who in your family can you cook with? (peacefully)

[asilenosrac]

for me, it's my SO's mom. not common i know, but i think she's glad to have help and we're both passionate and complement each other's skills and knowledge

asile

[stefania4]

Only my fiance and my best friend. Everyone else, OUT!

[Terrytx]

The DH and I get along in the kitchen pretty well, so I voted for him. But if I could vote for 2 I would also include my Mom, though I don't get to very often. Everybody else needs to steer clear.

[wallingjan1]

I love cooking with other people (especially if I'm in charge:D ) but my favorite people to cook with are my dh and my two stepchildren (both teens now) I count my blessings every day.

Pam

[britneyelise]

that sounds completely awful, but as of right now, I cannot stand to have anyone bustling around in the kitchen while I'm in there doing my work. I have a method to my madness! Noone else understands.

[lmmac]

Interesting!
My DBF is a chef and I cannot STAND to have him in my kitchen, let alone cook with him He has this "style" so totally diferent from mine. I use things, put things away as I use them. He drags everything out, leaves everything out, doesn't clean up spills, and he feels he has to use every utensil I own to make one meal of lemon chicken. Granted, I love the dear boy and his cooking is excellent, but NOT IN MY KITCHEN!
Now, Mom and I can whip up 5 batches of cookies, a few pies, and a vat of lentil soup without even so much as bumping into eachother. We girl talk and laugh. When finished, we'll wipe our hands on our aprons and plop down on her big front porch, wine in hand, inhaling the wonderful smells coming from her kitchen. Ahhhhh....
Yup. It's either Mom or no one!
Lisa

[AndreaU]

Mom...

DH doesn't really like to cook, so he just gets in the way because he has no idea where most things are in our kitchen!

Mom taught me a lot about cooking and she shares my passion for creating great food, so we mesh really well in the kitchen.

DH's mom- forget it! He'll be the first to admit she's an awful cook (though she does try). At Thanksgiving I put her in charge of the salad- after chopping the veggies, she put an onion AND the cucumber in the same zipper bag, left it OPEN and put it in the FRUIT drawer! (How good did those oranges taste the next day??) She made a batch of brownies that she left on the counter and the cat walked on them- they had footprints on them and she still served them! (I could go on, but I'll spare you.)

My one SIL also loves to cook, but I haven't had many opportunities to cook WITH her.

[Chiffonade]

My husband and I cook together in peaceful harmony - or however peaceful a professional kitchen can be. We work very well together.

My brother and I cook well together too - and as talented as he is, he takes the sous position. If I ask him a cooking question, he faints.

My mother likes to sit down and let me cook - she keeps me company - although she's a great cook in her own right.

Same with dad - he prefers to watch and gab with me. MIL likes to watch and asks questions.

[Laura B]

Originally posted by lmmac
Now, Mom and I can whip up 5 batches of cookies, a few pies, and a vat of lentil soup without even so much as bumping into eachother. We girl talk and laugh. When finished, we'll wipe our hands on our aprons and plop down on her big front porch, wine in hand, inhaling the wonderful smells coming from her kitchen. Ahhhhh....

I love the visual! Moms can be great like that. :)

[JHolcomb]

No one!! I am normally a very nice, polite person, but in the kitchen, get out of my way. My sister says it best "Jen, you're mean in the kitchen." I'm a control freak and can't stand to see someone doing something "wrong" when I could be doing it "right."

[honeygirl1971]

My mom is the best cook ever, and I've learned most of what I know from her, so I always take advantage of any opportunities to cook with her. I live across the country from her now, but we always do some "cooking projects" when I visit.

My sis visited for Thanksgiving and helped me a lot in the kitchen. Sis is a good cook too, but not quite as into it as mom and I are, but she was a great sous-chef. It would be harder for me if she was in charge, I think, because I'd have to stifle my impulses to advise. I always let mom be in charge, though, since she's the expert.

My ex-boyfriend and I used to always fight about cooking, though. He wanted to do all the cooking, which sounds nice but I ended up really resenting it, and I was very dubious about some of his practices. We couldn't cook together well at all. But, he is an EX for a reason...

