Low level eater

(I've been playing with Skitch again.)

This guy's name is You Are A Lucky Eater But Not Smart Enough To Know It.  We will call him Doofus for short.  I found him today (Nov. 13, 2010) in Dear Abby's column in the Durham Herald-Sun.  Read on...

Dear Abby:

I have been married for a year and I am concerned about one issue.  Dinner is a constant source of contention.  I enjoy coming home and preparing a homecooked meal for him. He views this as too fancy and too expensive.

We are financially comfortable and our grocery bill is modest.  It frustrates me that he doesn't appreciate the thought and effort I put into our dinner.  That's the way I was raised.  My husband would die happy eating frozen pizza and salad out of a bag every night!  That may be fine for some people, but I prefer to eat better than that.  Any suggestions?

--Likes to Cook in St. Louis

Abby gave some of her usual common sense advice-- he needs to eat healthy food and a good diet, balanced meals are important, tell him it makes you happy and it helps you unwind after work, etc.

Well, the Sabbatical Chef just wants to slap him upside the head and try to knock some sense into him.  Not really.  I wouldn't hit him.  But I would indeed sit him down at the kitchen table and ask him what the problem is.  He is one lucky man.  He should be more than happy to try her recipes and then let her know what he thinks.  Open his mind and his taste buds.  Or he is free to buy the frozen pizza and bake it himself.  But that's not good for the marriage.  He would pay for that one way or the other.

I have three male eaters (well, usually just two now since college-age son is not here) and we love pizza, too.  Not the frozen stuff, though, but take-out from Pulcinella's.   But my eaters try my new recipes and let me know if they would like a repeat performance.  If they don't, it doesn't hurt my feelings (too much) and either I modify the recipe, drop it from my repertoire or make a small serving next time just for moi or I take it to school and try it out on my friends and colleagues.  Sometimes I find a new recipe and spend all afternoon making it just because I want to.  I have been married much longer, though, and am, I imagine, a bit older, wiser and thicker-skinned than St. Louis.  I just urge her to hang in there and keep cooking.  And if he is lucky, she will keep him around and cook for him for a long time to come.  The Ex-Ex, my main eater, labeled the guy a "low level eater" after I pushed the column under his nose and made him read it.  I totally agree.  I hope Doofus improves with age.

Bon appétit, Loves to Cook.  Hang in there!