Kitchen Pet Peeves

[Seven S]

i am guessing everyone has input on this!!

i noticed some of these while cooking at my parents' today:

1) too much clutter in the kitchen, all kinds of things (some that dont even belong in a kitchen) taking up valuable counter space, not enough counter space to work on

2) everyone who uses the fridge opens it to take something out and leaving the door wide open while using the item, ie. taking the pitcher of juice out to the glass on the counter meanwhile the door is wide open, not shutting it since they figure they will be putting the pitcher back inside soon

(as a chef, i can only think of the fridge temp rising exponentially and all the food inside getting spoiled)


3) large pieces of celery in a salad... i can eat celery stems w blue cheese, but when chunks of celery, like 1/2 inch slices are in a salad i just lose it!! i like them in salad, however, very thinly sliced


would like to see what things tick you off !!

 

[licia]

I know this isn't the way many people feel about the kitchen,BUT I don't like people in the kitchen who aren't helping out AND I don't want anyone washing their hands in my kitchen sink unless they are there to help. I have others, but those two are top of my list.

 

[texasgirl]

licia, I'm with you on the first one!! I don't know how many times people have been at my house and WATCHED as I made dishes from cutting and measuring, all the way to putting it on the table and never even asked if they could help. Then, leave before asking if they could help clean up!!!
My only other that really ticks me off to no end, when my boys empty out the dish washer and don't put things where they belong so that I can't find it when I need it!!!! ARGH!!!!

 

[licia]

DH is the worst at unloading (and hiding everything). If I start to bake after he has done the unloading, it's like an egg hunt to put everything together.

 

[amber]

One thing that drives me crazy is when my teen helps out with the cooking and doesnt clean as she goes. She'll just leaves dirty pots and pans, utensils, dirty counters.

And as some of you mentioned, when people unload the dishwasher and put things in the wrong place.

One more, when the garbage bad is obviously full, and they keep pushing it down rather than take out the garbage! And on the rare occassion they do take out the garbage, they dont put a new bag in the trash can!

 

[kimbaby]

cooking in a messy kitchen...
and having some one over my shoulder as I try to prepare
a meal or recipe...


great question by the way!

 

[amber]

cooking in a messy kitchen...
and having somw one over my shoulder as I try to prepare
a meal or recipe...


great question by the way!

Yep, I hate that too

 

[sattie]

Hubby unloading the dish washer and throwing stuff where ever. I usually set pots with their lids in the cabinet, hubby just bunches them all together. Tupperware is just tossed into the cabinet. He can't load the dish washer either!!!

Not wiping down the stove, I prefer to clean up after each meal.

Leaving fridge open

 

[urmaniac13]

I know this isn't the way many people feel about the kitchen,BUT I don't like people in the kitchen who aren't helping out.

To be perfectly honest, I really don't like other people, like guests, for all their good intentions, trying to help me in the kitchen, unless they really know what they are doing and can get things done efficiently. They seldom do things the way I do, and it is annoying, but since they are generously "helping", I don't have a heart to complain or lecture them on how to do it.

(the only exception is Cris's kids, when we try to give them some culinary education )

When they come to me and say "can I help you with something?" with their mouth and the eyes saying "but I have no clue what I am supposed to do!" I am so tempted to say "yeah you can do me a favour by get out of here immediately and chat with someone else!" of course I can't be so rude as I know they mean well... but...

Another pet peeve in the kitchen is things piling up in the sink. I am almost paranoid about it, I am so obsessed with "wash as I cook" routine, I am continuously in a danger of burning something on a stove while I try to scrub on a few pieces of knives and ladles...

 

[D_Blackwell]

I'm the 'chef' so things pretty much get done the way I like (In the kitchen anyway, as my rule (truth be told) extends to only limitied portions of the castle.). Except for my girlfriend (who knows what I like) no other 'help' is allowed.

In a home kitchen, wash as you go is essential - or production will grind to a stop pretty quickly as space and equipment both run out.

 

[Ellen]

I have a lot of bench space, it drives me spare when someone uses clean space, and moves on without cleaning.

 

[FryBoy]

I'm with Blackwell, I think. I don't like ANYONE to get in my way in the kitchen, except my wife, who knows when to move. If someone wants to help, they can read the directions to me when I ask.

