Supporting Your Spouse's Dreams Goes Both Ways

Supporting your spouse’s dreams is something I have happily done for thirty-four years, and I never once thought of it as giving something up. For so many years I cheered my husband Jason on through his doctorate, his writing, his preaching and his teaching. Now I have a dream of my own, and that man is all in. The other day he surprised me with a brand new StephanieCooksForACrowd cap, and I put it on and grinned like a kid on Christmas morning.

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Supporting your spouse's dreams — Stephanie Longstreth in the StephanieCooksForACrowd cap her husband surprised her with — The hat, the grin, and a Diet Coke can with my name on it. Hubby did good.

I posted that picture on Facebook, and it got more love than almost anything I have shared about our family in a long while. Here is what I wrote that day, and I still mean every word of it:

For so many years I happily supported his dreams of a doctorate, writings, and career. Now that I have a dream I am embarking on he is all in! He has supported me in ways I never imagined. I love him more every day and feel so blessed to do life with this man.

The hat was not his first surprise, either. The very first thing Jason ever bought me for this business was my business cards. Then one day he came home from Disney Springs with a Diet Coke can with StephanieCooksForACrowd right there on it, and if you look at the shelf behind me in that picture, you will see it is still sitting there. Now the hat. Every one of those was his way of telling me he believes in this.

Supporting Your Spouse’s Dreams Looks Different in Every Season

For a long season, supporting his dreams meant keeping our house running while he studied and wrote, and keeping something on the stove for whoever he brought home. Our home has always been a place where people gather. I loved being the one who fed them.

It goes the other direction too, and it did long before any of this started. When Jason’s doctor sat him down about his health, I changed the way I cook, and that is how The Terrace, my Mediterranean kitchen, came to be. That is how a marriage works. You take turns carrying the thing that matters most to the other person.

The folks at The Gottman Institute, who have spent decades studying what makes marriages last, call this helping each other make life dreams come true, and they count it as one of the things that holds a strong relationship up. I did not need a researcher to tell me that. It is still nice to hear.

And now it is my turn. I am a Florida girl who cooks for a family of seven, and not so long ago I was a school lunch lady. I never pictured any of this, and I am having the time of my life.

Everything Happening at My Table Right Now

If you are new here, or you have been following along and lost track, here is everything happening at my table right now.

The videos. Most days I am in the kitchen with a camera, making the food my family actually eats. You can find them all on my YouTube channel, and on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok too.

The recipes and meal plans. Every recipe lives right here on the website for free, and every Saturday I post a whole week of dinners with the grocery list in my weekly meal plans.

Tips, printables and a few strong opinions. Every week there is a new Tuesday Tip, my free kitchen printables keep growing, and over in The Hill I Will Die On I defend things like my top five chips with my whole chest.

My first cookbook. Four Weeks of Family-Friendly Food is dinner already decided: five dinners a week with the sides picked, a dessert on Sunday, and a shopping list for every week. I went back through everything on this site and chose the meals my crowd asks for on repeat.

My next cookbook. I am writing Brunches, Luncheons & Tea Parties right now. Each one is a whole menu for the gatherings I love most, planned from start to finish so the hostess gets to sit down too. You can already try the fall brunch menu sneak peek.

Teaching. This one still makes me pinch myself. On Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, I am teaching Meal Planning Made Easy for Busy Families at Get Organized HQ Virtual, a free online conference. They even sent me a little tote bag printed with my logo, and it is sitting on that same shelf right next to the Diet Coke can. You can claim your free ticket here, and there is more about it in my Tuesday tip: get organized. Then on November 13, I will be one of the speakers at Holiday Kitchen Kickoff, a free one-day virtual event, teaching Cooking for a Crowd at the Holidays: How to Feed 25 and Still Sit Down and Eat. I will share how to join closer to the day.

Kitchen Favorites. Every week I share one tool or pantry item that has earned its spot in my kitchen in Kitchen Favorites, and a big collection of my favorite kitchen tools for cooking for a crowd is coming very soon.

And yes, the hat. If you are wondering where to get one, hats and aprons are coming soon. If you want to be the first to know when they are ready, drop your email in the box at the bottom of this post.

It Takes the Whole Family

Here is the part people do not always see. This is not a one-woman show. It is a family business, and I mean that literally.

Jason is behind every bit of it. He built this website and keeps it running, he helps me put the Saturday newsletter together, he turned my shower planning guide into a real printable, and he handles the business side so I can stay in the kitchen. He even has his own little spot on the site, Hubby’s Corner.

Our oldest daughter Hannah, who graduated from college in May, is about to start working with us on designing the merch, and I cannot wait for you to see what she comes up with. Our daughter Kira has been working alongside us as our intern since May, and she has had a hand in more of this than most people would guess. The rest of my kids are my taste testers and my most honest critics, and Jonathan has opinions strong enough to earn him his own corner too.

When I say I cook for a crowd, I mean it. There are seven of us, plus the college kids who come on Thursday nights, our church family, and whoever else shows up at the door.

This Little Light of Mine

If you look behind me in that picture, there is a little sign on my desk that says This Little Light of Mine. I did not stage it. It just lives there, and I think it says the rest of this better than I can.

My faith is woven into every part of this. Feeding people has always been the most natural way I know to love them. Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 4:9–10: “Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

Anything I have to offer here was a gift first. The recipes, the kitchen, the table, the people around it, and the man who cheers me on. All I am trying to do is use it well, and let my little light shine right out of my kitchen.

So thank you. Thank you for watching, for cooking along, for printing the meal plans and passing them to your friends. And thank you, Jason, for being my biggest fan. It’s my turn, and I could not do it without you.

Supporting Your Spouse’s Dreams FAQ — Questions From My Table

What does supporting your spouse’s dreams look like day to day?

Most of it is small. It is listening when they talk about it, taking something off their plate so they have room for it, and showing up when it counts. For us it has also meant taking turns, because a marriage has room for more than one dream.

Who helps Stephanie run Stephanie Cooks For A Crowd?

My husband Jason runs the website, the newsletter and the business side. Our daughter Kira works with us as an intern, and our oldest daughter Hannah is starting to design our merch. I do the cooking, the filming and the talking, and the rest of the family does the eating.

When is Stephanie’s Get Organized HQ session?

My session, Meal Planning Made Easy for Busy Families, is Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern during Get Organized HQ Virtual, which runs September 14–19. The ticket is free, and you can claim it here.

When will the Brunches, Luncheons & Tea Parties cookbook come out?

I am writing it right now, and my newsletter subscribers will hear about it first. In the meantime, the fall brunch menu sneak peek is a whole menu you can make this season.

Can I buy a Stephanie Cooks For A Crowd hat?

Hats and aprons are coming soon. Sign up for my Saturday newsletter at the bottom of this post and you will be the first to hear when they are ready.

Supporting Your Spouse’s Dreams — About Stephanie Longstreth

Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.

Supporting Your Spouse’s Dreams Goes Both Ways — Now He’s All In on Mine