;)

[ramson]

My oldest neice (16)is about the only person I can tolerate in my kitchen. Her cooking skills are nil, but she wants to learn and that makes a difference. She's very good things like cleaning mushrooms, peeling carrots etc. but you cannot give her more than one simple task at a time and she will probably never be able to cook without a recipe.

Anyone else in the kitchen drives me absolutely CRAZY with my mother being the worst offender. She is always underfoot. She will avoid the kitchen for weeks on end util I am making dinner for a huge group and need all the space I can get. This is when she will decide to plop down a bowl (usually the one I need to use)in the space I need to be to make a jello pudding mix to serve as an "alternative" to my white chocolate bread pudding, flan, creme brulee or other dessert I am serving. If I am baking something you can be sure that's the exact time she needed to clean the oven. If I need to get in and out of the refridgerator frequently she'll be perched on a foot stool in front of it cleaning it out and subsequently blocking the sink and trash can. This cleaning out usually involves throwing out all the ingredients I need for whatever is on the menu for that meal or one in the near future. It gets thrown out because she doesn't know what it is or how long its been in there. But this is my personal favorite: I have a very small space to work in with the only counter space for chopping etc. being directly above the dishwasher. Without fail, if I need to be in that space to have something prepared for a certain time she will have started the dishwasher 5 minutes before I start cooking. This way I get an unwanted steam bath and facial while preparing dinner.

I do love my mom, don't get me wrong. If she hadn't been such a disaster in the kitchen I wouldn't have had to learn to cook. She actually produced three very good cooks. We learned in self defense.

-ram

[asilenosrac]

Originally posted by Chiffonade
My husband and I cook together in peaceful harmony - or however peaceful a professional kitchen can be. We work very well together.



wouldn't your husband be the same as your significant other? do i have the meaning of that phrase wrong?

asile

[asilenosrac]

Originally posted by AndreaU
Mom...

she put an onion AND the cucumber in the same zipper bag, left it OPEN and put it in the FRUIT drawer! (How good did those oranges taste the next day??)

i usually keep my oranges on the counter in a fruit basket. i've been thinking of transfering my ripe pears and apples to the fridge since they don't last as long as i'd like in my heated apartment. is there a reason to/not to keep these fruits in the fridge? i also have trouble with sprouting potatoes. won't they get mealy if i put them in the fridge?

asile

[Chiffonade]

Originally posted by asilenosrac
...wouldn't your husband be the same as your significant other? do i have the meaning of that phrase wrong? asile

What I meant was, I have a selection of people with whom I can cook peacefully. You can't choose more than one vote - so I chose "other."

[Peggy C.]

My Mom when she was alive, one of my sisters (the rest just need to get out of our way!:)) and DH=.

[Kismet]

I chose "other", as well. I am pretty easy going in the kitchen (although DH may say otherwise ;) ). I can easily cook with DH, my mom, my cousin, my brother, or just about anyone who is willing to help out.

I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time in my new house this year, so DH, my cousin, and I spent the whole day before cooking up a storm. We have plenty of room, so it worked out well! It's just so much easier to get a big meal prepared when you have lots of hands!

[lhall]

Originally posted by AndreaU
She made a batch of brownies that she left on the counter and the cat walked on them- they had footprints on them and she still served them!

:o :o :o

This sounds like something I would do, but only to family who liked cats. We always had cats & dogs growing up, and when I brought my two cats home from college we had 8. We ate, slept, and breathed cat hair even after vacuuming multiple times a day.

I can cook with DH, and I cooked well with Mom. My grandmother would drive me nuts. I cook with DDs, but I have issues as they make an even bigger mess than I do. DD1 makes me laugh though. She once banged an egg on the counter and tossed the whole thing (shell and all) into the mixer for cookies. Fortunately the mixer was not on so I could retrieve the egg easily.

