Can you cook up a storm in the kitchen? This week Hayley talks about her fear of cooking for her partner…

As the old saying goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I really want to stand up on a soapbox and argue something utterly Feminist, but it’s kind of the truth isn’t it? It’s not just men who are susceptible either. The way to a woman’s heart, a child’s heart or an animal’s heart is usually through the feasts of food you serve them.

Which is bad news for me.

Although it wouldn’t be accurate to say I was a bad cook, it wouldn’t be accurate to say I was any good… so why is this an issue? With modern life filled with ready-meals and more restaurants than you could ever eat in (or afford), why would being a decent chef be a problem? The thing is, cooking skills are a vital ingredient for romance. So when my current boyfriend went on and on about how he loved his food, I felt like I was sinking fast.

Let’s look at the statistics…

Age 16: Burnt toast. Eventually learnt how to adjust the toaster.
Age 18: As a student I perfected beans on toast, cheese on toast and as a last resort beans on cheese.
Age 21: Finally secured an income to allow me to avoid actual meal-making as often as possible.

I knew that sooner or later we’d face my nightmare scenario: being at home with him, someone feels hungry, it’s too late to order food and inevitably I would have to nourish the poor boy. Some protein, carb and veggie combination would have to occur in right proportions and flavors – like a wizard’s spell – in order to enhance my mating potential. Crap.

As a woman I feel a bit ashamed that I can’t cook. That isn’t to say that because I am a woman I have to be able to cook. But in a day and age when females have liberties in and outside the home, it seems reductive to not be able to whip up a decent meal. So I’ve decided to take cookery lessons. I swallowed my pride and reluctance and enrolled on a 6-week course. I looked at my class and unsurprisingly it consisted of mainly students and men.

I know they say love makes you do strange things but this is a very strange hurdle to overcome – mainly because I’ve never wanted to overcome it for anyone else. I must be pretty serious about him.

So after pushing myself through a ‘Masterchef’ style challenge (i.e. a shopping basket that had more than just bread & Doritos in it) I feel ready to take our relationship to the next level; because nothing quite says ‘I love you’ like a carbonara….

We want to hear about your dinner dates! Tell us your stories below.

Until next time,

The Just Singles Team.