Most of the meals I prepare consist primarily of hotdog segments and/or boxed macaroni and cheese. When I am feeling particularly confident I try my hand at mashed potatoes or as I like to call it, potato soup a la mode. I tack on the “a la mode” at the end to give the unsuspecting taste-tester, which is usually my wife, the assumption that great care and diligence was used in concocting the dish. In reality I put way too much water in the mashed potatoes.

As a husband, I value the importance of my wife, Christine, who prepares all household meals that aren’t centered around rejected pig and beef organs and inferior-grade pasta with a powdery cheese sauce.

I also understand the necessity for the husband to prepare a meal once in awhile, and when such occasions come calling there is always one go-to meal in the playbook that I pull out.