Potluck for a Family of 6

Image courtesy of Daniel St. Pierre / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When something goes right I really want to tell you about it since there may be others in a similar situation looking for ideas to make it work.  Last night, my husband had an amazing idea that went really well.  

Our kitchen has always been a major issue.  Not an issue that would make or break a marriage but it's definitely a topic that has caused some tension.  It all started back when we moved in together.  

K was going to be spending the summer with his parents while he completed an internship required for college graduation.  He visited on the weekends.  He moved his stuff from his apartment into the one we shared. He set his kitchen stuff on the living room floor.  For two weeks I walked around his kitchen stuff and finally put it away.  The next weekend I asked him why he left it on the floor.  His response was "I wanted you to set up your kitchen the way you wanted it."  I had to remind him that he hated my cooking and if he wanted me to cook he was going to have to eat what I cooked.  K has done most of the cooking since that day because I don't cook like his Mamaw. 

We spent 13 years trying to get the kitchen right.  I would put things away when I did the dishes and K would never be able to find them because I didn't put them away in the right spot.  He'd do the dishes and put them away in the "right" spot and I wouldn't be able to find what I needed in the kitchen.  Now, neither of us wants the other in our own kitchen any more than we want to be in each other's kitchens.  Team work has never been something we excelled at together and  there was especially no teamwork in the kitchen.

Then something amazing happened last night.  K called me and said "I'll bring roasted veggies if you will cook the roast I left in your fridge."  And that is exactly what happened. We made dinner separately to eat together.  I didn't follow his detailed instructions on how to fix the roast and he ate it anyway. 

We live an hour apart so it can't be an every night affair but I really liked the way it went.  It might be the very first time we've worked together to achieve something besides a high stress environment.

Who does the cooking at your house?