~patches~ wrote:


> You'd be surprised at how many women have educations, have careers, and
> have kids yet still find the time to cook. If anything the cooking
> skills have increased in this segment of the population. Educated
> people in general tend to be more health conscious. Educated people
> with careers tend to have more money so can buy more exotic ingredients
> if they choose without the worry of breaking the bank. There are stats
> on educated vs uneducated that indicate both of theses comments. I'll
> try to find the link.

Thank you. That's me.

I'm on a medical leave right now, but I teach full time, take
professional development courses or graduate classes part time, and
raise my daughter the old fashioned way - as in, after school snack,
gets help if necessary to finish homework, then has time to play
outside (lately it's to run the new puppy around, good expercise for
both of them!), and maybe a few school-night chores. Notice that TV and
comuter do not make that list. Spare time she likes to read or play
with her stuffed animals and Barbies.

But by 6:30, Mom's headed for the kitchen. Some nights, the kiddo wants
to come help. Many nights, she stops by to see what's cooking and find
out if there's gonna be a fresh dessert. =) And grab a few nibbles off
the cutting board.

In an hour, I can make a fantastic meal, easily. If we're short on
time, I can pull of stir-fry or pasta or broiled fish in half an hour
no problem. Nights where we have committments I set up the crockpot
before leaving for work. Maybe one night a week we end up with carry
out, if I'm just too tired to cook and need to come home to put the
feet up and collapse.

Menus depend on the budget. When our pockets are full, I play around
with fun recipes and cool ingredients, exptoc sauces, and so on. When
money's tight, we eat bean burritoes that I actually make - gasp - I
roll the beans and cheese and onions into those tortillas all by
myself!! Or beans and rice, or simple pasta. I can pull off a cheap
meal for under $10. So time and poverty don'[t work as excuses for me.

I do agree that not everyone WANTS to come home and head straight for
the kitchen, though.Its kind of nice that one of people's daily
'chores' happens to be one of the hobbies that brings me pleasure.