I don't think I could cook with MIL. We have totally different styles. She only has plastic cutting boards and offset knives. I had to use her kitchen for food to a Murder Mystery Dinner that was only 1 mile from them. Chopping anything was a pain. I need my chef's knife.

SIL doesn't enjoy cooking so we have never cooked together.

Leigh

[Valerie226]

I checked "no one". I am not all that testy but DH manages to be in the way and underfoot without even trying. He can unconsciously put himself wherever I need to be and totally block every move. I sometimes think this must be purposeful because he is so efficient at it. How can he possibly put himself everywhere I need to be??? so he is banished to wherever as long as it is outside the kitchen. I have never had this problem with other women but DH is just impossible. (Interestingly, the opposite phenomenon happens when I try to help him in the garage.....):confused: :confused:

[KristinK]

Originally posted by lmmac
My DBF is a chef and I cannot STAND to have him in my kitchen, let alone cook with him. He has this "style" so totally diferent from mine. I use things, put things away as I use them. He drags everything out, leaves everything out, doesn't clean up spills, and he feels he has to use every utensil I own to make one meal of lemon chicken. Granted, I love the dear boy and his cooking is excellent, but NOT IN MY KITCHEN!
OK, my DBF may not be a chef, but he is a very good cook. I clean up as I go too, while he's fine with even leaving the dishes for the morning. But his most annoying habit is that he never closes the cabinets or refrigerator! How many times do you have to bump your head on the corner of the cabinet for you to shut the *@&! things?!
I do like the *idea* of cooking with DBF, since we both enjoy it so much, but when it comes down to it, his kitchen (where we usually end up cooking together) is too small for the both of us. And plus, I just like doing things MY way :p
That being said though, if I have to choose, I do like cooking with my Mom best, because like Lisa said, we can girl talk and laugh, and I'm still learning new things from her. Oh I love my Mom :D

[linsleyd]

DH, definetly! Matter of fact since he is Italian he is the better cook! But I am trying to show him up! Can't seem to beat the calamari in sauce, though!

Mom, no way no how. She can't cook!

My brother is a fairly good cook, but he doesn't usually know what goes well together. But we get along well so it works out!

[beejayw1]

Part of the problem may be that my kitchen isn't the biggest thing on earth. But part of it is that when I'm working on something, I get up a head of steam and don't like being interrupted. I also don't like having people underfoot, no matter how helpful they're trying to be.

At Thanksgiving, I made apple-cranberry pie, and I was all set to get underway when my mother and my sister said they would help me. I tried to talk them into not doing so, but they grabbed the apples and set to work, bless them! I went into the other room and sat down and relaxed until they were finished (they told me to).

But (and this is important) I also appreciate the fact that we don't have our family and friends around forever, and I can set aside my dislike of having someone underfoot and enjoy having the person nearby.

Let's face it: if having my parents, in their 70's, getting in my way in the kitchen is the price of having them in my life a little longer, I'll gladly pay it!

[Natasha3]

Lots of people. My fiance, my mom, my sister...and my dad and I had some really fun cooking sessions when he was alive. Also I can cook with guests or at others' houses. I can be a perfectionist in the kitchen but tend to be a bit more laidback there than I am in some other areas of my life. So I don't stress too much when cooking with people who don't necesarily do things the same way as I do.

I didn't use to be able to cook too much with my mom because she'd tell me how to do things to the extent of being annoying sometimes. She doesn't do that much anymore, and I can deal with it when she does. :) My fiance and I have a lot of fun cooking together and experimenting with meal ideas. In our old kitchen, there was hardly space for both of us to cook together, and we'd end up getting in each other's way, so there we didn't cook together much. Now it's a different story, though!

Natasha

[CompassRose]

Well, I put "other" because it won't let me have multiple choices. Sister. One brother, but not the other (I don't even wanna know what the other does in the kitchen; as long as I never see the evidence, I'm happy.) Significant other. Significant other's mother.

