It's a sad but accurate generalization that most fathers are all thumbs in the kitchen. Family meal preparation is largely the domain of the mother. Apart from weekend barbecue duty or the very occasional, sloppily slapped-together breakfast (just please don't ask for French Toast, kids), most dads simply don't have the time -- or often inclination -- to flex their culinary muscles. Speaking as the parent of two toddlers, as much as I'd love to be able to routinely whip up nutritious, multi-course repasts for my family, I'm sorry to say that the best my skills can offer are some basic microwaving, the odd PB&J and anything that involves a toaster. Whether because of work commitments, ineptitude or simple adherence to still-well-established societal norms, most of us dads just aren't equipped for anything more than that.

John Donohue, 40, however, is not most dads. A full-time journalist and married father of two, John launched his own blog last year for the purposes of bucking the helpless father trend. The blog, "StayAtStoveDad," documents, as he puts it, "one man's effort to feed himself and his family." The end results are both informative and inspiring. John spoke with ParentDish to explain his mission.

What exactly motivated you to start "StayAtStoveDad"?

I started the blog for a number of reasons. Joan Didion said "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." I'm telling stories in order to eat. I wanted a way to remember what I had for dinner the night before. And the night before that.

When I was a kid, in the early seventies, fathers typically came home from the office, kicked off their shoes, put up their feet, and waited to be served. These days it's just as likely that the mother will be coming home from work and want to indulge in the same impulse. This leaves no one to make the dinner. Restaurants and the prepared foods industries have stepped into that void. Four decades ago, restaurants did about 40 billion dollars a year in business; these days, the figure is closer to 600 billion dollars. That's a more than a ten-fold increase, and those figures are in current dollars. At roughly the same time, the percentage of Americans who are overweight has risen from 44% of the population to more than 66%. It's not healthy to eat commercially prepared foods so often.

Some fathers have started to help out in the kitchen. In the mid sixties, they prepared food about five percent of the time. These days the figure is closer to thirty percent, and growing. Dads now spend more time preparing food for their wives and children than ever before in the history of the nation. "StayAtStoveDad" is part of my effort to document this profound change.

Right now I'm writing about my own adventures in the kitchen, but I've since met other men who are also cooking for their wives and children. Soon, I will be interviewing them, posting their recipes, and testing them at home. My kids will help me judge the results. They're merciless.

What obstacles have you encountered along the way?

The biggest obstacle is one that's familiar to all parents -- a shortage of time and energy. I get so exhausted from working a fulltime job and running after my two little kids that I do silly things. I've put the breakfast cereal in the refrigerator and the milk in the kitchen cabinet. I forget what I'm doing. The blog gives me structure and helps me pay attention. Plus, I now know where to find my recipes when I'm looking for them. I just have to open my laptop.

Does your wife cook?

She does cook, but not very often. I took over the cooking in our house mostly because I am the hungrier one. When we had our first child, four years ago, we were ill prepared to handle the increase in domestic responsibilities. My wife, Sarah, is a filmmaker, and at the time her first feature was in postproduction. With a new baby and a new film on her hands, she didn't have time to cook. I got frustrated with ordering out and decided to take over running the kitchen and making the food. I might have overdone it a bit, but the thing is, I love to eat. So I cook more often than she does.

How experimental a chef are you?

I'm a fairly experimental chef. I think I'd go out of my mind if I wasn't. The hardest thing about cooking for a family of four week in and week out is the boredom. It's a little bit like running a restaurant with a very limited menu: The same things every couple of days. To keep my sanity, look for new things to prepare. I make and serve to my wife and kids miso soup, quinoa salad, red-lentil dhal. We love seafood. In the summer we cook mussels and clams and flounder. I try to mix it up. Recently, I tried a friend's recipe for a Vietnamese Chicken Salad. I also want to expose my children to a wide variety of tastes. And I want to give them a balanced diet.

Has cooking for your family lent you a new understanding of parenting or brought you closer to children?

I love seeing my children grow, and knowing that I'm feeding them, literally, is very powerful. I really enjoy food, and it gives me a thrill when my four-year old asks for soupy spaghetti, meaning linguini with clam sauce, as she did this past Saturday.

What sort of feedback has the blog gotten?

I've gotten a lot of positive responses, from men and women. A mom's blog recently linked to one of my pancake recipes and it has proven to be very popular. I put slices of fresh fruit like bananas and pears on the top of the pancake before turning it. When I flip the cake, the fruit caramelizes to a sweet and crunchy crust.

Any advice for enterprising dads who'd like to follow suit?

Yes, read Mark Bittman. He writes a column for the New York Times dining section and has published a number of books, including the very helpful "How to Cook Everything," a sort of "Joy of Cooking" for a younger generation (ie, men). He's very good at explaining the hows and whys of cooking. Also, have fun with what you're doing. Make what you like to eat. You'll save money and the odds are it will be more healthy.

Plan ahead. Read a recipe through all the way before starting, or even thinking of starting it. Make sure you have all the ingredients you need before you get underway cooking it. And if you really want to cook for your family, fill your larder with a bunch of staples so you can knock off a meal at a moment's notice.

What role does the father in your household play at mealtime? Does Dad roll up his sleeves, put on that apron and get things cracking in the kitchen? What's the mealtime dynamic in your home?