Showing their support

[tejon]

Today, for my birthday, my husband handed me a huge box. When I opened it up, my eyes grew wide and a quick, "OH!" emitted from my lips. Like a kid in a candy store, I tore away the wrappings and exclaimed over each item.

What was in that box? Dozens and dozens of empty spice bottles from Penzeys. Bottles that are perfect for housing my ever growing spice collection, currently a motley mess of random jars and bottles. I have a few of the smaller, squat jars and love how easy it is to get a measuring spoon in there. The perfect gift, and something I've really been wanting.

Last year he got me a Wüsthof Hollow Edge Santoku knife (unlike the cheap serrated knife my mother in law got me years ago - "but it says chef's knife!"). And he does the dishes after I cook each night. Definitely a keeper.

Do your loved ones understand your love of food? How do they show their support?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Do your loved ones understand your love of food? How do they show their support?

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Usually, I find things that I need and want to use as I cook, but recently I have received some items which I least expected from my husband (now more diligent at seeing what happens in the kitchen):

a beautiful knife block by Wusthof which takes better care of my nicer knives than the drawer I had been using,

he picked up the tab on my Boulud santoku without questioning why one needed this item,

and buying a new roaster for Thanksgiving which I planned to buy one fine day, which never seemed to arrive ...

so, I guess, the answer is a resounding "yes" to how very supportive my family has been of my cooking obsession. My daughter even sent me the cookbook "Bouchon" last year! Now that is a book requiring more of a truss than merely light support ...

[jeniac42]

I would, in most cases, say no. My family and friends don't seem to understand the desire for specific and/or just generally NICE pieces of cookware, because they are happy with their disposable sets that don't get much use.

Even my foodier friends don't understand my quest for the best of any given ingredient. I have an ongoing disagreement with one of them over buying cheese that has been precut and wrapped in plastic

Maybe it's ME that's OCD....

[SuzySushi]

Those are wonderful gifts, Kathy!

YES, my husband, (step)son, and sister all understand and show their support of my love of good food and cooking. (Many of my friends, too.) Almost every gift I get from them is food and cooking-related... exotic ingredients, cookbooks, equipment... I need merely voice an "isn't this nice/interesting" and it's mine!

As my husband says, we're well-matched: I love to cook and he loves to eat!

[Badiane]

My family is pretty great...even when they don't get it.

My sister is a never ending goldmine of exotic ingredients, wierd recipes and the giver of the best jam making pot ever.

My brother just let it slip that my Christmas gift is a tagine that he hand carried from Morocco, because 'everyone over there has one, so I figured you would find it interesting'.

Other brother and I swap jam and have a great jam making rivalry going. Our one piece of common ground.

My mother still doesn't think I can cook, and am too young to be left alone with a hot stove and a sharp knife. Doesn't let the fact that I worked as a chef for years and I am 40 years old get in the way But accepts my food opinions and has just agreed to organic turkeys - fresh AND cold smoked! for Christmas. She has even agreed to let me cook them...but I have to do it at her house so she can supervise

My Dad, who is now 82, has endless time on his hands and calls me to tell me about all the freaky fruit he saw at the market and yesterday, to say he bought me some shallots 'the size of a softball' because he'd seen the 'puny' ones I had been working with

And my wonderful wonderful husband...who eats all that is placed before him, and then does all the dishes. Who drives around to crazy places every weekend with me, looking at food. He has become an addict as well, which delights me. He is still talking about our haul at the farm market last weekend...three giant yams, a squash, a purple kohlrabi and 6 onions for $1.35.

And everyone is looking forward to the Christmas treats...and are already calling with suggestions!

[fifi]

Oh yeah . . . I get great support. But then, most of my family are avid cooks and really "get it." (Well, my daughter is getting there. Not up to the level of my son yet, but getting there. He is the cook even though he is 3 years younger.) They know I love books and do check my Amazon wish list. Last year, they bought me everything on the list! And there were a number of cookbooks there.

For stocking stuffers, my son included some particularly plump cardamom, a neat set of measuring spoons that fit into the little jars, a jar of honey from Pitcairn Island of all places. Later in the year, he spent many hours on the hunt for the ss mushrooms that got discussed here. That topic resulted in a goodie box for each of the kids that was all cooking stuff. So . . . "getting it" goes both ways.

[Megan Blocker]

Yes, I definitely get lots of support from my family. My mother and my aunt (my mother's sister-in-law), especially, are wonderful cooks, and are always up for a discussion about food. My brother works in theatre, and when my mom comes to town, he picks the shows, and I pick the restaurants. And we always have at least one night when it's all about the food, no show allowed.

My friends are almost all as into food as I am - and the ones that aren't are a bit like SuzySushi's husband - they love to eat, I love to cook, so it all works out in the end!

