Our weeks are busy, especially so for my wife whose work sometimes takes most of her waking hours and then some. Our son has his kindergarten and while he is away I, in theory, should have time to not be too busy but it turns out to be the opposite. I find myself trying to do what I can to support my wife as well as doing all that is difficult to do together with my son when he gets home. Before I know it, the kindergarten-hours have passed and it is time for afternoon snacks and then my son wants to play and do fun things with me before bath and dinner.
Although my son and I sometimes cook together, I mostly prepare dinner before going to the bus to pick him up. But while I do the cooking during weekdays, my wife takes her turn in the kitchen during the weekends and my mother-in-law often comes to eat with us, bringing her homemade food. I really like both my wife’s and mother-in-law’s cooking so I feel so spoiled when I get to enjoy the tastes of proper Japanese home cooked food. I have been living here long enough to experience the Japanese tastes as everyday familiar, but I still feel the excitement of savoring exotic delights every time I get to eat the food I did not know before I met my wife.
Just as my mom’s food back in Sweden is the kind you might be served at a fancy restaurant, my mother-in-law’s culinary expertise and experience from a long life of taking care of the family is also something I admire and would love to learn from. When it comes to my wife’s cooking, having had the chance to stand next to her for quite a few years by now, I have picked up and memorized many of her recipes and occasionally try to make them for us. But no matter how familiar my wife’s cooking is to me, somehow she always finds a way to surprise me with the heart she puts into (or onto) the food. Thank you so much my darling.
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