I'm a clean-as-you-go cook, and I'm careful about sanitation (as I've said a couple of times recently, I've had food poisoning three times, and it ain't fun). So, what REALLY bugs me is to go to someone's house for dinner and find a mess in the kitchen. I vividly recall one dinner at our very close friends' house where there was a dried-out, crusty sauce in a pan on the stove that had been made several hours earlier, which was for our dinner -- yuck! They also had a couple of cats, which were allowed not only on the kitchen counter, but got on the dining room table, walking across the plates and even lying down on them! Holy c***! I wanted to PUKE! Fortunately, they served me a lot of wine before dinner.

 

[Snoop Puss]

FryBoy, that is just gross. I have cats and would never think of allowing them on the kitchen worktop or table. What can they be thinking of??!! Have you been round for dinner since?

Anyway, I have two pet hates: when my partner opens the fridge and keeps it open for ages while he decides does he want a beer or not; and when he's had so many beers (it happens very occasionally) that he forgets to use a chopping board to cut bread to make himself a late night sandwich. One of our wooden tables in the kitchen has some nasty score marks on it now.

 

[pdswife]

Hubby unloading the dish washer and throwing stuff where ever. I usually set pots with their lids in the cabinet, hubby just bunches them all together. Tupperware is just tossed into the cabinet. He can't load the dish washer either!!!

Not wiping down the stove, I prefer to clean up after each meal.

Leaving fridge open

That reminds me of the time the Paul emptied the dishwasher for me...

I was sicker than a dog and slept for most of the weekend. He came in the bedroom so proud of himself. "I empied the dishwasher for you honey" He really was so happy that he'd done something for me.

I got up the next day and yes... he'd emptied it all right. All the dishes were sitting on the cupboard. lol.

 

[sattie]

That reminds me of the time the Paul emptied the dishwasher for me...

I was sicker than a dog and slept for most of the weekend. He came in the bedroom so proud of himself. "I empied the dishwasher for you honey" He really was so happy that he'd done something for me.

I got up the next day and yes... he'd emptied it all right. All the dishes were sitting on the cupboard. lol.

Awe, he tried tho!!! That is what I keep trying to remind myself.... he tired, it is better than not doing nothing at all????? Welllllll...........

 

[Seven S]

FryBoy, that is just gross. I have cats and would never think of allowing them on the kitchen worktop or table. What can they be thinking of??!! Have you been round for dinner since?

Anyway, I have two pet hates: when my partner opens the fridge and keeps it open for ages while he decides does he want a beer or not; and when he's had so many beers (it happens very occasionally) that he forgets to use a chopping board to cut bread to make himself a late night sandwich. One of our wooden tables in the kitchen has some nasty score marks on it now.

that makes me bring up another pet peeve.... people who use your precious $100 knives to cut on other surfaces other than a cutting board, or better yet, using them as can openers or screwdrivers!!! AAAAAHHH !!!! makes me wanna cry!!!!

 

[vagriller]

People helping in the kitchen that put the meat or veggies in a pan and then I have to remove it so I can heat the oil up.

 

[buckytom]

it makes me crazy when someone leaves my cutting board or knives dirty on the counter, or worse, piled up with all of the dirty dishes in the sink, just soaking in all of that oily dishwater.

another one is a crowded kitchen when i'm cooking. my wife has learned to stay out of the way or risk getting stepped on or elbowed as i move quickly around, not always looking where i'm going. i know my kitchen, so i probably could cook blindfolded.

 

[Chopstix]

I absolutely detest it when somebody fries something in my kitchen without turning on the exhaust fan on the range hood. I cannot stand the smell of frying food wafting through the house.

Also, when I dine at other people's houses and they serve salad where the salad dressing has separated, indicating wrong or careless way of preparing.

 

[corazon]

My only other that really ticks me off to no end, when my boys empty out the dish washer and don't put things where they belong so that I can't find it when I need it!!!! ARGH!!!!

dh does this too. Funny thing is he knows where to find everything but when he's putting things away everything ends up in wierd places.

Something that's been bugging me lately is that not only is dh not cleaning up after himself but he's foregoing the simplest things. Yesterday I was doing the dishes and he had brought a spoon over. Instead of putting it in the open dishwasher he came and set it next to the sink. Today he used the last of the milk, left the container on the counter then went outside and stood right next to the recycling bin.

Another peeve is not rinsing the dishes before putting them in the dw. If you don't rinse everything comes out scuzzy and grainy. Then I have to scrub them all and wash them again. Needless to say, I don't let anyone do the dishes but me.

Cluttered kitchen, me too. I don't like it when I'm working and somebody comes and puts something right in my way, then walks away from it.