[I_call_the_duck]

Some loved ones do, others don't.

My brother and I discuss recreating the recipes we ate while growing up. The pros of making congee in a rice cooker vs. stovetop. Braising chicken wings until they fall off the bone. My sister sending me various articles about food.

My friends who gave me a gift certificate as a wedding present to any Steven Starr restaurant. Another friend who gave us a gift certificate to our favorite wine store.

And of course, my husband. I would not have married him if he didn't understand.

And my wonderful wonderful husband...who eats all that is placed before him...He has become an addict as well, which delights me.  He is still talking about our haul at the farm market last weekend...

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Though he doesn't quite understand my love for cooking shows, he's wonderful in every other food way. He loves everything I cook despite my constant self-criticisms. He'll insist on going to the farmers market on our Saturday sojourns, or detour by the Halal butcher for fresh meat. Stop so I can look at restaurant menus even when we've just eaten. And he also didn't blink an eye when I said I wanted to spend some of our wedding money to buy the set of All-Clad cookware that nobody got us from our registry.

[TPO]

Last year he got me a Wüsthof Hollow Edge Santoku knife (unlike the cheap serrated knife my mother in law got me years ago - "but it says chef's knife!").

My husband got me one of those last year also! He usually buys me the perfect gifts, from pots to utensils. My mom laughs and says if my dad every bought her a pan for her birthday she'd divorce him, but I love my kitchen gifts.

My husband also is very supportive of my cooking experiments. He often offers compliments, but knowns when I ask his honest opinion that I mean it (usually because I am testing a recipe for a column) and he's not afraid to tell me when something isn't great or what it needs to improve the recipe.

[jsolomon]

I am sad to report that I am the first in the thread who has less than stellar support.

My fiance's usual response to anything is "it's okay". When I served fettucine and onion confit, her response was, "It's onions and spaghetti."

She's definitely a meat and potatoes girl. I have yet to see a vegetable dish get seconds taken.

*sigh*

[cathrynapple]

i only recently starting baking (and cooking, a bit) SERIOUSLY.

judging by the goegeous new bright white kitchenaid (artisan model) on my counter, i'd say they "get it!"

incidentally, my friends have all suddently gained a few pounds! my peers don't always "get it," but they're always excited to eat my stuff.

[Grovite]

Lucky for me that my wonderful girlfriend is a pastry chef as is my sister!

Our families "kinda" get it. Most of the time we'll get, well, less than steller things...a Sponge Bob Ice Cream scoop comes to mind.

Suprisingly, for my birthday last year, my parents gave me a few pieces of Emile Henry bakeware and gift cards to Sur La Table and Penzey's.

[Rehovot]

Today, for my birthday... <snip>

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Happy Birthday!

My family tends to give me cookbooks; my mom started giving me great zesters and other gadgets as stocking stuffers...

Mr. R. doesn't have a clue as to why I like to cook/bake....doesn't really see it as a hobby...but appreciates the results.

We move a lot, and haven't "settled down" anywhere, but I'm picking up pieces on the sly... a glass tart dish here, a silpat there....

[mrsadm]

My husband gladly eats whatever I prepare and he has often been surprised at how good something can be when made from scratch. For instance, he was always saying he hates cream of mushroom soup, but when it was home made and not from a can - he loved it!

I must say that he barely tolerates me spending money on new gadgets for the kitchen - but I *had* to have those new japanese knives and those copper pots - so much so that he bought himself a sailboat to feel even with my acquisitions!

[jgm]

My mom and my husband get it, or at least to the extent I need them to. Last year for Christmas, Mom got me cookbooks by Batalli, Hazan, Keller, etc. - but when I thanked her, she said "You really like that stuff?" She bought them because they were on a list of possibilities I gave her. She likes to cook, but Rachel Ray is more her style.

My husband though, is wonderful. He will eat most of what I make. He buys me requested cooking toys for Christmas and my birthday. And this weekend, he took me on a special trip to Williams-Sonoma. There was this special cake pan... it makes a cake shaped like a pumpkin. I don't know why I fell in love with it, but I did, and I had to have it. (I can't explain it.) But I refused to pay full price for it. (I can explain that: $30 for a cake pan???? No way.) I thought it might go on sale right after Halloween, but when it didn't, I checked back every week to see if the price had been reduced. Then I figured it would go down right after Thanksgiving. So the next day, we had a nice lunch and drove to W-S. They had just then run out. One lady had two (twoooooooooo!!!!) and I fought off an urge to hit her. (She wasn't playing fair.) A terrific struggle ensued inside me, in which I valiantly fought off my inner kindergartener. ("No hitting! No biting!") Then someone said "There are more over there!" and DH was right on it. I got the next-to-the-last one!

