People who think they can cook but can't

[jd_1138]

She needs to be stopped...for the good of your family. And you need to protect her from herself...

Yep. I stopped her cooking altogether. But today, we slept in kinda late, and at noon I walked into the kitchen. She had dumped the entire thing of beautiful vegetable beef soup I had made the day before back into the crockpot. It had been in a Tupperware container in the fridge. We had thrown away the crap she had made.

I noticed the crockpot was on "keep warm" with the lid not all the way on. I took the lid off and sampled the soup. It was like room temperature. I asked her when she put it on, and she said 8AM. So it was sitting around at room temperature for 4 hours.

I gently tried to explain that food can't be left sitting around at room temperature like that and that the crockpot takes too long to heat up (especially on "keep warm"). She wasn't hearing any of it. She said: "I can't cook, I can't even make food, what am I supposed to eat?!?!?!"

Um, there's like 2 jars of peanut butter in the pantry, jar of Smucker's Strawberry Preserves in fridge, lunch meat, cheese, lettuce, bread, cans of food, etc.. Or maybe heck use a ladle and dish yourself up some of my yummy veggie beef soup and microwave it.

Sheltering in place is bad enough without her nonsense. I am beginning to see why she had nowhere to go even though she has like 40 relatives in this area.

 

[GotGarlic]

Yep. I stopped her cooking altogether. But today, we slept in kinda late, and at noon I walked into the kitchen. She had dumped the entire thing of beautiful vegetable beef soup I had made the day before back into the crockpot. It had been in a Tupperware container in the fridge. We had thrown away the crap she had made.

I noticed the crockpot was on "keep warm" with the lid not all the way on. I took the lid off and sampled the soup. It was like room temperature. I asked her when she put it on, and she said 8AM. So it was sitting around at room temperature for 4 hours.

I gently tried to explain that food can't be left sitting around at room temperature like that and that the crockpot takes too long to heat up (especially on "keep warm"). She wasn't hearing any of it. She said: "I can't cook, I can't even make food, what am I supposed to eat?!?!?!"

Um, there's like 2 jars of peanut butter in the pantry, jar of Smucker's Strawberry Preserves in fridge, lunch meat, cheese, lettuce, bread, cans of food, etc.. Or maybe heck use a ladle and dish yourself up some of my yummy veggie beef soup and microwave it.

Sheltering in place is bad enough without her nonsense. I am beginning to see why she had nowhere to go even though she has like 40 relatives in this area.

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this. Is this the same hard-luck friend who kept borrowing money from your wife and spending it on fast food? Just curious.

 

[CharlieD]

I think that some of those on food network, and some of the PBS shows I've seen (briefly) got on because they, or a relative, gave a huge donation. That's my theory, and I'm stickin' to it!

agree.

 

[jd_1138]

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this. Is this the same hard-luck friend who kept borrowing money from your wife and spending it on fast food? Just curious.

No, this is a different person. The person you're referring to sadly passed away last year. This is a different hard luck case. Fortunately, most of our friends/relatives are not hard luck cases. This one and the one who died are really the only 2 hard luck (bad life decisions to be more accurate) cases.

 

[concreteman]

My sister thinks she can cook...she has Hamburger Helper in her cupboard...

What is wrong with Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper for that matter? I make it at least once every 6 months and I'm still alive.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

What is wrong with Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper for that matter? I make it at least once every 6 months and I'm still alive.

Not a thing wrong with it, if you like it. I prefer real fresh foods, not processed. The point was, my sister has never cooked from scratch.

 

[strmanglr scott]

Good thread.

I've been binge watching Hell's Kitchen lately. I can't believe the positions these contestants hold. I get it, it's a stressful situation. Kitchens are stressful though. I can count on one hand how many times I plated something that wasn't fully cooked and still have fingers leftover, I've made thousands of meals that were prepared and cooked.

Got a friend who thinks he knows how to cook cream of potato. He uses milk only. Invited me over to have some. I got there and he's got everything in the pot. Milk, cheese, potatoes and it's at a rolling boil. He tells me the potatoes still need some cooking.

 

[afterburn25]

i once knew somebody like that she insisted on cooking for thanksgiving knowing full well she couldn't cook. we offered to make the pies she said no i got it yeah you know what she got store bought pies. she tried to make the corn bread dressing instead of reading the directions she filled a pot with water and dumped the dressing mix in it and the dressing was pure liquid. then she decided she was doing the turkey it came out very dry and bland luckily i anticipated this and i did another turkey myself it was the highlight of the evening. then she decided she knew better how to make deviled eggs so she cooks the eggs in the oven and they were so rubbery. got to be the worst thanksgiving ever.