It’s time for me to “out” my husband. He is certainly one of the “handyman” kinds of husbands in the house fixing this and that. It helps that he can also do the more difficult, labor-intensive jobs like laying hardwood floors and fixing broken/leaking water valves and such. And of course, he does serve as our systems administrator for our home networks. But what you probably didn’t know is that he cooks and bakes. hahaha There, so I’ve said it. And I’m not just talking about his famous specialty – Norwegian apple cake.
Fresh, homemade Norwegian buns…from scratch. Remember those? Make the dough in the evening. Let it rise at night? Come downstairs in the morning to a yeast-scented kitchen to roll out and shape the dough before plopping it in the oven? Yup, he does that, too. And of course, below are pictures to prove it. The girls couldn’t be happier. After all, it’s something they’ve only done when visiting Farmor – all the way in Norway. And I couldn’t be happier because well, I get to enjoy fresh, homemade bread. Yummmmmmmmmmmy!
A couple of days ago, Truls and I talked about a story on NPR (?) about how an author (or newspaper columnist?) had written about social etiquette way back in the 50’s and touched on the subject of what the requirements were for a good husband. In this day and age of social media, she showed what she’d written then to her 20-something daughter now. Much of the social etiquette hadn’t really changed, even in this world of social media and instant messaging. But those requirements for a good husband have certainly evolved.
Doing anything in the kitchen was not an essential. In fact, it would be a bonus, albeit somewhat odd and unexpected, that a man could make something. Now, it’s expected (and always appreciated) that a guy (in the potential husband category) can cook for himself and perhaps a few others. After all, many guys do throw parties themselves before they get married and they do have to eat everyday. So, as Truls has shown proficiency (hey, I’ll even say “advanced”) in the cooking and baking department, I would tell that author (sorry, can’t remember her name) that she should offer a double bonus category for husbands (or potential husbands) who bake and cook. Moreover, wives should exhibit such appreciation by not only complimenting her husband’s skills but thanking her in-laws for their forward, progressive thinking in encouraging the development of such skills.
Original post to It’s Never Easy But It’s Always Fun blog.
It's Never Easy But It's Always Fun 