The JOY of Cooking?

Is anyone out there as sick of cooking as I am? I’m trying to eat carefully here in the new year but my God it’s a lot of work. Chopping up a butternut squash is harder than anything Tony's nephew Christopher ever did in the back rooms of Satriale’s if you get the reference. And peeling a mango and cutting it into edible pieces? It’s like peeling an elephant’s eyeball and then trying to dice it. I mean shouldn’t there be some sort of tool?This week I made enough mouth-watering entrées, soups and salads to feed an army, and all for a husband who won’t even sit down to eat anymore. The man is getting odd no doubt. His approach to a meal: get it down and move on to the next thing which for him is some left-brain project like Sudoku or the world’s most difficult crossword puzzle. Even when I’ve expended the last scraps of energy making Crab Cakes with Mango Relish or Slow Cooked Lamb and Fresh Thyme Stew I can’t get him to actually sit at the table with me …. Ok sure they’re from Weight Watcher’s kitchens instead of The Silver Gourmet’s but they’re great.Last night I served this whole fisherman’s delight of a spread with Garlic Steamed Spinach and Toast Points and I don’t know Fetal Tomatoes or some such and the only way I could get Old Dave to do something other than stand like a horse at a trough was to use On Demand to call up The Sopranos on the tube. All it took was offering him the episode where Ralphie gets his head cut off and he was rooted to his seat while he chewed. (Wait so where are those old TV tables? I think maybe the good old 1950s are coming back to haunt me...!)