Yes, he definitely gets it. Or at least he's smart enough to go along with it.

[jgm]

I am sad to report that I am the first in the thread who has less than stellar support.

My fiance's usual response to anything is "it's okay".  When I served fettucine and onion confit, her response was, "It's onions and spaghetti."

She's definitely a meat and potatoes girl.  I have yet to see a vegetable dish get seconds taken. 

*sigh*

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Make this engagement a very long one. Be sure you want to marry this woman. A lifetime is a long, long time not to share food lust. You don't want to find yourself cheating on her with the Eggplant Queen. And divorces are much more expensive than weddings.

[Curlz]

Can they be supportive but also not get it at the same time?

I'd say yes, they're supportive, b/c I do get cooking/food-related stuff sometimes (i.e. books--cookbooks as well as food-related tomes), but I also get questions and comments like "Why don't you take some of the ___ classes at ___?" When my answer is "Because I can't afford it," do you think they take the hint and buy me gift certificates? Nah. SIGH...

It's most likely that if I provide a list of (ahem) ideas that I'll get what I want. But isn't that always the way?!?

[annanstee]

Well, my lovely husband supports me in that he eats everything put in front of him, and delights me by loving things he has always thought he hated (yams, curry, peas) when I cook them. However, he doesn't understand the need for expensive equipment, and regulary blanches at the bill when I choose the restaurant

My mum and I share an obsession with cookbooks, and our mutual support in this addiction extends to relieving each other of tomes we feel would be better suited to ourselves.

I know my brother talks about my cooking, because whenever I am introduced to someone at one of his parties, s/he says "so I hear you are quite the cook".

My son is 4 and 1/2, and I wouldn't call him supportive just yet, his most common food descriptor being "Yucky".

[I_call_the_duck]

I am sad to report that I am the first in the thread who has less than stellar support.

My fiance's usual response to anything is "it's okay".  When I served fettucine and onion confit, her response was, "It's onions and spaghetti."

She's definitely a meat and potatoes girl.  I have yet to see a vegetable dish get seconds taken. 

*sigh*

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Make this engagement a very long one. Be sure you want to marry this woman. A lifetime is a long, long time not to share food lust. You don't want to find yourself cheating on her with the Eggplant Queen. And divorces are much more expensive than weddings.

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Hmm...a little harsh, but there's a ring of truth there. My brother went out with a woman, who was a VERY picky eater. One of the things on her vast laundry list of things she wouldn't eat happened to be Chinese food. Which would be alright if he didn't like it either, but since that is his favorite type of food to eat and cook, it was a little weird. Oh, did I mention that we're Chinese? We never could figure that relationship, which lasted much longer than it should have.

[suzilightning]

happy birthday, tejon!!!

johnnybird is fairly supportive - he will eat everything EXCPT lima beans - i LOVE lima beans so eat them when he is not in residence. my in-laws have no clue about cooking, enjoying food or even balancing a menu. i miss my mommy.

enjoy all those that are supportive of you and remember there is nothing wrong in filling out the order blanks and giving them to those who would gift you with those "miracle cake molds" - unless you want them...

[lesfen]

My husband is very supportive and is usually delighted in the things that my obsession produces. He does not cook, but he's a gadget geek at heart and loves to play with all of my toys.

My family is more amused than supportive. They will eat, and seemingly enjoy, the things that I make but will always throw out a "Les always makes fancy food.", which embarrasses me. I brought my pepper mill with me at Thanksgiving and my dad kept demanding "Les' fancy pepper". So funny.

[jeniac42]

I am sad to report that I am the first in the thread who has less than stellar support.

My fiance's usual response to anything is "it's okay".  When I served fettucine and onion confit, her response was, "It's onions and spaghetti."

She's definitely a meat and potatoes girl.  I have yet to see a vegetable dish get seconds taken. 

*sigh*

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Clearly you didn't read my post.

[jsolomon]

mea culpa...

[Katie Nell]

My boyfriend ALWAYS lets me have the first bite of whatever dessert we are eating... the tip... the best part!

After receiving my first Le Creuset on clearance and cooking with it a few times, my boyfriend said, "you know, I really think you should get another one of those since you love it so much, even if it's not on clearance!"

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Happy Birthday, Kathy! You look fabulous And Mr. Tejon is definitely a keeper.

It took many years for Mr. Foodbabe to get it. I gave him list after list of suggestions for all gift-giving occasions, only to be told, for example, "I am NOT giving you a blowtorch for Valentine's Day!" I finally started giving myself whatever I wanted, and after a few times, the light bulb went on. He's as excited about getting a steam oven in the new kitchen as I am, and is almost as hissy as me about a really good cup of coffee (Peet's comes once a month to our house, and we are giddy every single time.)