Currently being submitted for publication

Bad Cooks or masters of Manipulation is a creative non-fiction essay.

Excerpt:
I stood in line at the grocery store, piling my groceries on the conveyer belt. Two women came up behind me, talking about cooking. I listened with curiosity to their conversation, eavesdropping on their lives.

"We eat frozen dinners a few nights a week. I know it’s not super healthy, but my husband can just stick it in the oven and we’re good to go. I feel guilty sometimes for not cooking better meals for the family, but I have late meetings three days a week, and Jack isn’t worth a damn as a cook, so that’s all we can do. Jack has suggested that I cook some meals over the weekend and freeze them, but I’m not going to spend my weekends cooking.”

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Rick can’t cook, either. It makes it tough on me to try to make a decent meal each night. He tries, but it always comes out horribly. He always jokes that he starves the nights I have to stay late at work, especially when I’m preparing for a trial.”

I shake my head in disbelief. When did men hoodwink women into thinking that none of them can cook? There must have been a far-reaching brainwashing of women in our society. Why else would otherwise intelligent women believe that their husbands or boyfriends literally can’t cook?

Continued...