NOT, not ever, never, my mother. She makes me crazy. I make her crazy. "Why are you doing that? What on earth are you doing that for? It would be much easier this way..." "No it would not and LEAVE ME ALONE!" And she doesn't like other people in HER kitchen, either; in fact, I didn't learn to cook until I moved out at eighteen, because until that time I had been chased—chased, I tell you—out of the kitchen if I so much as set foot in there to do anything but pour myself a glass of Kool-Aid.

[wallycat]

Originally posted by CompassRose
in fact, I didn't learn to cook until I moved out at eighteen, because until that time I had been chased—chased, I tell you—out of the kitchen if I so much as set foot in there to do anything but pour myself a glass of Kool-Aid.

are we sisters :confused: :rolleyes: ;)

[Wendy w]

I put down "other" because the people that I can cook with were not part of the options. I can cook with one sister and because she knows more than I do, I allow her to boss me around a bit. She is respectful of me though because she says that she has learned from me. The other just lets me do my thing because she knows that I know better.

The other 2 individuals are exBFs who love to cook. Not that I'm some sort of femme fatale or anything but cooking together was a good part of both relationships and we each had our part of the meal that we were good at. One was great at chopping and experimenting and the other loved making Italian sauces, seafood stews and barbecuing. I can also cook with my dinner club but it is probably a good thing that we each host twice a year.;)

[Paula H]

I picked other - I prefer to cook by myself usually, but I like to have my dwarf rabbit in the kitchen sometimes (as long as it's something I don't think will end up on the floor and on him). He's quite happy to sit and watch me work while munching away on some parsley (Italian parsley, of course) or red pepper.

The other "other" would be my best friend, who makes an excellent assistant when the mood strikes him. We even have our own imaginary TV audience while we're cooking, explaining what we're doing as we go. My lovely assistant Andrew is particularly good at chopping, but hates peeling.

Yes, I'm a little bit nuts, but the food is great!

[Leisa M]

I liked helping my mom when she was alive. If I cook at my stepmom's, she usually lets me cok alone. At Thanksgiving, she did help me make some cookies. Her 6 year old grand daughter wanted to help so we let her drop some cookies on the cookie sheet.

At home my DH and I do not cook together.The kitchen is too small for 1 and for the other, I have my way of doing things and he has his.

I guess I should have marked other.

[Leslie Ferguson]

I opted for other. I can cook with just about anyone on that list peacefully. Love to "do the Christmas dance" with my famiily. Last year had LW; my Mom, Dad, and sister in a smallish kitchen all at once - and we had a wonderful time.

Who can't I cook with - LW (step) mother. In her kitchen things get made her way - and no other way. Sugar in spaghetti sauce, very little garlic or herbs in italian food, little imagination for newer tastes and techniques - the old ways are the only ways.

Les

[Leisa M]

Originally posted by Leslie Ferguson
Who can't I cook with - LW (step) mother. In her kitchen things get made her way - and no other way. Sugar in spaghetti sauce, very little garlic or herbs in italian food, little imagination for newer tastes and techniques - the old ways are the only ways.

Les

Sugar in spaghetti sauce?! That doesn't even sound good.:eek:

[Paula H]

Originally posted by Leisa M


Sugar in spaghetti sauce?! That doesn't even sound good.:eek:

I'm guessing that this refers to adding a little sugar when making a pasta sauce - it takes away some of the acidic taste from the tomatoes. I do this about half the time (if I think of it and/or if the taste has a bit too much bite).

It's actually a pretty clever trick!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Originally posted by Leisa M


Sugar in spaghetti sauce?! That doesn't even sound good.:eek:

Supposedly to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. In my not so humble opinion all it did was make the sauce sweet.
Les

[Paula H]

Originally posted by Leslie Ferguson


Supposedly to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. In my not so humble opinion all it did was make the sauce sweet.
Les

Then she's adding too much - you shouldn't be able to taste the sugar.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Originally posted by Paula H


Then she's adding too much - you shouldn't be able to taste the sugar.

I never said that I agreed with the amount of suger she put in - and you have to top it off with tomato paste to boot.

Me - I like "clean" sauce. Chunky tomatoes and veggies.
Les