable, shared experience with the whole family. Growing up, my sisters and I made pizza with our Dad every Friday night. We made ice cream and popcorn and helped my parents can strawberry jam, zucchini pickles and homemade ketchup. Looking back as an adult, these are some of my fondest memories. My family hardly ever went out to eat, because it was too expensive. And I don't think I ever noticed. Even when we went on vacation, we'd cook our own meals. I remember one summer we spent with my Grandmother "Gran" and her best friend, my "Great-Grandmother" Helen. My Dad cooked scrambled eggs ever single day (we were totally sick of them by vacations end).

Even now Brian and I often spend time cooking together. Lately we've been on a sushi kick, where we've been preparing the vegetables and then rolling the sushi for dinner together. But even when we're not making something special, or even when one of us isn't doing the cooking, we usually just keep each other company in the kitchen, or help out with dishes. The work isn't so daunting when there are two of us to do it.

My point with all of this is, that fast food doesn't equal spending more time with your family, and cooking isn't just for the ladies. Especially when both parents work--like mine did--it makes sense to share the cooking duties. And if you can make it fun and involve the kids, all the better. I work with children and I cook with them all the time. They love it!

And really, if you're looking for a way to bring your family together and spend more time with them, instead of giving up cooking for fast food, give up television. Giving up television, I suddenly found that I had time to do all those things that I had wanted to do for years. And no more commercials means no more slick advertising making me want things that I don't really need. Or thinking that I have to go buy fast food in order to enjoy quality time with those I love.