So you made it through pregnancy. All your fears of your chef/husband not being able to make it to the hospital for the baby’s delivery were unnecessary as he was there in plenty of time. 🙂
But now you have this sweet little baby and your chef/husband is back to work, working a billion hours a week (OK, not that many, but it sure seems like it). You’re exhausted, overwhelmed, lonely and some days really, really, really, wish you had another adult to talk to. Raising a family with a chef isn’t easy.
I’ll be honest. This is by far the hardest topic I’ve written about on this blog yet. I always knew there would be a time to talk about it, but honestly, when you’re in the middle of a struggle or trial, writing about it and sharing about it with the world is the last thing you want to do.
Yet, here I am. About to spill my guts about what it’s like to parent alongside a chef. It’s not easy.
Parenting is a trillion times harder than I EVER thought it would be.
It’s very rewarding and I love being a Mom. But WOW! It’s not easy!
“What is it like to cook for a chef?” Depending on who you ask, you’ll get very different answers.
If you ask one my friends, they will tell you they are very nervous to cook for my chef/husband.
If you ask the parent or sibling of a chef, I don’t think they would think much of it since they’ve always done it Although they might ask a question or two if the chef is around when they are cooking. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)
If you ask an aspiring line cook what it’s like to cook for an Executive Chef in an interview, they’ll probably tell you they were very nervous because they wanted to do well and get the job.
But what about the wife or girlfriend or a chef? (Or husband/boyfriend . . . you know I never want to leave you out, it’s just awkward to always say all types of people in one sentence.)
I do the majority of cooking at home since I’m married to a chef. Most of the time it’s because he’s not home. But what about the times he is home? What is it like to cook for him?(more…)
If you are married to or dating a chef, you know what I mean. It’s not that we don’t like the holidays, it’s just that we don’t see our chefs much or at all during the month of December. So once January 2nd comes around, we are pretty excited!! Things “should” slow down a bit in the restaurant, our chefs will be home trying to catch up on sleep and family time and we can all breathe a sigh of relief!
(Although January 2nd falling on a weekend might mess that up for us this year.)
Whatever the case, I’m ready for the new year.
Now looking ahead to Valentine’s Day . . . just kidding.
We survived the Christmas season as the family of a chef, although it was a very different month for us. Things have really changed in my chef/husband’s career and while the hours were still really long, he was off 3 weekends and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That has NEVER happened. The days he was working, his to do list was very long, but it actually didn’t have anything to do with the Christmas season. So it was a different season for us. Good, but different (and not what I had expected at all!!)
With that being said, I have absolutely no idea what the new year will bring. What I’ve come to know as the wife of chef is changing by the day. While I’m excited about these changes, there’s a small part of me that is anxious as well. I’m not a big fan of the “unknown,” but we’ll just take one day at a time and trust in God’s plan for our family. (more…)
a mixture of one liquid with another with which it cannot normally combine smoothly (like oil and water); an atypical combination of two things
After a year of blogging on EmulsifiedFamily.com, I have come to love the name “Emulsified Family” and feel it’s the perfect way to describe our family (and probably many of yours.)
Why?
I’m so glad you asked!
Let’s start off by looking at it from a culinary perspective. Emulsifying is a delicate process. It needs to be carefully prepared. It requires ideal conditions (temperature, balance, interaction, etc). It won’t hold together forever unless it’s cared for, but can be repaired if it breaks.
Have you ever tried to make mayonnaise? If you just throw all the ingredients into the blender it’s not going to work. (Maybe it would work with a Vitamix. But in my Oster blender . . . no way!!) But if you take your time and carefully follow the correct procedure, you’ll get something that is far better than what you started with. All the ingredients on their own are fine. But together, they can be AMAZING.
Do you see what a perfect term this is to describe the family of a chef?
If you are 
