What time does your kitchen close?

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VeraBlue

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A time-honoured 'marianne-ism' (can you guess that is my Mom's name?!) was '"the kitchen is closed". She usually said this around 8pm or so, when one of the children or my dad would start rummaging around in there, looking for a snack. If it required a plate, a fork or spoon, a glass, (get the idea?) we couldn't have it. If you could pick it up and run with it, like a cookie or a piece of fruit, you stood a good chance of making a clean break.
But I ask you, what 10 year old would opt for an apple when there were chocolate enteman's donuts on the counter?

I digress...

Do you keep a similar rule? Were you subjected to a similar rule? If so, what time was it?

As a side note, with the way many families have an evening meal, it seems the kitchen never can close.

By the way, once, I managed to slip in real quietlike and pilfer a slice of pumpkin pie. My younger sister was disturbed that I was about to pull it off. She hid in the dining room as I made my way to the family room with my ill-gotten pie and jumped out to scare me. I'll never forget how many times the pie flipped before it finally hit the dining room carpet.:ohmy: It's impossible to wash pumpkin pie out of carpet silently. I kept thinking, "why, mom, what big ears you have"!!:mad:
 
VeraBlue - when I was growing up my parents said that if I wanted a late night snack I could have one as long as I did the dishes.
 
My mom was the principal cook in the family, dad would help but he worked and mom ran the kitchen.

When dinner was done, she was generally finished cooking. Yes, if one of us came home late from school/work, etc. (our family had a varied age group) she would make sure that person was fed.

But after that we were free to forage, and when we got old enough to stand up to the stove we were free to cook whatever we could find.

Main meal on Sunday was family dinner always at 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and then, after that, we were generally on our own to forage and/or cook, which all of us could do (we were particularly good at the foraging aspect).

That was fine with us, we were happy to fend for ourselves, and it gave mom a chance to rest a bit.

It also made us all independent. How my folks pulled that one off so simply and gently I am still amazed at.
 
We never got anything after dinner's dessert unless everyone else had a chance, too. My Mom is the great "includer," which continues to this day. It makes just taking her out for brunch/lunch/dinner difficult, because she feels the entire clan ought to have a chance to come, too. My kitchen, however, seems never to close . . .
 
My mother always did the cooking, and if someone wanted to eat after hours, they were free to do so. My kitchen is never close, but if one wants to make a snack or cook, they are to clean their own mess. I always say "the mess you make, is the mess you clean".
 
We had no rules growing up and I had no rules with my son. As a matter of fact - we made sushi rolls one night at 10:00!!!! It was fun and we had a pretty good idea that no one else in our city was making sushi as a snack right then! It was the best sushi we ever had - - - - sneaky has a way of making things taste better............except for VeraBlue's pumpkin pie - well, if she would have gotten to eat it!! So, Vera - did you ever get your sister back??? lol
 
kitchenelf said:
We had no rules growing up and I had no rules with my son. As a matter of fact - we made sushi rolls one night at 10:00!!!! It was fun and we had a pretty good idea that no one else in our city was making sushi as a snack right then! It was the best sushi we ever had - - - - sneaky has a way of making things taste better............except for VeraBlue's pumpkin pie - well, if she would have gotten to eat it!! So, Vera - did you ever get your sister back??? lol

My sister and I have been getting each other back all our lives. I once brought her glass of grape soda....which was actually club soda with two tablespoons of tobassco and food colouring:chef::huh:.

I'm convinced my mother closed the kitchen because she was convinced no one could clean it as well as she could. To this day, the woman still has serious 'control' issues:rolleyes:

Sushi at 10pm is ambitious, indeed. Good for you. Several years ago, I returned from a club in NYC with about 5-6 friends. It was close to 5am, the sun was just beginning to come up. I brought the pancake grill outside into the yard and started making french toast!
 
auntdot said:
Main meal on Sunday was family dinner always at 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and then, after that, we were generally on our own to forage and/or cook, which all of us could do (we were particularly good at the foraging aspect).
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We, as well, had sunday dinner about 2pm. It was usually a roast of some sort, followed by pasta and meatballs, and then a salad. Around 7pm, my mom would be back in the kitchen making hot roast beef sandwiches or hot meatball sandwiches. Just the memory makes me smile. My mom's gravy was always lumpy!
 
VeraBlue said:
We, as well, had sunday dinner about 2pm. It was usually a roast of some sort, followed by pasta and meatballs, and then a salad. Around 7pm, my mom would be back in the kitchen making hot roast beef sandwiches or hot meatball sandwiches. Just the memory makes me smile. My mom's gravy was always lumpy!

My mother was delighted when she went electric and was able to set a timer on the oven. Though she hated the electric cooktop, the timer meant that we could go to church, stop and get the fresh veg, and get home and have dinner with no worries. Ah, those roast beast sandwiches in the evening . . .
 
I grew up with an open kitchen and I never/very rarely closed mine.

When you have 2 boys, 6'3 and 6'5 who are athletes, they were hungry and I wasn't going ever stop them from eating.

Yeah, I had the rule, "Clean up after your snack". Their idea of cleaning up and mine were not even remotely related. :rolleyes: But they had me wrapped around their little fingers. :LOL:
 
I was always the biggest in the family and they learned quickly not to get between me and food. I usually had a snack (read - meal) before bedtime.

Now, I stop eating around 9:00 PM (dessert time).

When we have guests, all bets are off. If you're hungry, you get to eat.
 
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:chef: I guess I ruined mine as well, because the kitchen is never closed, and sometimes there are several of us in there at the same time, fixing things, but I enjoy that too. Anyone is welcome to use it at any time, but not messes are allowed to remain when they leave, or I'm not a happy camper. :( The kitchen has always been pretty much the heart of our home, with not only food being enjoyed there, but also, many family times, and a lot of just good ole conversations and listening to one another. I love that!! :)
 
Anything after dinner and dessert is usually an apple or other piece of fruit, although dh does keep a can of peanuts on a table by his chair. He said it brings down his sugar. It certainly takes a lot of peanuts to bring down his sugar!
 
Just like a man, Lina! :chef: My husband says that Planter's Honey Roasted Peanuts keep his nails from splitting.

Our kitchen never closes. After dinner, it's all clean and shiny for the next day, but sooner or later, one of us wants a snack.
 
Our kitchen is open around the clock. As a pair of staunch night owl (it is not unusual that the new day is breaking when we finally hit the sack), we may be having our supper around midnight, and occasionally we would be whipping up a cake or something at 2am...
 
the main rule in our kitchen while we were growing up was:

"get it yourself!"

well, i'm only half joking, 'cause my mom usually worked most evenings. us kids, especially me as the oldest, grew up doing a lot of cooking. when we were really young, there were a lot "tv" dinners & chicken pot pies with frozen vegetables, graduating to macaroni & cheese, spaghetti with canned sauce, etc. by the time i was in highschool, i was able to cook fairly well, even trying bread and homemade spaghetti sauce.
there's never beena "kitchen's closed" period in my life. even now i find myself sometimes cooking in the wee hours, if i feel the urge for an apple pie or some cornbread.
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