My name is Jennifer and I have been married to a chef for 25 years.

I blog about my life as a chef wife and how we combine restaurant and family life each day.

If you are new to my site, start here.

Recent Posts:

The Stress of a Chef

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This past week, my chef/husband has had the week off as he is moving to a different company. This type of week off is very different than just taking a week off from the restaurant or restaurant group.

There are very few emails and texts.

No worrying about food cost.

No wondering if someone ordered the correct quantity of something for brunch on Sunday.

No one asking for help in a situation.

No blueprints to look at for future restaurant openings.

Nothing on the calendar in the near future.

It is truly a break. read more…

A Day in the Life of a Chef Wife – April 2015

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Every month on the 10th day, I grab my camera and capture my day as a chef wife with 10 pictures. Most days my husband is not in the pictures because (big surprise) he’s at work. This month, while he was gone for most of the day, the day still revolved around him. It was his last day of work for his company. (More details on that here in my newsletter last week. If you are not signed up for those, you can do so here!) read more…

The Struggles of a Chef Wife – Scheduling Appointments

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How in the world do you schedule a Dr. appointment or an appointment to leave your car for 6 hours, when your husband is a chef and you have kids?

Not easily!

Now maybe it’s just me, but as a chef wife, I struggle with this.

Let’s be honest. There are some Dr. appointments I REALLY don’t want to go to with 3 kids. And these types of appointments can only be scheduled M-F and usually need to be scheduled weeks in advance. read more…

The Struggles of a Chef Wife – The Unknown Schedule

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The long hours of a chef are tough. But while the long hours are hard on our family, the unknown schedule is harder!

There were many years where my chef/husband had set days off. From what I remember, those were days when he was working as a line cook or Sous Chef. Once he hit the Executive Chef level, his days off would change based on events, meetings, etc. read more…

How Do You Talk About Your Husband When He’s Not Around

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When Crystal first asked me to guest post on her blog, Tidbits of Experience, on the topic of marriage, I wondered what I could really say that hasn’t been said already.

I had an entire post written about creative ways to find time to communicate with your husband, since that is something we struggle with because of the crazy hours my husband works as a chef.

And then I changed my mind. It just didn’t feel like the right topic.

So I started to think about what I wished I knew or what I was glad I knew early on in our marriage. I could ramble on and on about what I wished I knew early on, but the one thing that kept coming to my mind was a piece of advice given to me by an older woman in a Bible Study one morning many years ago. (Wow, that makes me sound old!) read more…