little bitty girl

What is it about boys and domesticity? It's true what they say that the boys just sucker you in to be their girlfriends, but in reality are simply looking for replacements for their mothers. Take Stefan for instance. I think that at some point in his life, he was independent and could very well take care of himself. I know that he fed himself and also me occasionally with home cooked meals. I made the mistake of showing him that I was better at it than he was.

I must admit that this whole bloody mess is my fault. It happens when you were raised by a gaggle of cooks on both sides of your family. I simply cannot stand being the observer in a kitchen.

Stefan used to cook for me quite a bit in the early days of dating. I found it quite quaint as I don't think that many of my previous boyfriends could really cook. Then came the stir fry. The boy decided to cook me a stir fry one day and offered to give me tips on how to cook rice. I am glad to know that Stefan is a man with no prejudices because he obviously didn't see the colour of my skin. I was born learning to cook rice. Let it be known that it is inately bred into every Chinese person's blood.

That was when I realized that he didn't think I could cook. So for Christmas, I offered to make him a meal. I think he was a little trepidacious at the whole prospect. He came home to maple glazed, cornish hens stuffed with wild rice and baked autumn fruits, served with steamed broccoli florets tossed with orange juice and toasted sliced almonds.

He has never really cooked ever since.

Now his idea of a home cooked meal is opening a can of Alpha Ghetti or Campbell's Chunky Soup. When I go away, Mama Kang makes sure that he has at least one home cooked meal and lots of homebaked dessert.

It doesn't really help that he also released the Kitchen Nazi in me that day. Years of being the sous chef in my parent's home, I realized that I could be the head chef in my own(his) kitchen. Now, Stefan is my sous chef and what a demanding task master I am. Everything needs to be fresh and made from scratch.

Well, I decided no more. After all, we might have children one day and my children will not be eating Alpha Ghetti. On Sunday, I made him learn to cook his favourite Fall soup - Butternut squash with apple. There was lots of rumbling as he was sleepy and I had to refrain from critisizing his cutting techniques. It was a start, we got through it and I think he liked that he could do it. Now he has enough Butternut Squash Soup to last until the Yin Yang twins come home.

I unfortunately also managed to teach him to cook the Kang-aroo way, which is, "a little" will always be too much.